Evaluation of the work of the seller consultant. Evaluation of sellers: types, criteria and methods for evaluating sellers. Qualitative indicators of the work of the sales department and sellers

Quantitative indicators of the sales department

Clients can be divided into three categories:

• potential clients (PC);
• interested potential customers (ZPK);
• customers (K).

To test your sales force, you'll need to calculate your closing rate and conversion rate.

Closing ratio- the ratio of the number of RFPs who verbally agreed to pay for a service or product to the total number of contacts with a PC assigned to a specialist for work.

Conversion rate - the ratio of the number of clients (K) to the total number of contacts with the RFP transferred to work.

This approach allows you to understand at what stage a client refusal occurs. The closing rate can be checked every day, and the conversion rate can be determined once a week or once a month. Ideally, the first should be at least 30 percent, the second - at least 21 percent.

Also, enter the quantitative metrics that the sales manager will report on daily. Among the indicators:

• the number of initial calls;
• the number of repeated calls;
• number of meetings held;
• amount of invoices;
• the amount of bills paid;
• the number of contracts concluded, etc.

A complete list of indicators is presented in the table "Report for the sales manager".

Table. Sales Manager Report

date

time

Employee

Quantity per day (per period)

First calls

First meetings scheduled

First meetings held

There is interest

Repeated calls

Re-held meetings

Meetings with decision makers

Products (services) offered

Accounts

Payment

Qualitative indicators for evaluating sellers

1. Check the manager's correspondence with clients. Ask how many emails the seller sent in a week. If he understands how important it is to keep in touch with customers, he will not hesitate to name the number of letters sent and even the number of replies. It is useful to look into the seller's mail to evaluate the ratio of spam (when the manager found contacts of a potential client on the Internet and sent him a commercial offer) and warm contacts (when a commercial offer is sent to a decision-maker by prior arrangement). For every 25 warm contacts, there should be no more than 10 letters sent to “grandfather's village”. Then, from the number of warm letters, you need to subtract those that the client wrote first: in these cases, the employee did not actively search, but only processed the received application. If the bottom line is only three or four letters a week, then the manager was not working well.

2. Find out how the meetings between the manager and the clients go. Find out the number of meetings, the place of their holding, the final result:

• the number of meetings should be compared with the norm in your industry;
• the place where the meetings are held (at the customer's site or in the office of your company) often determines the result: the more often the manager invites the client to negotiate at his office, the lower the sales. Mainly, due to the fact that not all clients arrive and some of the meetings are canceled. The normal ratio of meetings on the client's territory and on the manager's territory is 50 to 50.

To always be able to correctly assess the result, ask managers to lead spreadsheet indicating the main parameters of the meeting: with whom, when, where, on what occasion, the agreements reached. It is best if the manager will present you with a small report after each meeting.

3. Pay attention to the number and quality of the manager's calls.A manager shouldn't have any problems answering the question of how many calls he makes daily. Depending on the specifics of the business, you can pay more or less attention to either warm or cold calls. But even if cold calls are not so important in your business, the salesperson is obliged to do them from time to time so as not to lose skills. A good manager should constantly analyze how the market situation is changing, be able to break through the secretaries and go to the right people etc.

4. Arrange a surprise check in the middle of the working day.Find out if all managers have a plan for the day. This should be a detailed, prepared in advance list of tasks: who to contact, when, on what issue and what to offer. A simple entry in the diary, for example: "Call Vasily Ivanovich", does not count. A manager who does not draw up a plan of work on paper is unlikely to learn to act effectively.

5. Find out if the manager maintains off-duty contacts with clients.In working with customer loyalty, nothing is superfluous, a good manager knows about this, therefore, without fail personally congratulates his customers on their birthdays, New Year, February 23, March 8.

6. Conduct a blitz survey among managers. Go unannounced to sales and ask employees five simple questions:

• What is your biggest deal (by order amount)?
• When did it take place?
• What is your average check for transactions?
• What is the average length of your trade?
• What categories do you divide your clients into?

The last point is especially interesting: a good manager necessarily segments his client base, since he understands that working with all clients according to the same scheme is unproductive. If a manager cannot answer these questions, then he does not analyze his work and is not interested in improving performance. Of course, you must know all the answers in advance in order to be able to compare the real indicators with those that the manager will voice to you.

Warning: five signs of an effective salesperson.

1. Do managers attend exhibitions and conferences?It is convenient to make acquaintances at such events. The managers' database of potential customers should be constantly updated, and a stack of business cards should grow on the desktop.

2. Do managers get referrals from old clients?If the manager is a real hunter, he will not wait until a satisfied client remembers him, but he himself will be the first to ask him for contacts of people to whom he could recommend your company.

3. Do managers know how to get a meeting with a decision maker?It is not difficult to answer this question: if the manager often comes to the stage of a business meeting. However, here you should take into account such a thing as the conversion of calls to orders (this indicator is very individual for different types of business).

4. Are managers trying to exceed the established plan?A good hunter never stops looking for new clients. He creates a reserve for the future, trying to earn more, bring the company more profit, regardless of the established standards and regardless of the control of supervisors.

5. Do managers have funnel thinking?The hunter is distinguished by psychological stability. He does not make a tragedy out of failure, but rolls up his sleeves and works on, because he knows that finding clients is a funnel of opportunities, which sooner or later will lead to results (for nine abandoned clients, there is one who will say “yes”). Therefore, a good hunter forgets about any failure the next day maximum.

"Cadres are everything!" This statement has not lost its meaning until now. Moreover, every day and with every round of business development, these words are gaining more and more weight among the heads of retail outlets of all levels - shops and salons, cafes and bars, gas stations and supermarkets.

People are the driving force behind sales. Their presence next to the product or product is extremely important, and this presence does not depend on the form of trade. They say that there is the only form of trade that makes it possible to dispense with the presence of a person - the so-called semi-stationary trade, trade through machines, the peak of development of which in our country will obviously come very soon. The rest of the forms of sales - a closed counter, an open form of sales, personal sales and even trade through the ordering system (including the Internet) and catalogs - require human participation in the process of exchanging money for goods.

It is no secret that it is very difficult to find a capable and effective seller, since the salesmen themselves are a single, expensive and unique product. And although any manager wants to have such a highly qualified specialist in his team, not everyone succeeds. But before looking for the best of the best, before advertising for the hiring of such employees, you should ask the questions: “Does my business need expensive superprofessionals? Is there a necessary amount of work for supersellers? a full-fledged business at the expense of small and now affordable personnel costs? " Answers to these undoubtedly interesting questions will help you optimize costs and eliminate unnecessary expenses for training your salespeople.

In general, all sellers, depending on the tasks they face, are divided into several levels, partly close to each other and at the same time very dissimilar ... The level of their wages and their level very strongly depend on what level of work your sellers should belong to. knowledge and, in general, personnel costs that you can afford. Seller over high level is, of course, more expensive, it is much more difficult to teach and improve its skills, although the return on it, as a rule, is much higher than from sellers of lower levels.

