• Listen for salespeople’s concerns and frustrations.

• Assess level of satisfaction with the company and what help the company could provide.

• Review measurable objectives—number of transactions, repeat clients, referrals.

• Don’t use the assessment as a time to “beat up” a salesperson; assessments need to be meaningful, two-way dialogues.

• Don’t dominate the meeting.

• Stay focused on performance; don’t let the discussion digress into office politics or the personalities of other salespeople.

• Don’t make personal comments about the salesperson during the assessment.

• Identify skill areas that would benefit from training.

• Explore ways to leverage strengths for more sales.

• Put your comments in writing, with copies to the salesperson and the personnel file.

• Ask the employee to sign the written review to indicate receipt.

Keep It Legal
Give workers the opportunity to write down their comments before placing the review in their personnel files. — Workplace Law and Office Policies, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® , 2001