Sales performance review examples can be tough to read. There's often a stark contrast between what managers say and what sales reps want and need.
27% of surveyed sales professionals say that clear goals and expectations set sales teams up for success. Another 27% say the secret is trust between sales reps and management.
Sales performance reviews present an opportunity to meet these needs and more. They can be a space for recognition, motivation, and actionable feedback. It all depends on how you approach it.
Keep reading to create the best sales review experience for your team, or jump ahead to one of the topics below.
According to 2022 Gallup research, only 21% of employees are engaged at work. Low engagement has an estimated cost of $7.8 trillion for the global economy. Engagement can also impact performance outcomes.
Sales performance reviews give leaders a chance to challenge and compliment the team. That's important because it can improve engagement, which can also improve:
Performance reviews can also help you see how your sales strategies are working. This process can pinpoint how your marketing or pricing impacts sales. Reviews give you time to figure out how sales management, goal-setting, or competition impacts the team as a whole.
It can be tempting to jump into a performance review with your ideas. But these are complex conversations that can have long-term impacts. So, do some preparation before every review.
Your company may have useful forms or job descriptions that you can use as a starting point for your review. If one of your salespeople has taken on extra tasks or responsibilities, be sure to add those in.
Complete a written review on your own. List out strengths and areas for improvement based on the job description. Then, add any other observations you have to add about sales training or performance. Remember, measurable specifics are more useful than general observations.
Next, ask each member of your sales team to write a self-assessment. Set clear expectations for self-assessments.
Offer a short and simple set of questions to cover:
It's also useful to ask them about how they feel they're performing and where they feel they can improve.
Be sure to offer examples that can help guide salespeople who are evaluating themselves for the first time.
Another way to prepare for sales reviews is to gather feedback from other employees. You can collect their insights with casual conversations, email, or online chat.
If it fits your company culture, online surveys can also help you gather insights on performance. Be sure to ask clear and specific questions to get the best feedback.
Once you've got the information you need, put your review in writing. This may seem like an extra step, but putting your review on paper before the review can help you remember key details during your conversation.
Your completed performance reviews might include:
If the review is a challenging one, this step can also help you give a positive and learning-centered tone to critical feedback.
Ideally, there won't be any surprises in the review for members of your sales team. This means that each review can focus on how to improve in the future.
Starting performance review talks can be awkward sometimes. So, instead of starting with what went well and what needs work, set expectations. Beginning with the job description can lessen the stress and confusion that can come up during reviews.
Another strategy is to talk about employee performance in your company or department. This can help each sales associate understand where they fit and how they can improve.
Next, talk about sales standards. These often tie to the sales metrics your department uses to measure performance like:
Each review should cover these metrics within a set time period, so you may want to compare this review period's numbers to the previous period.
As you start the review, be sure to highlight that reviews are a chance for both of you to grow. The focus is often on the feedback that you are offering to each salesperson as their manager.
But it's also important to share that you are also collecting feedback that can help you improve processes and strategy.
This is a positive experience where everyone gets something valuable. Be sure to set that tone from the start and each review should go smoothly. If you're looking for tips on how to get the most from a review, this podcast from Gallup has some useful tips.
Once you've covered expectations and set a positive mood, it's time to dig into the sales performance review.
You're already offering consistent feedback. So, this time should offer each salesperson useful and specific feedback and learning.
Start with what they're good at. Take the time to call out how they've mastered different processes and how they make the most of opportunities.
For example, don't just compliment salespeople on their ability to meet call volume. Instead, share that you notice blockers that they move past to make those calls, like doing extra research to find a working number for a lead.
These performance review example phrases show appreciation for sales skills. They also outline the specific ways that the salesperson is putting those skills into action. This helps them understand what they are doing right and inspires them to continue those habits in the future.
Once they understand the value they're bringing to their role, it's time to engage your salespeople with areas for improvement. It's best to approach these areas from a goal-setting perspective.
Being objective can help shift the conversation away from personal critique and toward working together to improve. You might also find value in connecting each area for improvement to a team or company priority.
For example, say a member of your sales team often shows up late to team meetings. If one of your team values is respect, you can talk about how tardiness in general is disrespectful to the team.
Another strategy is to approach areas for improvement as questions. For example, asking "Which listening skills are you best at, and which could you improve?" gives a sales rep a chance to share where they excel. It also gives them a chance to let you know whether you both see an area where they could improve.
Sales performance reviews can be mentally and emotionally taxing. Instead of moving right into future planning, make sure to close the review with more positive feedback. Show your salespeople how their work supports the company and the team.
If you have a mission-driven organization, talk about how their individual work supports that vision. Show them how they're making an impact with their role. Make it clear that there is a community that values their work.
Finally, close out each sales performance review by making a plan for what needs to happen next. Whether you're recommending business coaching or an improvement plan, that work should begin right away.
If you talked about specific improvement in soft skills or metrics, set a date to follow up and measure progress. If the goals you discussed were more open-ended, ask them to create some SMART goals around those ideas. If you don’t have a lot of experience with this type of goal-setting, this SMART template can help. Then, set a time to check in.
These review examples help any sales manager write performance reviews supported by a numerical score. This can help you explain what each sales rep is doing well and what they can improve.
This sales rep has low-scoring reviews on most rating factors, resulting in average ratings beneath two. This shows that they’re not meeting the expectations of their position or it could be a rep going through difficult times. It might also be an indicator that the employee needs more support.
"Rep seems to be struggling to grasp and adapt to the requirements and expectations of their role. They need further training and mentoring support to help them build up their skills and capabilities."
As you complete performance reviews for performance that doesn't meet expectations, consider what habits and challenges are impacting their performance.
Use these phrases to communicate why they're receiving a rating of "Does not meet expectations."