In this regard, try to determine what level of training your salespeople should relate to. Keep in mind that for most common types of TT, first and second level sellers are enough for effective work, and higher levels of personnel training are required in special conditions of doing business or in very specific points of sale.

So, we will divide the salespeople according to their skills, knowledge and abilities into four levels of training and we will recruit them according to the forms of trade and the types of TT in which they will have to carry out their activities.

Sellers training levels.

"Peddler".

The first level of training is a sales consultant.

The first-level salesperson doesn't care much about the buyer's problems. Sometimes he does not need deep knowledge of the properties and qualities of the product. There is no question of creativity in the work of such a seller. This is the minimum level of training from which work at the counter begins. In order for a person from the street to turn into a salesman with initial training, a few days are enough. Such an applicant is given an idea of \u200b\u200bseveral products or product groups, after which they release him "into the people". Then the salesperson "picks up knowledge" from his colleagues, consultants or product specialists, after which he works independently. As a rule, such a seller, when selling, does not go beyond a few learned phrases (there can be quite a lot of them) regarding the product. He tries to give out everything he knows in a smooth way in order to avoid unnecessary questions from the buyer, which the seller cannot give an answer to. Sales techniques, clarifying the needs of the buyer, studying the goods - all this is most often outside the scope of such a seller's attention (at the first stage of work - for sure!). Dealing with objections boils down to answering one or two of the most frequently encountered questions (as a rule, the justification for the price and the novelty or freshness of the product).

Such sellers work effectively at points with a simple assortment, in grocery and department stores with a closed form of sale (counters, stalls, etc.). Such specialists are easy to find in markets, on electric trains, in various kiosks and behind stalls in crowded places.

Requirements for a first-level seller:

• Ability to draw the attention of the buyer to a certain brand or a certain product
• Ability to quickly tell about the main properties of the goods of interest to the buyer
• Ability to offer an assortment range to a customer who requires a certain type of product ("What kind of milk do you have?", "Give your child some toy!", Etc.)
• Ability to manage customer behavior in a favorable situation in order to limit the time for choosing a product
• Ability to work with large arrays of customers (in case of queues)

There is no need for special and deep trainings to train a first-level seller. It is quite possible to limit ourselves to product training and memorization of phrases that form the basis of working with objections. The most complete practice for preparing an entry-level salesperson is to study (memorize) the elements of the corporate sales book.

"Consultant". The second level of training of a sales assistant.

The second-level seller-consultant works according to the stages of the sales technique, having previously studied them and learned how to use the rules set out in them. He takes everything step by step, the creative initiative is low, and is often "charged" to work with previously known objections. In practice, he uses 5-6 well-known and proven sales techniques. At the same time, he is often able to identify the needs of the client or "push out" such needs from the client that the proposed product can satisfy. He is not engaged in the study of global needs, he works only at the level of a momentary situation - he highlights all urgent needs, without undertaking their differentiation into dominant and simple ones.

He does not do "nonsense" in the form of friendship with a client, most often he stops developing relations at the level of completion of the transaction. Effective for work in closed access TT, in multi-assortment points of sale, even in some types of salons selling simple or not very complex products (the choice of which is not determined by the emotional attachments of the client).

Requirements for the seller:

• Be able to obtain consistent customer consent after each step of the sale or presentation of the product,
• Be able to focus the customer's attention on the properties of the product,
• Quickly and succinctly present the available information about the product,
• Set the desired pace of the conversation by alternating communication and the necessary pauses
• Be able to use active listening techniques (ask questions correctly and in a timely manner, avoid closed-ended questions, etc.)
• Be able to apply techniques related to managing consumer behavior in the sales process

The preparation of a second-level seller involves:

• compulsory trainings on sales techniques,
• in-depth trainings on products and their application,
• studying the practice of using the product on examples of consumers,
• training on active listening, working with objections, answering questions,
• elements of public speaking training.

"Expert". The third level of training of a sales assistant.

At this level, the seller turns into a consultant who, together with his client, finds out his desires, translates them into needs. After that, the search begins not even for the product or its properties, but the search for opportunities to satisfy the wishes of the client. The sales process becomes much more complicated, there is no direct division into steps or, moreover, sales according to the approved stereotype. It is important that the definition, or rather the feeling of the customer's desires, is put in the first place. The seller begins to act as an agent, as a home consultant, sometimes entering into a trusting emotional contact with the client. The client's interest, his emotional impulses often become more important than the merits of the product and its characteristics. The seller needs to learn to identify the dominant needs of the buyer and, focusing on them, offer the most suitable option for sale. The conversation between the buyer and the seller becomes similar to the revelations of a psychotherapist - the client leads a monologue, and the seller at this time calculates the sale options, the assortment subtleties of the product that can be offered to the client.

Such sellers are most often found in jewelry salons, in salons selling complex household appliances, cars, real estate, in the process of sale software followed by service. All areas where the need for large, long-term purchases arises are the place of work for sellers of this type.

Requirements for a third-level seller:

• To be able to listen,
• Be able to manage consumer behavior,
• Be able to manage not only the client's behavior, but also his emotional state,
• To be able to use active listening techniques constantly and invisibly for the buyer,
• Set the required pace of conversation,
• Provide only those information about the product that will not disrupt the relationship and will not alert the client (that is, the third-level seller must perfectly know the product and the attitude of a large number of consumers towards it, experience of using the product, etc.),
• Be clear about the limitations that are imposed on the use of the product (otherwise it is easy to lose customer confidence),
• To be able to correctly and clearly answer the client's questions in order to maintain an atmosphere of confidentiality, sincerity in relationships

The 3rd level of seller training requires the following knowledge and skills:

• Special trainings in the field of communication
• Sales experience in a similar area of \u200b\u200bimplementation 2-3 years or general sales experience of at least 4 years (ideally, specialized education on the product being sold is desirable)
• Prior experience with personal sales is desirable
• Trainings on active sales techniques
• Trainings on special types of communication (telephone, cold contacts, etc.) for a wholesaler
• Trainings on how to build trust and quickly connect

The fourth level of training of a sales assistant. "Counselor friend"

Such training of a salesperson as a consultant presupposes the presence of congenital or acquired, developed abilities of a psychologist. Seller this level often becomes a friend of the buyer, to whom the client turns to when difficulties arise in a particular area. An employee of the fourth level of training not only successfully identifies the client's desires, but also easily determines his mood. As in the previous case, the communication process becomes much more significant than the sales result. It is interesting that, unlike the "expert" seller, the "advisor friend" is not a vest for pouring out desires. In this case, the seller is the buyer's equal partner, who is treated as an equal, who is asked for advice, like a family member. The seller understands this trust and responds to the buyer in kind. The knowledge of both the product and the situation on the market is so deep for the distributor of the product or service that there is no need to even talk about the properties and quality of the product. The seller's understanding of the psychology of a given customer is so strong, and their proximity in some area related to selling is. so great that the buyer only clarifies the details related to the product. The client leaves most of the significant characteristics on the conscience of the seller, knowing his decency, honesty, ability to understand not only the product, but also the mood of the client.

