5 Ways to Give Your Sales Team Constructive Feedback That Gets Results

Managing a sales team is challenging and providing feedback that is both constructive and motivating can be even more challenging.

Here are a few ideas to consider the next time you need to give someone feedback on their performance or results.

1. Be specific.

This may sound like a simple concept; however, many sales leaders use vague language that fails to help their team improve their results.

A manager I worked with gave one of his top performers the opportunity to prove himself in a supervisory role. At the end of the project he expressed his disappointment by saying, 'You didn't take enough initiative.' When the rep asked what his manager meant, the leader said, 'You didn't behave like a manager.'

The vagueness of these statements was not helpful to the sales rep and the project ended up becoming a demoralizing task.

When providing any type of feedback to a sales rep, you must ensure that it is specific so they understand exactly what aspect of their performance needs to be improved.

2. Forget the sandwich.

A common approach to providing people feedback is to start by praising them followed by the constructive feedback and ending with more praise. Known as the feedback sandwich, it sounds good in theory.

However, it usually fails to achieve the desired results because the person on the receiving end will often become defensive when they hear the praise knowing that criticism is close behind.

It is much more effective to address the performance issue head-on than to hide it between two positive comments. It can be difficult to be direct but experience has taught me that people appreciate it and will respect you more in the long run.

3. Watch your tone.

A number of years ago I had the good fortune of working with two different managers in a company.

One of them was excellent at 'motivating' the troops because his correspondence always contained the right tone whether it was verbal or written.

On the other hand, the second manager used a commanding, direct tone, and although he offered positive feedback, it always ended with 'But''

His tone and approach meant that his feedback was seldom perceived as positive even when it was intended that way.

Yes, you may have to deliver bad news but using the proper tone and manner can make it easier for your sales rep to absorb. I'm not suggesting that you use an enthusiastic tone when offering constructive feedback; however, be careful that you aren't being perceived as being negative.

4. Adapt your communication.

Some people prefer verbal communication while others do better with written correspondence.

Some employees need to hear the words, 'Here is some feedback' while others automatically understand when constructive criticism is being given.

And some individuals prefer formal feedback such as sitting in your office or having a scheduled call while others prefer a more casual approach.

To achieve optimum results, adapt how you communicate with each person on your team.

5. Adapt your approach

Many sales leaders are competitive by nature; it's often one of the reasons they climb the corporate ladder.

However, not all sales people are competitive. If you use comparisons to other people to try and motivate a person who is not competitive, your efforts will be wasted.
A more effective strategy is to adapt your approach so that it is more consistent with each person's personal motivators.

A final note on positive reinforcement:

Studies have shown that most employees do not receive as much positive reinforcement as they need. This is particularly true with 'millennials' who have come to expect some type of positive feedback as often as every seven days.

This doesn't mean you can't give constructive feedback. It just means that you also need to balance it with positive reinforcement, too.