This Sales Scorecard Can Help You Perfectly Assess Your Team

Managing salespeople is a difficult job. From understanding their pipeline and key metrics to recruiting, hiring, and firing -- a sales manager has a lot on their plate. One of the biggest sources of turnover and missed opportunity comes from a lack of understanding of what each sales person is doing well and what activities they're doing poorly. 

An important aspect of sales management is making sure that all salespeople are measured on the same things. This is the only way an organization can make decisions on who to keep and who to let go. And this is what a sales scorecard helps with ... but let's not confuse a scorecard with a benchmark.

Sales Scorecard

A sales scorecard is different than a sales dashboard. A scorecard is more personalized to specific reps and their development/goals. Scorecards get more granular by tracking rep activities, the results of those activities, and opportunities for improvement. A dashboard look at specific KPIs like quota attainment, revenue, and pipeline leakage.

Having benchmarks for your scorecard sets standards for new and existing salespeople and clearly communicates expectations from the entire sales organization.

To accomplish this, standards need to be written down and agreed upon by everyone in the organization. And follow up is key here. You must ensure they are consistently being tracked.

This takes effort and collaboration in the beginning, but once it’s done, sales coaching and feedback become easier and more effective. It also helps with forecasting when and who you need to hire and what each rep needs to succeed.

Sales Scorecard Template

Each sales person should be measured by the same standards, so that the sales management and feedback is consistent and fair. As a sales manager, you need to be able to describe what a behavior looks like when:

• It is being performed well (meets expectations)
• It is not being performed well (below expectations)
• It is being formed very well (exceeding expectations)

For example, if you were measuring someone’s ability to build rapport during a sales call, the ratings might go something like this:

Meets Expectations

• Establishes commonality before leading into the sales discussion
• Considers the prospect’s personality and style
• Is conscious of prospect’s attitude changes and responds properly
• Provides actionable next steps at the end of meetings

Below Expectations

• Does not modify their approach and behavior with customers to improve rapport
• Does not maintain eye contact
• Misses verbal and non-verbal cues
• Voice is monotone

Exceeds Expectations

• Reads customer’s body language/tone and asks questions to determine probable objections

Here's a template of what that might look like:

By establishing where each sales person stands on each criteria, it makes the job of coaching and giving feedback easier and more productive for the sales manager.

How to Build a Sales Scorecard Using Data in Your CRM

Start by determining which metrics you want to track. Will you look at KPIs like client acquisition rates and upsell and cross-sell rates? Or will you look at professional development metrics like call etiquette and presentation confidence? 

Customize your metrics for each of your reps, so you're tracking the metrics that will be most impactful for them. Then, set realistic goals for them to hit and document it all in Excel or Google Docs. 

Many CRMs also create scorecards automatically. HubSpot's CRM integrates with Rekener to pull the data you want to track straight from your CRM. 

Image source: Rekener

Sales Management Checklist

Take the time to review each activity and rate the degree to which your sales person performs relative to where they need to be to ensure success. The goal is to identify five or six areas for improvement and work with the sales person on those areas over a three to six month period, depending on the level of time you can commit to coaching.

After the coaching period, go on another sales call and use the checklist again to see if they are on track or need more coaching. 

Touch base with your rep on these coachable areas during that three to six month period. You want to give them the tools they need to succeed, and it's not helpful to tell them what to work on and then leave them on their own for another six months.

By using this template as a guide, you'll be well on your way to better sales management, coaching, and communication with your sales people. By doing this on a regular basis, you'll identify areas for improvement and reduce the turnover by correcting the behaviors before they become a problem.