The use of the skills of sellers of this level of training is necessary in restaurants or shops where a person may be a regular. Some specialties in the service sector (sale of services) also require a high level of training - hairdressers, masseurs, consultants in fitness clubs, etc. In the described manner, highly qualified realtors, sellers of luxury cars, animals, apartments, luxury goods, work. It is interesting that such sellers are psychologically required in all trade spheres (when evaluating such specialists, remember the phrase that many of us like to say in the store: “What will you advise me?” these are words directed specifically to the fourth-level sellers), but they work most effectively where there is an opportunity for personal communication during some time. In retail outlets with a closed form of sale and a constant queue of such specialists, as a rule, there is no such thing: a "friend-advisor" is an individual who works with each client separately, independently and often face to face.

It is extremely difficult to single out the requirements for a seller of this level, because in such areas of sales "the soul of the buyer is darkness". It is still possible to outline some of the "facets" of such a seller:

• Ability to listen to the client
• Ability to work with the emotional components of the client
• Ability to adjust to the client and lead him in the process of discussion and communication
• To know deeply and seriously not only the product, but also the market in which it operates
• Ability to understand the intricacies of using the product and, if possible, have a personal experience of using it that is significant in time
• The ability in a simple conversation "about nothing" to focus the client's attention on the product he needs and ...
• Everything that was listed earlier (for second and third level sellers)

The 4th level of seller training requires the implementation of the following conditions:

• Long (4-5 years) period of work as a seller-consultant in difficult conditions (a typical similarity of the sphere of product sales with yours is desirable)
• Personal selling experience is a must
• Special education (trade with work experience or in the psychology of sales), better systemic (not in separate blocks, but as a course as a basic or second higher education)
• Systems thinking in the field of application of the results of sales trainings, psychological, etc.
• Special trainings (including trainings of parapathy) in the field of communication with people and behavior management vis-a-vis (for example, NLP)
• Leadership trainings
• Excellent communication skills
• Broad general knowledge and general culture of personality
• Marketing and Advertising Basics Trainings

After detailing the training levels of sellers, their skills and abilities, after dividing the entire mass of people who want to work in trade, according to some principles, you need to think about where and in what type of retail outlet (point of sale or provision of services) to "attach" one or another specialist who is ready for conscientious work. Of course, each outlet, depending on the type and type of trade, requires its own level of training for sellers and service providers.

Surely it is clear that in an elite store of sophisticated household appliances the seller of the first level will not bring the necessary return - a repetition of a "hackneyed plate" about three or four properties of a stove or washing machine will lead to a loss of customers, a drop in the store's image and a decrease in loyalty to the point of sale (or even loyalty to the brand). At the same time, a fourth-level seller has nothing to do in a grocery store with a closed form of sale in the presence of a queue - none of the skills in the arsenal of such a seller will be in demand, the costs of training and retaining a seller of this level will be incommensurate with the benefits of his work.

"The store needs a seller (registration and medical records are required!)".

If a similar announcement hangs on the doors of your outlet or you intend to post it in the coming days, it will be useful to understand what level of seller's training will be useful and interesting for your business or trade.

Sales consultants of the first level of training show themselves well in the following types of trade and types of outlets:

• closed and open form sales food products (hypermarkets, supermarkets, shops and stalls),
• stores like CASH & CARRY,
• sales shops (discount system),
• gas stations,
• fast food outlets,
• pharmacy points,
• mixed assortment night shops,
• points of implementation of simple or clearly standardized in terms of communication with the recipient of services (lockers, simple photography services, shoe repair, post office, metal repair, laundries, repair of household appliances, etc.)

The second level of seller training is most often demanded at points of sale of non-food products:

• shops (from hypermarkets to mini-tents) selling household appliances, electronics, clothing, shoes
• shops and salons selling mobile communications equipment and services
• salons and points of sale of specialized goods or services sold for a limited target audience (orthopedic salons, auto parts salons, salons selling cars of medium and low price categories, musical instrument stores, etc.)
• points of sale of "Flora-Fauna" products
• perfume shops "for everyone" (not oriented towards a VIP client)
• souvenir and gift shops
• points for the provision of complex services (ateliers, rental centers, photo studios, photo laboratories, "folk" hairdressing salons, building materials stores with a selection of paint colors, etc.)

The third level of training for sellers is needed in the following business areas:

• salons selling specific goods, in the choice of which the emotional factor plays a high role; wedding shops, points of sale of luxury cars, exclusive jewelry stores
• points of sale of complex goods and services computer programs from the series "for the user" or "for the task", kitchen furniture with built-in appliances, most ordinary real estate agencies
• points catering restaurant type (especially with rare and national menus)
• places of sale of goods and services of a special, elite nature (tea clubs, collection wine shops, etc.)
• beauty centers and elite places where health services are sold (VIP-fitness, VIP-pool, etc.)
• retail outlets that provide services for the individual production of goods (orthopedic workshops, optical stores in the case of preliminary selection of glasses or frames, elite design studios)
• points of sale of modular goods (computers, furniture, some types of household appliances)

The most rare and intersecting with retail outlets of the latter type are the places of sale, where sellers of the fourth level can work. Since for such people life itself, their way of thinking and acting in any circumstances, is the sale and the process of realizing something, there are often no restrictions in their work. The highest percentage of specialists of the fourth level of training was noticed in the real estate business, high-tech stores, in the field of jewelry sales, etc. The main difference between a fourth-level seller is the ability to work effectively in difficult conditions of personal sales, when every word can be decisive and determine the outcome of the entire transaction.

As stated above, salesperson training levels are not only steps in personnel assessment. Equally, they are costly financial levers that determine the success or failure of a retail outlet, its competitiveness, the ability to survive in difficult conditions modern business. We hope that the criteria for evaluating sellers will help any entrepreneur not only analyze employees, but also save money through the correct and rational selection of personnel at the point of sale.

Assessment of personnel performance helps to determine the effectiveness of the performance of a particular employee's work, allows you to establish the compliance of performance indicators with established requirements. In addition, the assessment process helps to identify both individual employee problems and general ones that are characteristic of the entire team (department or company).

Problem 1.How to develop criteria for personnel assessment?

Problem 2.Who should be involved in developing the assessment criteria?

Problem 3. What are the requirements for the evaluation criteria?

Personnel assessment helps to determine the effectiveness of the performance of a particular employee's work, allows you to establish the compliance of performance indicators with established requirements. In addition, the assessment process helps to identify both individual employee problems and general ones that are characteristic of the entire team (department or company). But most managers have difficulty evaluating their subordinates. This is due to the lack of clear, unambiguous and performance-oriented evaluation criteria for the employee. Sometimes this leads to the adoption of some management decisions under the influence of personal sympathy, as well as to problems associated with a non-working system of rewards, with low discipline of employees. To avoid such problems, it is important, when developing a system for evaluating an employee, to determine on the basis of what criteria the evaluation will be carried out.

