How to Successfully Evaluate Sales Calls with Junior Reps (+ Free Template)

How to Successfully Evaluate Sales Calls with Junior Reps (+ Free Template)

How often do you conduct sales call reviews? Once a week? Once a month? Take a moment to answer that question.

As the sales manager, your job is to stay on top of the performance of your sales reps. That includes doing regular call reviews. Whether it’s a qualifying call, demo or sales call—call reviews are part of the deal.

In this post, we’re going to take a look at how to approach a call review with your junior sales reps.

Let’s start.

7 Factors to Evaluate During Sales Call Reviews

When it comes to call reviews, a lot of sales managers will be emotional in their feedback rather than strategic.

Set your emotions aside and start judging your junior sales reps on below 7 attributes.

Furthermore, effective sales call reviews play a pivotal role in shaping the growth of both individual sales representatives and the entire sales team. By focusing on these essential factors during call evaluations, you can foster a culture of continuous improvement and drive higher levels of performance.

In addition to evaluating the 7 attributes mentioned earlier, it's crucial to provide constructive feedback that highlights areas of strength and opportunities for development. To learn more about delivering impactful feedback, explore our guide on sales call notes.

Pro Tip: Never take notes again with Call Assistant in Close. Try it for free.

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1. The Goal

Every call should have a specific goal.

Start the call review by asking your junior rep what they’re trying to accomplish with the call—what’s the goal?

Then at the end of the call, ask “Was this goal accomplished?”

Simple.

During the call, there might have been 1000 things you didn’t like. That doesn’t really matter. As long as the goal was accomplished at the end, the call was successful.

On the flipside: You might have loved the call because it had a creative approach and the conversation was flowing. But ultimately, if the goal wasn’t accomplished—the call was a failure.

It’s a two-way street

Don’t just pay attention to your rep during the call review. Also pay attention to the prospect or customer on the other end.

Pay attention to the following:

  • How engaged are they?
  • When do they lose interest?
  • What’s their energy like?
  • Do they seem understood?

Look at the entire interaction between your sales rep and the prospect—not just what your sales rep does.

2. The Sales Pitch

Delivering an irresistible sales pitch is no easy task. It’s likely that your junior rep will require a lot of feedback on how to do this.

Start by breaking the pitch into three parts: beginning, middle, and end. Next, analyze how well your rep navigates through each part for the type of sales call they’re doing.

Here are a few questions to keep in mind:

  • How well did your rep follow the structure of the sales pitch?
  • How well were they able to deliver the sales script?

If you don’t have a sales script in place, take a look at this sales pitch guide.

3. The Facts

Many sales reps will bend the truth. They might not even do it on purpose, but it happens all the time. Sadly, a lot of salespeople will straight up lie to close a deal.

Here’s what to ask:

  • Did they say things that are incorrect?
  • Did they hide from things they thought would cause an obstacle?
  • Did they promise things that aren’t necessarily true, but very unrealistic?

Remember, honesty is the best policy. It’s your job to make sure your sales reps stay honest, truthful and stick to the facts.

4. The confidence

Confidence goes a long way in sales.

There are certain things that you’re training your sales reps in that they should be confident in and show improvement. Judge them on that confidence.

Ask the following questions:

  • How confident does the rep feel with the script?
  • Are they in control of the call?
  • How well are they dealing with objections and other areas they’ve been trained in?

Next, we’re going to take a look at a few intangible attributes. These are the things you don’t practice every day, but you need them to become truly great at sales: energy, connection and listening skills.

5. The Energy

Keeping a consistent level of high energy is tough. We’re influenced by the energy of other people, and if someone’s not engaged, maintaining a consistent level of high energy is challenging.

Here’s what to look out for:

  • Are your reps in control of their energy or do they get influenced by the prospect?
  • Could you tell that they were having fun?
  • Could you hear them smile?

6. The Connection

People buy from people they like. There’s a higher likelihood of the deal closing if your prospect likes the sales rep.

Here’s what to judge your reps on:

  • What’s the level of rapport?
  • Did the salesperson and the prospect able to connect in a way that made both of them like each other?

7. Their Listening Skills

Being great at sales is not about talking—it’s about being a great listener.

Pay attention to these things:

  • Did the salesperson talk more than they listened?
  • Did they interrupt the prospect?
  • When the prospect provided information that seemed incomplete, did the rep realize it and actively tried to get more answers?

Make sure your junior reps master the art of listening, because that’s what great communication is truly about.

With these seven basic steps, you'll be able to successfully evaluate sales calls with your junior reps.

Want to make it even easier? Download our free template: