When you throw the dice, the number tells you how well you performed – the quantitative element is irrefutable. In sales, quantitative parameters define performance – sales quotas, revenues and conversion rates are sales performance management’s grids. It’s how we track progress, set and align goals. If you want to sell more cheeses in three months, you set a sales quota of 100 wheels per month. But, like temperature, once we become obsessed with the number, the quality and true meaning become secondary. In sales, a quantitative obsession will long term annihilate a sales organization. It’s clear that the future of sales transformation needs to cement an anchor in qualitative parameters – cementing our valuable human assets in the new sales machine – because it works. When you look at the growing landscape of key performance indicators, customer experience, net promoter scores, share of wallet, retention and loyalty, relationships, recovery, flexibility, coaching, conflict styles, conflict resolution and empathy, the need for this transformative agility becomes clear. Grids trigger short-term thinking, whereas qualitative parameters open a medium- to long-term horizon on performance – one that better equips organizations and companies to sustain performance while staying lean and agile.
Beyond the Numbers: The Limitations of Quantitative Metrics
Quantitative measures give an unambiguous and unambiguously measurable metric on performance. Quantitative metrics are essential for benchmarking and trend spotting, but a focus on them can leave out the important facets of sales team performance.
For example, a sales representative might routinely hit or exceed sales targets but, if he or she operates under unreasonably aggressive tactics to achieve these goals (even if they yield a positive net gain) and strains relations with customers or sours internal team dynamics, the overall impact might be harmful in the long run. After all, the extent of rude or insensitive attitudes and behaviours among employees is not a part of the dusty world captured in a spreadsheet: it’s far too nuanced, qualitative, and multifaceted.
The Power of Qualitative Parameters
When qualitative parameters are added to sales performance management, you get a richer, more nuanced perspective on what drives sustainable success; the behaviours, skills and values that contribute to long-term performance and customer retention. This article shows how key qualitative parameters can transform sales performance.
1. Customer Relationships
As anyone in sales knows, developing and maintaining good relationships is critical to success. While not a guarantee of immediate profits, sales representatives who are adept at learning their customer’s needs almost always succeed more than those who are solely focused on getting the deal done. Take, for instance, the value of educating a customer about a problem he or she didn’t know existed and offering a solution. A rep who has put in the time to grasp the business challenges being faced by a customer and works to develop a solution specifically tailored to those problems is likely to earn the trust and repeat business necessary for sustained sales and growth.
2. Team Collaboration and Culture
Sales is often viewed as a dog-eat-dog world. However, collaboration is the hallmark of successful sales teams. When sales rockstars share their insights, give a helping hand and build a supportive culture, the outcome for the team is a whole that is greater than its parts. We can imagine a scenario with experienced sales executives working with their junior colleagues and taking them under their wings, offering counsel and sharing experiences. This collaborative approach enriches the performance of individuals and strengthens the team as a whole. A teaming environment can spur innovation, foster productivity, and boost morale.
3. Adaptability and Problem-Solving
Being able to figure out how to succeed in a fluctuating marketplace and solve problems unique to your position is an important need. Sales environments vary day to day, and people who can understand where they need to change to succeed in response to shifts or feedback from a customer will be more likely to succeed. For example, the ability for a sales rep to quickly change their approach to an opportunity in order to address a change in customer needs or for that rep to read a change in the market is critical to turning potential challenge into opportunities. That rep’s ability to flex helps them stay ‘on-point’ when things become unpredictable, which is a valuable attribute for a team and for an organisation.
4. Empathy and Communication
It doesn’t take much time to listen to a customer, to respond to an email, or make a phone call. But these interactions create the customer relationships that underpin long-term business. This shows them that you care, that they’ve been heard and that there’s a thoughtful person behind the work who will respond. In the previous scenario, a sales rep who is listening carefully to a customer’s predicament, being present and responsive to their frustrations, and offering a solution, is probably going to end up with a happier and more satisfied customer in the long run. By tapping into their empathy for their customers, sales reps build longer-lasting and stronger relationships with them. Empathy and listening, by extension, create more successful relationships on both a human and a business level.
Integrating Qualitative Parameters into Sales Performance Management
So, in order to take real advantage of qualitative parameters, organizations have to institutionalize them in their sales performance management. Here is how to do it.
- Systems to solicit customer feedback: Set up regular surveys or other means of getting qualitative feedback on what customers think of your business. This will give you a greater qualitative sense of customer satisfaction than just tracking sales numbers.
- 360-degree reviews: Have the comments of peers, managers and customers in performance reviews. A good way of finding out about a sales rep’s inputs and importance to the company is to ask his or her boss, the person’s peers, and all past and present customers for feedback.
- Training and Development: Create opportunities to acquire both hard and soft skills such as communication, empathy and problem-solving. Encourage people to learn continually learn, and to be agile in a fast-moving marketplace.
- Recognition and Rewards: Give recognition and rewards to those who exhibit the desired behavior, such as people going the extra mile to help customers, volunteering to take on ‘undesirable’ territories, and participating in collaborative projects. This affirms to the sales team that these qualities are what drives top performance and creates a healthy and collaborative sales culture.
An embracing of qualitative metrics in sales performance management ensures that a sales organization has built in enriching dynamics that go well beyond the measurement of sales numbers alone, providing sustainable energy – with more logic behind sales success resulting in an enduring team that is prepared for the long haul of an ever-changing business.