What are the criteria?

The assessment criteria are divided on different grounds, among which the following groups can be distinguished:

· Corporate criteria (applicable to all employees of the company, for example: timeliness, completeness of performance of duties, etc.) and specialized criteria (that is, corresponding to a specific workplace, type of activity);

· Quantitative criteria (assessment based on achieved results) and qualitative criteria (individual characteristics of an employee and quality of work);

· Objective criteria (standards, quality and performance standards that can be established for almost any job) and subjective criteria (indicators and characteristics that are assessed based on the opinions and assessments of experts);

· Integral and simple criteria. If the assessment in one indicator takes into account or combines information obtained as a result of assessing various characteristics of work and work behavior, then such an indicator is an integral criterion. If, however, individual aspects of work or work behavior are assessed, for example, the level of productivity or the absence of being late for work, then these indicators can be considered as simple criteria.

The choice of specific evaluation criteria depends on the categories of workers to be evaluated and how the results will be used.

HR Dictionary

Criteria for evaluation- these are the key parameters (work, behavioral, personal indicators and characteristics), which are used to assess the effectiveness of the employee. Evaluation criteria define how each function and each action should be performed to meet the needs of the company and customers.

We maintain consistency in developing criteria

The algorithm of actions when developing the criteria is as follows:

1. we define a group of positions for which criteria will be developed (based on professional characteristics);

2. we identify the essential factors of activity for these groups;

3. evaluate the criteria for the following points:

Are the chosen criteria really important;

Do you have enough information to evaluate according to the selected criteria;

4. describe the criteria. It is possible to describe only the criterion itself or in relation to the rating scale;

5. we group and do the ranking of the criteria (that is, we determine the weight of the factors influencing the result of the activity). This is necessary in order to separate the main and auxiliary indicators of the employee's performance.

Boris Beltinov, head of Recruitment Service, Work Service (Moscow):

“When developing assessment criteria, the specifics of the activity, the market segment (sales, production), goals and objectives are taken into account, that is, what we want to get from the personnel assessment. In addition, it is necessary to determine which criteria will be prioritized. For example, the main criteria for assessing line personnel include: quality of work (no errors, compliance with customer service standards), volume of work performed, discipline, loyalty. "

We propose to consider the application of the algorithm of actions on the example of developing criteria for sales personnel

We define the groups of positions.In our example, these will be the salesperson-cashier and the salesperson-consultant.

We determine the factors of activity, positions essential for this group. For example, the volume of work performed, the quality of the work performed, professional knowledge (knowledge of goods and services, company standards when working with clients, working with customer objections), discipline, loyalty, oral communication, the ability to control emotions, the ability to listen,, creativity, leadership skills, the ability to prioritize.

Evaluating the criteria... As a rule, many managers try to identify as many significant factors for assessing personnel as possible, believing that in this case the assessment will be the most complete. But in reality, everything turns out to be far from the case. Evaluating all possible factors is time-consuming and results in blurry results. To avoid this, it is necessary to evaluate the selected criteria, that is, to determine which criteria are the most important and which are superfluous - this will save time and effort in assessing personnel. For this, we recommend making a table (see below).

Determining the importance of criteria for sales personnel

Criteria	High importance	Medium importance	Low importance
Discipline
Loyalty
Quality of work performed
Scope of work performed
Professional knowledge
Leadership skills
Creation
Ability to control emotions
Ability to prioritize
Ability to solve difficult situations
The ability to listen
Oral communication

We have found that criteria such as creativity, prioritization and leadership skills are not important in the assessment of these positions and should be discarded. Thus, we have determined the criteria by which the assessment will be carried out: discipline, loyalty, the volume and quality of work performed, professional knowledge, oral communication and listening skills, the ability to control emotions and solve difficult situations.

We describe the criteria.Consider the description of the criteria in relation to the rating scale. We also recommend compiling a table (see pages 94–95).

Scale for evaluating some criteria

Criterion	Brief criterion description	3 points (meets the requirements)	2 points (does not always correspond requirements)	1 point (does not meet the requirements)
Discipline	He does not spend his working time on extraneous matters. There are no passes at work	Comes to work on time. Rarely absent, and if this happens, then for a good reason	Not always punctual, sometimes forgets to warn	Often absent or late, without informing the manager
Loyalty	Respectful of the organization	Satisfied with the fact that he works in the organization, does not speak badly about the company and colleagues	Does not always feel like a part of the organization, avoids publicly expressing dissatisfaction, but sometimes does not restrain negative emotions towards the company	Has a negative attitude towards the organization, pursues his own personal goals, criticizes the company and colleagues
Quality of work performed	The work is carried out without errors, accurately and thoroughly. Customer service standards are followed	The quality meets the requirements, mistakes are rare, and if there are, they are minor and are corrected on their own	The work is done well, but there are mistakes, sometimes you have to check the work	Poor work quality, constant errors, constant checks required
Scope of work performed	The work is carried out in the planned volume	Works quickly, meets targets, or more than planned	Works slowly, needs to be "customized"	Works slowly. Does not cope with the planned volume
Professional knowledge	The employee has the knowledge necessary for this position	He understands his duties well, knowledge corresponds to the work performed, explanations from the head are rarely required	Knowledge is not always enough, many work questions need to be further clarified	Lack of knowledge to carry out responsibilities. Doesn't understand his job well
Ability to control emotions	Ability to control yourself in stressful situations	Works well in both normal and stressful situations, always maintains self-control and a positive attitude towards work and clients	An even, calm attitude towards work and colleagues, as well as clients. Tries to restrain himself in a difficult situation	Constant dissatisfaction and unfriendly attitudes towards colleagues and clients create tension. Uneven emotional behavior
Ability to solve difficult situations	Ability to make decisions and independently find a way out of this situation	Can independently find way out of a difficult situation. Always makes decisions within his competence and is responsible for them	He prefers not to make decisions on his own, often asks the manager's advice to solve a difficult situation	Avoids making decisions and being responsible for them, independent decisions of difficult situations only aggravate the situation
The ability to listen	Ability to correctly hear and understand information	Listens attentively, does not interrupt, knows how to ask clarifying questions	Listens carefully to what is said to him and seeks to understand	Not listening, often interrupts. If something did not understand, then does not clarify, but adds its own interpretation
Oral communication	Ability to express your thoughts accurately and clearly	Very well expresses his thoughts, knows how to convincingly convincing of his innocence	Knows how to explain his position, but sometimes difficulties arise in order to logically prove his point of view	With difficulty expresses his thoughts, takes offense if they begin to ask clarifying questions, takes offense, thinking that they do not understand him

We group and rank the criteria. In our example, it will look like this:

The volume and quality of work, professional knowledge will be included in the group of criteria - the fulfillment of basic job responsibilities. Loyalty and discipline - attitude towards work. Oral communication, the ability to control emotions, the ability to listen - communication skills.

