Deck 14: Evaluating Sales-Person Performance

Question 1

___________ measures of sales performance rely on personal evaluations,generally gathered via direct observation.

A)Subjective.
B)Objective.
C)External.
D)Biased.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

A salesperson's performance is:

A)His or her contribution to the goals of the organization.
B)What they do.
C)A summary index of organizational outcomes for which he or she is at least partially responsible.
D)The percentage of quota attained.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

One of the reasons measuring input is important in relationship selling is:

A)They can be more easily quantified than outputs.
B)They are more important to most sales managers.
C)New order/cancellation ratios are a significant measure of a salesperson's input.
D)There is often a time lag between inputs and outputs.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Which of the following is a common output measure used to evaluate salespeople?

A)Days worked.
B)Total expenses
C)Number of planned calls.
D)Number of new accounts.

Question 5

One of the weaknesses of using quotas to assess salespeople's performance is:

A)It gives a salesperson a defined goal.
B)It can be adjusted for the size of the territory.
C)It ignores profitability.
D)It can be changed based on emerging trends in the market.

Question 6

Bob is preparing for his quarterly performance review and is evaluating his effectiveness.Bob can measure his effectiveness by:

A)Sales volume.
B)Market share.
C)Customer retention rate
D)All of the choices are correct.

Question 7

A key issue in evaluating the performance of salespeople is distinguishing among the concepts of:

A)Behavior,performance,and effectiveness.
B)Internal,external,and 360 degree feedback.
C)Input,output,and throughput measures/
D)Bias,non-bias,and objective feedback.

Question 8

Comparing a sales rep's number of ___________________ over time can be used to evaluate performance from year to year.

A)Active accounts.
B)New accounts.
C)Lost accounts.
D)All of the choices are correct.

Question 9

Comparing a sales rep's number of ___________________ over time can be used to evaluate how well a rep is maintaining relationships with established accounts.

A)Active accounts.
B)New accounts.
C)Lost accounts.
D)All of the choices are correct.

Question 10

A salesperson's effectiveness is:

A)His or her contribution to the goals of the organization.
B)What they do.
C)A summary index of organizational outcomes for which he or she is at least partially responsible.
D)The percentage of quota attained.

Question 11

As sales manager,you want to assess how well your sales reps are capturing the potential business in their territories.To make this assessment,you might calculate:

A)Account penetration ratios.
B)Expense ratios.
C)Calls per day ratios.
D)Order cancellation ratios.

Question 12

Psychologist Fritz Heider classified the variables evaluators use into the following three categories:

A)Preferences,performance,promises.
B)Territory,time,trends.
C)Performance,environmental,and person or dispositional
D)None of the choices are correct.

Question 13

Which of the following is an input measure used to evaluate salespeople.

A)Total number of calls.
B)Number of prospective accounts.
C)Average size of orders.
D)Number of canceled orders.

Question 14

Frank is evaluating his sales force and sees one rep has a high percentage of canceled orders.Frank will likely:

A)Terminate the rep before anymore cancellations come in.
B)Investigate to see if the rep is using high-pressure tactics.
C)Assess the call/expense ratio for that rep relative to other reps.
D)In the future use a BARS rating system in evaluating the rep.

Question 15

___________ measures of sales performance reflect statistics the sales manager can gather from the firm's internal data.

A)Subjective.
B)Objective.
C)External.
D)Biased.

Question 16

A good ___________ system can be used to integrate customer contacts into salesperson information collection analysis and reporting.

A)BARS.
B)CRM.
C)PDA.
D)360 system.

Question 17

A salesperson's behavior is:

A)His or her contribution to the goals of the organization.
B)What they do.
C)A summary index of organizational outcomes for which he or she is at least partially responsible.
D)The percentage of quota attained.

Question 18

Rick has just been promoted salesman to sales manager for his company.He will soon have to evaluate the sales force.Because he came from the sales force,he has the ____________________ needed to execute performance review.

A)Support of senior management.
B)Strong working knowledge of the different measures of performance.
C)Self-evaluation awareness.
D)Internal objective bias

Question 19

When evaluating a salesperson's performance,the number of customer and/or prospect calls is often used to determine:

A)Whether the salesperson is covering the territory.
B)How well a salesperson is controlling expenses.
C)How much time is spent on nonselling activities.
D)All of the choices are correct.

Question 20

Peter is looking at each sales rep's number of days worked and call rate in order to assess each salesperson's:

A)Output.
B)Internal customer feedback.
C)Customer contact.
D)Performance management feedback.