The review above shows ratings with an average above two and lower than three points. This is an employee with sales performance that has room for improvement.
"There is room for improvement to meet the requirements of this role. We are making a plan to invest in training exercises that can help them make sure their work meets our high standard."
This sales rep might be close to meeting expectations but still has some aspects of their job that they need to work on. Maybe they're a new rep who's close to hitting their quota but is just shy each month. Or they're a more tenured rep struggling to apply a new sales approach to their workflow.
Identifying these areas for improvement in the performance review will give points to work on during any coaching or training after the performance review.
These phrases can help you communicate a need for growth while motivating your team:
This sales performance review is for a rep with an average rating above three and lower than four. This means they are performing their job as outlined in their job description. They are meeting their quota but not going beyond those expectations.
"Rep has successfully executed their deliverables on a consistent basis, demonstrating their time management and trustworthiness."
This employee checks all the boxes and consistently performs at or above the expected performance level. They consistently hit their goals each month.
Here are some positive phrases you can use to let them know they're doing an excellent job:
In the review above, the average rating is between three and three and a half. This means the sales rep is occasionally exceeding expectations. They've gone past their quota and are showing that they're responsible and can tackle more tasks.
"Rep has demonstrated the value they add to the team. They go above expectations in all aspects of job performance by proactively seeking opportunities to grow and learn new skills."
A rep might be exceeding quota more and more often. But at the same time, they may fall short of your top performers and don't yet have the confidence to be a leader on the team. This individual has a lot of potential and needs some coaching to perform even better:
The review above shows an average rating beyond three and a half for all ranking factors. This sales rep is consistently exceeding expectations.
As a manager, it's important to recognize top performers, and to review them for a merit-based raise, incentive, or promotion.
"Rep has responded admirably to changing and sometimes challenging situations, always showing adaptability and problem-solving skills even under rigid deadlines. Their attention to detail and work are at an exceptional standard. Rep is a strong team player and brings energy and innovative thinking to the table."
Sales associates who exceed expectations go above and beyond the requirements of their day-to-day role. They might take on extra projects, train other reps, or tackle their team's reporting.
If your rep consistently exceeds expectations, give clear feedback so they know they're doing outstanding work.
As mentioned above, it’s a good idea to have each sales rep write up a self-assessment. It allows the rep to reflect on their performance in their own words, giving you insight into how they think about their role, their place on the team, and their accomplishments/challenges. You might also look to see how aligned your perspectives are as a manager with those of the rep, which could clue you into your alignment in a broader sense.
A good self-assessment includes:
These items will show how conscientious the rep is of their performance and whether their approach is working. It will also give you context around how to coach them toward success.
Here are some sample answers from a self-assessment that might show you when a salesperson is "occasionally exceeding expectations":
"As a new BDR on the team, my role is to generate qualified leads for our pipeline with a goal of 5-7 SQLs per month. In my first quarter on the team, I've met and exceeded this threshold with an average of 9 SQLs per month at a 25% lower number of touches per prospect than the team-wide average.
I am pleased with this performance, especially in the context of the closing ratio that these SQLs maintained. This tells me that I am prospecting effectively, targeting the right opportunities, and managing my time well throughout the process.
I'm interested in increasing my performance in line with company expectations for the coming year."
This employee measured themselves against team-wide benchmarks and the duties described in their job description.
"During my performance review last quarter, we identified a lackadaisical approach to the CRM being one of my biggest limiting habits. I heard that feedback loud and clear and re-operationalized my use of our CRM, which is one of the reasons why I was able to meet and exceed my personal revenue targets by 11% with a closing rate higher than the team-wide average.
With thorough organization and note-taking, I was able to shorten my time to close, a big contributor to my higher performance since last quarter. In addition, I was able to disseminate some of my new processes to other SDRs, increasing better CRM adoption across the wider team.
With that said, I am still not among our highest performers and I could improve my attention to detail and response times."
This employee used the STAR method to describe some of their accomplishments on the way to achieving a certain result.
"Ever since implementing more rigorous training to improve my communication skills, I have met and exceeded new hire expectations for sales performance. For the first quarter of the year I was under monthly revenue targets and knew I had to engage in continued education to improve my ability to make a lasting impression with prospects.
Since completing additional training, I’ve been able to meet and exceed my personal revenue target in the most recent quarter, selling 107% of my target in June, 111% in May and 105% of my sales target in April.
The biggest factor in my success has been my improved pitch, and more consistent responsiveness throughout the sales process. My timely responses and attention to detail have resulted in a higher closing rate for new customer inquiries and enabled me to exceed my sales targets."
This employee measured their growth and improvement based on vital soft skills that helped them succeed in achieving sales targets.
HubSpot and InsideSales.com have created this sales performance review and coaching template to help managers measure and coach their inside sales reps to consistently improve performance each quarter.
Download this Template for Free
The template includes:
Grab your copy of this template and start coaching your reps towards higher output and revenue for your business today. If you choose to download this free resource, you’ll be able to record goals and soft skills assessments for your team, we’ll walk through the function of each below.
In the goals assessment template, you’ll be able to track your reps’ ability to hit quota. Each row and column is fully customizable to fit the metrics your company values most.
Record their progress for each quarter of the year to gauge their progress based on the percentage achieved. Then use the information collected in tandem with the attached soft skills assessment template.
This template gauges the qualitative side of a rep’s performance. It also looks at other essential functions of the job description:
Performance reviews are a personal process and should be conducted as such. Use this guide and template to customize your performance review process. This will ensure your reps have everything they need to succeed (and help you succeed, too).
Use each sales performance review to give unbiased, actionable advice to your team. Set clear expectations, use a template, and build trust with your team at each step in the process. This can set your team up for lasting sales growth.
Editor's note: This post was originally published in October 2016 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.