The ranking of the criteria will look like this.

Performing basic job duties. Among them:

· 1 - professional knowledge;

· 2 - quality of work;

· 3 - the amount of work.

· Attitude to work, among them:

· 1 - discipline;

· 2 - loyalty;

· 3 - the ability to solve difficult situations.

· Communication skills, among them:

· 1 - oral communication;

· 2 - the ability to control emotions;

· 3 - the ability to listen.

Natalia Maleeva, hR Director of M.Video company (Moscow):

“Since our company is developing dynamically, it becomes necessary to refine both the criteria and the assessment procedure. This happens, as a rule, as follows:

A working group is being formed, which includes key employees of the retail directorate (the best section managers, store directors, regional managers) and representatives of the commercial directorate responsible for the growth of sales of certain goods in stores.

The goal is determined working group... For example, one of the criteria for evaluating a seller in our stores is technical knowledge. In this case, the goal of the working group is to determine which categories of goods occupy a large share of sales in the department, technically complex goods, novelties of the season, and also to highlight the categories that have become irrelevant or are removed from the assortment of stores. Based on this information, the percentage of the number of questions for each of the categories will be formed. In addition, it is determined whether the seller should know everything thoroughly specifications or just have information about the functionality of the product and its use in everyday life. "

Who should be involved in developing the criteria?

Evaluation criteria can be developed by the manager and the HR specialist, or jointly with the employees who perform the relevant work. In the first case, it is important that the line manager also took part in developing the criteria, since it is he who sets goals for the employee and evaluates the results of work. Developing line manager criteria together with employees has its advantages. Firstly, the criteria will be clear for both the manager and employees, and secondly, they will be more consistent with the specifics specific work, thirdly, will reflect, take into account the conditions and content of work and, finally, will be accepted by employees. But it should be borne in mind that the manager makes the final decision after discussing the developed criteria with top management and HR specialists. remember, that general acceptance and awareness of the assessment criteria is necessary, therefore, before the meeting, each participant should be explained what the assessment criteria are, why they are important and how they will be used in the process of assessing the employee's performance.

Olga Svetlysheva, lecturer at the Center "Specialist" at the Moscow State Technical University. N.E. Bauman, Candidate of Legal Sciences (Moscow):

“The project team must necessarily include managers of different levels and specialists, whose task is to fill the proposed forms with content (for example, to formulate goals for employees on certain period and criteria for their achievement). The main thing when developing criteria is to remember about the relationship between the company's strategy and the goals and planned results of specific departments and each employee. "

Don't neglect the description of the criteria. This will serve as a tool for reaching a common understanding and will act as a "dictionary" of terms accepted in the organization.

What documents are required when developing the criteria for assessing personnel?

In developing the criteria for personnel performance, one or more of the following documents should be based: the company's strategic plan, clearly defined business processes, the company's mission and goals, job descriptions, standards and regulations for the performance of work, etc.

It is necessary to focus on what is really important for a particular position, and determine the acceptable minimum of tasks and results that must be achieved.

Svetlana Nikitina, senior Account Manager of Consulting Group "CONSORT", member of the Association of HR Consultants (Moscow):

“First of all, a copy of the job description of employees is needed to develop criteria. It is extremely important here that the assessment indicators correspond to the content of the work; for this it is worth checking how the functions performed correspond to the job description. Also, to form the evaluation criteria, it is used overall strategy company development and employee appraisal form. In addition, documents are used in which service functions are recorded, they can be called: functional responsibilities, job responsibilities, functional tasks. Job responsibilities can be included in the job description, which defines the authority of the employee. "

It is important to have sufficient information to assess according to the selected criteria, that is, it should be possible to compare the activities of employees in relation to the established standards of work in the company.

Requirements to be met by criteria

After the assessment criteria are written, it is necessary to determine whether they meet the certain requirements... So, the criteria should:

1. Be achievable, which is necessary to get the job done.

2. Be objective and reasonable and not depend on who performs them (that is, they should be developed for a specific position, not for a person).

3.Inform the employee about what concrete actions and results are expected from him.

4. To correspond to the content of the work.

5. To motivate the employee to achieve better results.

6. Be consistent with the goals of the organization.

7. Be clear and clearly linked to critical performance characteristics and / or critical performance results.

8. Be dynamic, that is, they must develop and adapt to existing changes in the company.

Olga Novikova, deputy General Director for Personnel, SINTEZ N Group of Companies (Moscow):

“Very often, a middle manager does not have enough knowledge to assess his subordinate personnel. This leads to subjectivity and bias, a formal approach and a violation of the frequency of assessment activities. This problem can be solved by making the HR department responsible for the entire assessment process in the organization. That is, the department will not only participate in the development of the assessment system, but also monitor compliance with the regulations and timing of assessment activities. In addition, I recommend developing motivation schemes for managers, including the assessment of middle managers in terms of work with personnel. Also, an important role is played by the systematic training of managers in personnel management, which should be initiated and organized by the personnel department. Particular attention should be paid to explanatory work among middle managers on personnel management issues, which must be constantly carried out by the head of the HR department. "

Clear evaluation criteria help both manager and staff understand what is expected of their work. This understanding provides a basis for establishing feedback, makes it possible to assess personal prospects, and contributes to the effective performance of each employee. In addition, the criteria allow you to determine how the employees fit the organization and how the organization meets the employee's expectations. Thus, the evaluation criteria will help evaluate the employee's contribution to the achievement of the organization's goals, which enables management to make the right administrative decisions.

• Personnel assessment, assessment

Keywords:

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TRIAL PURCHASES AS A METHOD FOR EVALUATING SELLERS
Pustynnikova Yu.M.
Fashion Industry Autumn 2004

Evaluating the quality of salespeople is an urgent task for most fashion retailers. This task is especially relevant for retail chains - for the image of the chain, it is important not only the level of service in stores, but also the compliance of this service with the standards of the chain. And it is not possible to evaluate the quality of work of a large number of sellers "by eye", as it can be done in a separate boutique, due to direct control of the store administrator - too many sellers need to be evaluated and checked for compliance with the network standards, a unified system needs to be developed.

Traditional methods of personnel assessment do not work in the case of working with retailers, since they do not take into account the specifics of the activities of retailers. Here is a far from complete list of the limitations and difficulties that you will encounter when you come close to solving the question of evaluating sellers:

• the assessment of the store administrator is strongly influenced by the personal relationships that he inevitably develops with each of his subordinate sellers;

• an employee may verbally know all the standards well and say that “the client is always right”, but in reality he may behave completely differently. There are a lot of nuances in the work of a retailer, which are revealed only during the observation of his work. For example, how quickly and how the seller reacts to the store visitor (without giving the visitor to his senses, offers his help or, on the contrary, does not pay attention to him until the visitor leaves), the adequacy of phrases and the tone with which sellers address the visitor (“You did you want something? "," No, this does not suit you at all! "," This is very sexy "," Well, everything, go! "), the seller's habit of using diminutive names when serving (" Try on these trousers, they they will perfectly match the blouse that you have chosen, and we can also offer you a jacket, and then you will have a suit. There are shoes in the fitting room, and you can try on pants under the heel ");

• If the administrator is observing, or the salesperson knows that his work is being judged, he will “give exemplary performances,” very different in style from his daily work.