Question 21

The subjective performance evaluation form displayed in the text is better than most evaluation forms because it:

A)Is long,covering over three pages.
B)Can be easily administered.
C)Contains anchors.
D)Provides constructive feedback to senior management.

Question 22

The calls per day ratio is calculated by dividing:

A)Expenses by sales.
B)The number of orders by the total number of calls.
C)Total costs by the number of calls.
D)Number of calls by the number of days worked.

Question 23

Given the equation sales = days worked x calls/days worked x orders/call x sales/orders,a salesperson increase sales by:

A)Decreasing the number of calls per day.
B)Decreasing the number of days worked.
C)Decreasing the orders per call ratio.
D)None of the choices are correct.

Question 24

The cost per call ratio is calculated by dividing:

A)Expenses by sales.
B)The number of orders by the total number of calls.
C)Total costs by the number of calls.
D)Number of calls by the number of days worked.

Question 25

The weakness in using the formula: sales = days worked x calls/days worked x orders/call x sales/orders is it:

A)Is too easily calculated.
B)Is too difficult to calculate.
C)It emphasizes sales.
D)It ignores costs.

Question 26

Nancy is developing performance measures for her sales force.She finds:

A)Total sales volume is the best measure of performance.
B)Expense ratios show how well the salesperson is managing his or her personal finances.
C)Qualitative measures are more difficult to measure than quantitative ones.
D)All of the choices are correct.

Question 27

The problem of ______________ in subjective performance evaluations can be particularly troublesome when a company attempts to use poor performance as a basis for termination.

A)Halo effect.
B)Lack of outcome focus.
C)Central tendency.
D)Ill-defined personality traits.

Question 28

When doing evaluations the sales manager remembers how well Darden performed in the last sales training class and rates her highly throughout the evaluation form.This is known as the:

A)Input measurement result.
B)Halo effect.
C)Training spotlight effect.
D)360-degree illumination.

Question 29

Before implementing a BARS system,the evaluator needs to:

A)Study psychology.
B)Observe behavioral telecommuting outcomes.
C)Identify the specific behaviors relevant to salespeople's performance.
D)Understand external subjective behaviors.

Question 30

The new-account conversion ratio measures the salesperson's ability to:

A)Service established accounts in the territory.
B)Convert prospects into customers.
C)Minimize the cost per call ratio.
D)Capture business from large accounts.

Question 31

William only concerns himself with what his sales force accomplishes,paying little attention to how they do it.William is introducing:

A)Only objective measures into his evaluation.
B)An outcome bias.
C)Behavioral anchored rating scales.
D)Internal performance management.

Question 32

Marion knows the evaluations she gives her sales staff will be used to determine pay raises and promotions.In this situation,Marion and many sales managers tend to:

A)Ignore the consequences and give objective evaluations.
B)Use the evaluations for development of the subordinate.
C)Be lenient in order to not impair the friendship and support of subordinates.
D)Use the halo effect to make all subordinates look good.

Question 33

An important measure of sales performance of businesses that provide supplies and raw materials is the _______________ ratio.

A)Call activity.
B)Expense.
C)Cost per call.
D)Account share.

Question 34

If a sales manager takes each salesperson's sales dollar volume and divides it by their total number of accounts,the sales manager is calculating ______________ ratios.

A)Cost per call.
B)Lost account.
C)Sales per account.
D)Account share.

Question 35

The lost account ratio measures how well sale reps are:

A)Servicing established accounts in the territory.
B)Converting prospects into customers.
C)Minimizing the cost per call ratio.
D)Capturing business from large accounts.

Question 36

Bias usually enters sales force evaluations through:

A)Errors by the evaluator.
B)Database mistakes.
C)BARS benchmarking.
D)Defective behavioral/effectiveness ratios.

Question 37

A well-constructed subjective evaluation form will facilitate:

A)Cost containment through reduced evaluation time.
B)Improved sales/expense ratios.
C)Determining which objective measures are most critical in that particular territory.
D)A constructive dialogue between the salesperson and sales manager.

Question 38

When constructing a subjective performance evaluation form,

A)Begin with objective measures.
B)Criteria should match those identified as important for success in the position.
C)Product knowledge is the most important criteria.
D)Develop dependability/ attitude ratios.

Question 39

Darla,the sales manager for a coal company,is pushing her salespeople to increase their account share because as account share increases:

A)Economies of scale increase.
B)Order cancellation ratios decrease.
C)Calls per day increase.
D)Orders per call increase.

