This chapter focuses on performance management, the control system of sales force productivity. Good performance management ensures that salespeople, working largely unsupervised, operate as a cohesive force, with aligned goals and consistent methods of achieving these goals.

In this chapter you will learn:

• How the components of a performance management system fit together to help you understand salespeople's performance and take action to change that performance
• The pros and cons of managing salespeople by input measures (capabilities, activities, and behaviors) or output measures (customer and company results)
• What situations warrant an empowerment (low-control) approach or a directive (high-control) approach to performance management
• Useful insights that will help you ensure that your performance management system is a source of power and strength for your sales force