Fortunately, there is an assessment method that allows you to bypass these obstacles, which is actively used in retail in the West and is gradually gaining more and more popularity in Russia. This is a trial shopping or Mystery Shopping method. In addition to the above, the following definitions are also used: Mystery Purchase, Mystery Shopper, Fictional Buyer, Secret Shopping, Spotter Services, Shopper Programs, Undercover Performance Evaluations, Anonymous Consumers, Shopper Audits, Virtual Customers.

The essence of the method is that the purchase is made by a trained “customer” who, after leaving the store, evaluates the level of service in a specially designed form.

An important feature Mystery Shopping is that the assessment of the store personnel is carried out by a third-party organization, and the people acting as mystery shoppers are not interested persons, since they are not friends, relatives or employees, managers or owners of the Customer's company, and therefore can give an objective assessment.

Evaluating the performance of sellers and the quality of service in general is the main, but not the only purpose of using trial buy programs. The following situations of using the method are also most typical:

• assessing the level of compliance with customer service standards, as well as adjusting existing standards or developing new standards for quality service, work technologies, optimal business processes;

• identifying bottlenecks in the knowledge and skills of employees, taking into account the preparation of training programs and assessing learning outcomes, adjusting subsequent training programs;

• staff honesty check (this type of assessment is usually used when there is a certain suspicion and focuses on cash transactions between the Mystery Shopper and a specific employee of the client).

• comparing oneself with competitors, developing a competitive strategy (in this case, in addition to the client's stores, Mystery Shoppers visit the enterprises of the client's competitors using the same evaluation form);

• promotion of specific brands of the product;

• retail audit: along with an assessment of the quality of service, the availability and location of goods, prices, availability of POS materials, etc. are assessed.

When assessing the quality of service (Customer Service Evaluation, General Mystery Shopping), the most common criteria are:

• compliance with quality service standards;
• use of sales techniques;
• cross-selling: offering additional products during the sale process.

For those who decide to conduct test purchase programs on their own, it makes sense to pay attention to the typical difficulties that arise when using this method... The difficulties, as we have already noted, are due to the indispensable condition for obtaining reliable information. This means that, firstly, it is necessary to observe secrecy so that sellers do not know that this buyer is a bogus, and secondly, the criteria by which the assessment is carried out should reflect, on the one hand, the interests of customers, and on the other, comply with the established rules ( or tradition) of the company's work. Training of "buyers", regular monitoring of their work and "debriefing" is of great importance. Buyers must report verbally and in writing. Oral reports are best done in group mode. This increases staff motivation and allows the exchange of experiences. Each report should be no more than after 3-4 visits, otherwise the impressions may be blurred. In addition, this will allow the project manager to correct the behavior of the "buyers" in time. The most difficult moment when conducting Mystery Shopping is the development of criteria for evaluating the work of sellers and the selection of virtual buyers, since it is necessary to select buyers with the same characteristics as real buyers: by gender, age, marital status, educational level, social status, lifestyle. For example, evaluating the work of sellers working with premium and deluxe clothing and footwear as virtual buyers, it is necessary to attract people with very high incomes who are accustomed to expensive things and do not get confused by entering a store where prices for goods begin from a few hundred dollars.

The biggest difficulties begin after receiving the results of the first test purchases. It may turn out that those areas that the company considers to be safe need to be urgently optimized: develop and conduct training, enter the assessment of the work of sellers into the system, make personnel decisions, select, adapt and train new employees. And this always requires a lot of effort and resources. If, after assessing the quality of service, nothing has changed in the work of your company in general and in the work of sellers, in particular, then it is very likely that the expenses were in vain.

Test purchase technology

In total, the process of preparing the Mystery Shopper program includes the following steps:

• Defining program objectives

This step is decisive: whether you will use Mystery Shopping only to evaluate the work of sellers, or set additional goals, such as assessing the compliance of the chain stores with general standards and adherence to the display of goods, competitor research and benchmarking, assessing the need for training or monitoring after training programs, development of retail staff motivation systems, security checks (honesty of staff, their law-abidingness), support for promotions, evaluation criteria, accents in questionnaires, the number and frequency of visits to Mystery Shoppers may vary.

• Development of evaluation criteria, determination of their weight

The next step is to develop criteria by which mystery shoppers will evaluate the work of employees.

Further, it is determined which service will be considered satisfactory, which is good or excellent. It is not enough to simply indicate “good appearance” in the evaluation form, it is important to write down the parameter levels and which state corresponds to each level. What are the behavioral signs of the manifestation of these levels of service in personnel, what should be paid attention to in the organization of trade and retail space.

Example: Description of one of the elements of the evaluation form.

Evaluation element, criterion	Criterion state characteristics	Assessment	Notes, directions for correction
Dealing with customer objections	Carefully, calmly responded to the claim, identified and satisfied the client's need	10
	Answer correctly, but feel artificial (fake smile, automatic response)	8
	There is a desire to retain the client, but they do not always find the right answer right away	6
	Refusal of the client's wishes, standard explanation (for example, "this is not accepted")	4
	Ignoring, withdrawing, avoiding contact with the client, lack of any explanation	2
	Refusal in a rude form, rudeness	0

Then each criterion, in accordance with its significance, is assigned a certain weight.

• Development of a questionnaire and research program:

When the goals are defined and the evaluation criteria are formulated, a detailed questionnaire is developed (it is advisable to use closed questions, that is, assuming only answers "yes" or "no"), leaving room for the Buyer's comments. According to certain criteria, scores are used. It is better if the scale has more than five links. If necessary, the questionnaire can include checklists for mentioning brands (models) and their key properties and benefits by employees of the outlet.

• Determining the required number of Mystery Shoppers

This is a very important stage. Here you need to calculate the optimal number of Mystery Shoppers based on the required frequency of visits and the number of points of visit. Every point of sale you need to visit at least 2 times for the purity of the experiment. If a store has several shifts of salespeople and it is necessary to assess their work both at the peak of attendance and in the "lull", then there should be more such visits - at least 2 visits per shift.

• Determining the requirements for the Mystery Shopper

At this stage, the socio-demographic characteristics of the Mystery Shoppers are determined (required gender, age, marital status, social status, income level), their professional affiliation, etc.

• Determining the optimal time and schedule of visits

The visits should coincide in time with the main wave of regular shoppers, as well as cover the "quiet zones" in order to assess the sales staff in both working modes: busy and standby. It is also determined which of the Mystery Shoppers visits which outlets.