Question 40

The hit ratio is calculated by dividing:

A)Expenses by sales.
B)The number of orders by the total number of calls.
C)Total costs by the number of calls.
D)Number of calls by the number of days worked.

Question 41

An effective performance management system provides information that is_____________ to the firm's customer management initiative.

A)Timely.
B)Accurate.
C)Relevant
D)All of the choices are correct.

Question 42

In many ways,it is more difficult to measure quantity that quality.

Question 43

Performance evaluation should be a process that provides a forum for dialogue between a salesperson and the sales manager.

Question 44

Frank is considering the development of a BARS system for evaluating subjective criteria.His major reservation is BARS systems:

A)Take time to develop.
B)Only evaluate output measures.
C)Introduce an outcomes bias.
D)Provide only half of the 360-degree feedback.

Question 45

The hit ratio is calculated by dividing the number of planned calls by the total number of orders.

Question 46

A key issue in evaluating the performance of salespeople is distinguishing among the concepts of behavior,performance,and effectiveness.

Question 47

A BARS system:

A)Requires managers to consider in detail a wide range of a salesperson's job performance.
B)Emphasizes behavioral and performance objectives.
C)De-emphasizes effectiveness evaluation.
D)All of the choices are correct.

Question 48

Salespeople should be evaluated based on everything that happens in their territory.

Question 49

Janice has just received her performance evaluation.She sees she has been evaluated by her peers,sales manager,and even customers.Janice has just received:

A)Her termination notice.
B)A BARS system evaluation.
C)360-degree performance feedback.
D)An effectiveness,behavioral outcomes assessment.

Question 50

No single measure can fully capture the scope of salesperson effectiveness.

Question 51

It is important to involve salespeople directly in all phases of the performance appraisal process.

Question 52

Subjective measures typically rely on personal evaluations,generally gathered via direct observation.

Question 53

Input measures are measures of a salesperson's effort.

Question 54

Allowing salespeople to have direct input by establishing their personal growth goals on the job and then incorporating these goals in performance evaluation,helps support salespeople's:

A)Pay for performance.
B)Intrinsic rewards.
C)Customer feedback loop.
D)Unbiased outcomes assessment.

Question 55

Greg has successfully implemented a performance management system.To do so,he shifted his leadership style to that of:

A)Partner.
B)Salesman.
C)Manager.
D)Counselor.

Question 56

To take full advantage of the information available through CRM software,the company must embrace the philosophy that:

A)All is well that ends well.
B)The customer is the customer of the company,not just of the salesperson.
C)If things can go wrong,they will go wrong.
D)A fool and his money are soon parted.

Question 57

When salespeople are surprised by anything he or she is told during a formal performance review:

A)The salesperson should be fired.
B)The manager is doing his or her job.
C)The evaluation instrument is faulty.
D)The manager is not doing a very good job.

Question 58

In a performance management system approach,salespeople take the lead in:

A)Adjusting their salaries.
B)Determining who gets which territories.
C)Performance measurement.
D)CEO bonuses.

Question 59

Evaluating the performance of a salesperson is all about the sales manager attributing causes of that performance.

Question 60

Great sales organizations use the performance evaluation process to facilitate:

A)Profit-sharing.
B)Ongoing dialogue.
C)Intrinsic reward allocation.
D)Customer approval ratings.

Question 61

What are the three common categories of sales performance ratios?

Question 62

Belinda is using the company's performance evaluation forms.She knows the evaluations are taken seriously,both by senior management and sales staff.She has been given a list of instructions in order to properly administer the forms.What instructions usually accompany performance evaluation forms?

Question 63

Who might be included a 360-degree performance feedback evaluation?

Question 64

What is the weakness of the formula: sales = days worked x calls/days worked x orders/call x sales/orders?

Question 65

What is the role of salespeople in a performance management system?

Question 66

What five attributes are included in typical sales force evaluations?

Question 67

What relationship selling efforts are often not included in sales performance standards?

Question 68

Given the equation sales = days worked x calls/days worked x orders/call x sales/orders,how can a salesperson increase sales?

Question 69

How is performance management analogous to TQM?

Question 70

What are the advantages of a BARS system?

Question 71

What input measures are commonly used to evaluate salespeople?

Question 72

What can account penetration ratios tell a sales manager evaluating his or her sales force?

Question 73

List three common output measures used to evaluate salespeople.

Question 74

Robert is developing a subjective performance evaluation form.What problems with subjective performance measurement does he need to avoid?

Question 75

How can a salesperson's effectiveness be measured?