What is Sales Performance Management?

Sales performance management is the optimization of an individual or team's sales. In addition to the raw numbers, sales performance management is also measured by the quality of the sales in terms of customer satisfaction, as well as customer loyalty expressed through repeat business. Sales can be managed using a number of performance management tools that help educate and motivate the salesperson or team, set goals, and measure customer satisfaction.

The basic foundation of sales performance management is proper training, to ensure that salespeople know their product or service inside and out, as well as the demographic of their customers. Once a salesperson is armed with this type of information, he or she is prepared to try out different sales approaches. If the salesperson is part of a team, the assistance of management is crucial at this juncture to help determine which sales techniques are most effective and which are holding the salesperson back from achieving his or her goals.

Another method of sales performance management is motivational products and services such as books, DVDs, and seminars. Many motivational speakers offer a portfolio of tools tailored specifically to helping salespeople improve their pitch, close, and overall sales technique, regardless of the product or service they sell. Goal-setting is also an important component to these products, which can help salespeople lay out a time line for specific goals and when to reach them in order to chart his or her progress. These types of products and services are particularly helpful for self-employed salespeople who don't have an organization's resources and support to draw from in order to stay motivated and reach their sales goals.

Staying in touch with customers is another vital part of sales performance management, to ensure not only a high volume of sales, but also a high quality of sales with which the customer is satisfied. In addition to turning one-time customers into repeat customers, another important component of successful sales performance is the resolution of customer concerns and complaints, in order to avoid garnering the type of negative word-of-mouth publicity which can impact sales. A salesperson that does not check in with customers after closing their deals might miss the opportunity to resolve a dispute and implement damage control before further harm is done to the company, its product, or service.