• Recruiting and training Mystery Shoppers

In accordance with the list of requirements, Mystery Buyers are selected and undergo specific training. They are taught how to behave in order to remain incognito, what questions to ask during the conversation, what to look for, how and when to fill out the questionnaire. It is very important to make sure that Buyers understand the questionnaire unambiguously. At the same time, a legend is invented and developed for each Mystery Shopper: who he is, where he is from, how he found out about the store, what purchase he came for and why, what are his personal and behavioral characteristics (capricious, demanding, brand-dependent ...) and so on.

• Training visits:

Training evaluations where Mystery Shopper work is not paid. Some companies require new hires to undertake training visits to assess their ability to observe and provide quality written reports and comments.

• Assessment procedure

Or the "wave" during which Mystery Shoppers make their visits to retail outlets, carry out test purchases, collect information and fill out questionnaires.

• Oral report

The mystery shopper reports to the organizers of the project and gives a verbal description of the visit, comments, suggestions, etc. in addition to the structural part of the questionnaire.

• Analysis and synthesis of information

At this stage, all questionnaires, as well as comments and suggestions of Mystery Shoppers are brought together and subjected to quantitative and qualitative processing. Based on the data received, a report is drawn up based on the results of the assessment.

• Use of information

At this stage, personnel decisions are made, the results of the assessment are communicated to the sellers, and a program for further actions is determined. If the assessment is carried out by a third-party organization, then the Contractor provides recommendations and suggestions to the customer or even develops a program to optimize the company's activities.

The most common outcomes of mystery shopper programs are:

• Assessing the need for training or development of training for customer service personnel. The training is based on the information gathered during the assessment process, and focuses on areas of service that require improvement. After a series of trainings, as a rule, another wave of Mystery Shopping is held to assess the effectiveness of training.

• Motivation programdeveloped based on the results of Mystery Shopping, during which employees can be rewarded. It can be developed as a system of bonuses or de-bonuses, which will be based on specific violations or especially important achievements of store employees, as well as a number of service coefficients that are individually assigned to sellers based on the results of an audit and before the next wave of Mystery Shopping.

• Personnel decision making: about bonuses, about the promotion of a seller in the rank or position (senior seller, administrator), issuing a warning to employees who did not pass the assessment satisfactorily, dismissal of the worst sellers.

Example:

The trial purchase method was used to assess the quality of service in a Moscow retail chain of about five fashion stores. The reason for the appeal was dissatisfaction with the head of the company with the level of adherence to service standards by the network sellers. During the implementation of the project, the criteria by which the quality of service was measured were determined and, using test purchases, an assessment was carried out. Not only the work of sellers was assessed, but also the appearance of the store, adherence to the rules of display and adherence to labor discipline.

In preparation for test purchases, it turned out that the company's quality service standards were messy and hard to read. Many sellers simply could not find the strength to familiarize themselves with the standards to the end. And the system of remuneration of sellers does not stimulate them to sell more and make customers an extended complex offer, as the manager demanded. In addition, based on the results of trial purchases, the consultants drew the customer's attention to the fact that the assortment presented in the stores does not meet the needs of the store's target audience - women from 25 to 35 years old with an above-average income, and the accepted layout only emphasizes the shortcomings of the assortment.

Thus, as a result of trial purchases, not only the qualifications of the sellers were assessed, but also a new incentive system was developed, personnel were trained in the skills of high-quality customer service, the assortment and layout of stores were optimized, and shortcomings in the design of outlets were eliminated.

Test purchase programs are most effective if they have a monitoring nature: if a company employee knows that he can be checked at any time, then, as a rule, he forgets about personal problems while at the workplace. According to many experts, it is most optimal to repeat test purchases once a quarter, but, in any case, they should be carried out at least once a year: the results of Mystery Shopping clearly show flaws and omissions in the scheme of working with the consumer, a company that will stop such monitoring , can quickly lose in the competition. Knowing the real state of affairs in the enterprise and striving for improvement is a prerequisite for success. The information gained from test purchases can be the key to understanding what needs to be done to become the best.

An example of a fragment of a work quality assessment sheet
retailers.

Mystery Shopper (TP) _____________________________________________

A store __________________________________________________________

Date of visit ____________________ Time of visit from ________ to _________

Legend of TP _____________________________________________________________

Purchase amount __________________________________________________________

Seller # 1 (description) __________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

Seller # 2 (description) __________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

Getting in touch
Responding to the client: at the moment of the appearance of the TP, the seller

• Works with another client
• Throws on the incoming
• Stands facing the entrance, greets
• Stands with his back to the entrance
• Lays out the goods
• sitting
• eats
• drinks tea / coffee / soft drinks
• reads
• solves a crossword puzzle
• busy with his own business
• chatters
• absent
• consumes alcohol
• Other _______________________________________________

TP was ignored for

Greeting

• smile is unnatural, strained • grin • warm, benevolent smile

General impressions

Service

Starting a conversation

Help offer

• no help offered
• help is offered indistinctly, not by standard
• help was offered, a refusal was received, no further attempts were made to make contact
• help is offered in an intrusive, assertive manner
• skillfully and unobtrusively offers help, in case of refusal, continues to keep the client in the spotlight, being ready at any time to come to the rescue

Problem 1. What are the criteria for evaluating the work of sellers? Problem 2. How to choose a tool for evaluating sales personnel? Problem 3. When should you use the mystery shopping method?

Assessment of the quality of the work of sellers is an urgent task for most companies in the trade sector. Indeed, as practice confirms, one satisfied client will bring ten new ones, and one dissatisfied one will scare off 25 potential buyers. Therefore, organizations are sparing no expense in training employees to improve service levels. But so that these expenses are not in vain, sellers need to apply the knowledge gained in practice. How can I check this? Assess staff performance. Let's take a look at what criteria are used to evaluate sellers and what method to use, what is "Mystery Shopper" and how it differs from traditional evaluation.

Determining the evaluation criteria

Before choosing a method for evaluating the work of sellers, it is necessary to draw up criteria that are clear and understandable for everyone. Only then the assessment of the achieved results will objectively show the progress (or lagging behind) of each of the employees. In order to develop criteria, first define the indicators by which the assessment will be carried out. They are quantitative (how much) and qualitative (how). For example, quantitative - sales volume, number of attracted customers, number of returns, qualitative - customer service, knowledge of etiquette, discipline, etc. Then describe in detail each criterion. For example, clearly state which service will be considered satisfactory, which is good or which is excellent. It is not enough just to indicate “the work is done well”; it is important to write down the levels of the parameter and what state corresponds to each level. We recommend that you do this in relation to the rating scale (example below).

Choosing an assessment method

In order to determine the assessment method, we recommend answering three questions - why the assessment will be carried out (define goals), what will you evaluate (develop assessment indicators), how you will evaluate (study the assessment methods and choose the one that suits you).

We propose to consider a brief overview of the methods that are used to assess the performance of sellers. They can be used both independently and together with each other.

Evaluation by clients. Customer survey about the seller's work. The buyer is asked to fill out a pre-developed questionnaire and evaluate the service, the assortment of the store, the display of goods, etc. On the basis of the data obtained, errors in the standards of service, organization trading floor and carry out their correction.

Assessment center. A set of assessment activities conducted with a group of employees (using a set of tests and cases or role-playing games), which makes it possible to simulate various aspects of activities and diagnose employee behavior in a given situation. It is used for both large and small retail chains. But it requires careful preliminary preparation, time and financial costs.

Ranging. Comparison of employees among themselves according to a number of criteria (sales volume, degree of plan fulfillment, etc.). It is a simple and easy-to-use assessment method, and the results can be used to make a decision to reward a particular employee. However, the results obtained in this way are approximate, so we recommend using it in conjunction with other methods.

Professional tests. Testing of employees for knowledge of the products sold, the legal foundations of retail trade, rules for working with clients, etc. Based on the number of correct answers, a certain job category is assigned, and professional knowledge is assessed. But with the help of testing, only theory can be assessed, so it is better to conduct it in conjunction with another method (cases, role-playing games), which will allow assessing the application of knowledge in practice.

Observation. The basic method of studying professional activity. A HR manager or a specially invited person monitors the work of the seller for one to two hours. Evaluates his work and enters the data obtained into the observation card. This method helps to determine the nature of professional tasks, the structure of work operations, the specifics of interaction, etc. Please note that the seller should not know that his work is being evaluated, otherwise his behavior will be very different from his daily work.

Mystery shopper. As part of the study, a specially trained agent visits a sales outlet and undergoes a service procedure. At the same time, he collects the necessary information about the quality of service and the implementation of work standards by employees. This method is recommended by many experts, as it fully helps to track the work of sellers and adherence to accepted service standards. Below we will consider this method in more detail.

Criteria Evaluation Scale

Criterion	Brief description of the criterion	3 points (meets the requirements)	2 points (does not always meet the requirements)	1 point (does not meet the requirements)
Quality of work performed	Performs accurately, thoroughly, accurately	Meets requirements without errors	Performs well, but there are minor errors	Performs poorly with numerous errors
Scope of work	Implementation of planned indicators. Work speed	Performs in full or more than planned. Works fast	Performs planned indicators. Average working speed	Does not fulfill planned targets. Works slowly

Zaur BABAEV, head of one of the supermarkets (Moscow):

“Unfortunately, universal assessment methods have not yet been invented. As practice shows, a variety of techniques introduced personnel services, do not always correspond to the prevailing realities. In evaluating sellers, I rely on arbitrary characteristic system method, which, from my point of view, most clearly reflects the focus on results. Evaluated combination of personal qualities with quantitative indicators... These are appearance and discipline, positive thinking, knowledge of the product and assortment, sales, competent and friendly response to questions and complaints from customers. I believe that this is how real professionals in their field will come to replace “random people” in the sales profession ”.

If you have chosen the Mystery Shopping method

As already mentioned, many experts recommend using the Mystery Shopper method to evaluate sellers, either as primary or secondary. The fact is that traditional methods of personnel assessment do not work in the case of sellers, since they do not take into account the specifics of their activities. For example, when ranking or evaluating a conversation, the opinion of a store administrator is strongly influenced by the personal relationships that he inevitably has with each of his subordinate sellers. Also, an employee can verbally know all the standards well and say that “the client is always right,” but in reality he can behave completely differently. And the Mystery Shopper method allows you to see the seller in action.

Advantages and disadvantages of the method. One of the main advantages of this method is that the vendor is evaluated by a third party. The reviewers are not interested in either a bad or a good result; they evaluate as the clients would. This allows you to get objective results. In addition, the method makes it possible to use the results in all areas of work with personnel (certification, motivation, training, adaptation of newcomers, etc.).

Tatiana IVLEVA, Director of Retail Service LLC (Nizhny Novgorod):

“We recommend Mystery Shopper assessment to all companies that are interested in improving and maintaining a high quality customer service. With a competent organization, the method has the following advantages: - the evaluation criteria can include almost all aspects of the seller's work with the client, as well as evaluate the technical characteristics (the state of the sales area, the display of goods, etc.); - you can track the dynamics of changes in the level of service quality in the company, as well as in comparison with competitors; - it becomes possible to flexibly “customize” this tool for specific tasks of the company and its individual divisions. In our opinion, this method has practically no drawbacks. Conditionally, they include need for additional budgetto carry out inspections, and not too prompt feedback if the inspection period is too long (more than one month) ”.

What can be appreciated. Each company has its own goals for evaluating this method. The most typical ones are as follows:

- diagnostics of the current state of customer service quality (assessment of the level of compliance with service standards, as well as adjusting existing or developing new standards);

- identification of bottlenecks in the knowledge and skills of employees for the preparation or adjustment of training programs;

- checking the honesty of staff (used when there are certain suspicions and focuses on cash transactions);

- comparison with competitors (except for the customer's stores, mystery shoppers visit the competitors' stores using the same evaluation form);

- promotion of specific brands of the product;

- conducting a retail audit (in addition to the quality of service, the availability and location of goods, prices, etc. are assessed).

Elena BYVALOVA, cEO by Profpoint (St. Petersburg):

“First of all, you should think about using the Mystery Shopping method if there is a need evaluate the effect of the training... Mystery shoppers will help you find out how well the service standards are learned by the sellers, whether they are applied in real contact with the buyer. For example, one of our clients - a chain of household appliances and electronics stores - conducts a monthly survey for itself using the "Mystery Shopper" method. The training manager uses the received audio recordings as successful and unsuccessful examples of fulfilling the standards of service and work with clients, examines specific cases with the sellers. Moreover, this method works well as part of a motivational scheme. In this case the results of the checks carried out are taken into account when calculating salaries ... So, our other client - a network of photo shops - in the first few months of the study fully paid for the costs of its implementation by reducing bonuses to employees who did not show a sufficiently high level of proficiency in sales and customer service techniques. Now network employees are financially motivated to work according to the company's standards, and each new wave of research demonstrates a positive dynamics in the work of sellers. Of course, the question of the objectivity of the obtained results arises here, but our experience shows that a competently drawn up questionnaire, audio recordings of inspections and, of course, careful control of the data provided by secret buyers help to achieve maximum objectivity. "

How to conduct a mystery shopping appraisal. Research can be ordered from marketing and advertising agencies as well as consulting firms. In addition, you can conduct a Mystery Shopper valuation on your own. But keep in mind that in order to obtain an objective assessment, you need to attract uninterested persons as mystery shoppers, that is, they should not be store employees, relatives and friends of employees.

In any case, whether you will be doing the assessment yourself or with the help of a third party, we recommend that you do it on an ongoing basis. This will keep salespeople in good shape and provide them with regular feedback on the quality of their work.

The material was prepared by Oksana MARININA, leading expert of the journal "Personnel Business"