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Hi John –
I work for a small company that sells software and
services in the telecommunications environment. Our
company seems to thrive on negative feedback. My
direct manager and most of the salespeople only give
negative feedback and tell me and all of my peers
about all the things we did wrong in front of the
customer. What is the best way for a Sales Engineer to
receive and act upon negative feedback (and still keep
my job)?
Mohan
India
A: Hullo Mohan – Thanks for the question.
It is never a pleasant experience to be on the receiving end of
constant negative feedback. You are actually dealing with two
issues here – the first is the culture of negative feedback within
the company, and the second is how to handle that feedback. I’
ll deal with how to handle feedback first by giving you some
general rules to live by.
Rule #1: Don’t immediately react to the feedback – just listen
to it. Instead of getting defensive and justifying your apparent
poor sales behavior, listen to what your manager or the
salespeople have to say and write it down. Much as you would
conduct a sales discovery call, get all the issues on the table
before you start to deal with any of them.
Rule #2: Ask for specific and actionable examples of your
behavior. Having your manager tell you “Mohan, you don’t
engage enough with the customers” or “Mohan, you jump
around too much in the demo”, you need to hear “Mohan – in
that demo this morning you spend too much time going through
each of the options with the customer on the initial screen. Next
time you should only speak about the 2-3 options most
important to the customer and explain why they are important
to his business”. Note that you may not agree with the
feedback, but now it is getting more specific.
Rule #3: Put a plan in place with your manager to address the
feedback. Ask for his help to improve your skills. This is why
you write the feedback down. Agree on a measurable course of
action to resolve your behavior and a timeframe to accomplish
it. You should also prioritize the feedback to determine which is
most important.
Rule #4: Now seek alternative points of view to determine if the
feedback is realistic and credible. This is your boss so you still
need to do something. Speak with your peers, even your
customers to get their candid feedback on your performance.
There are often half-truths buried in even the most vicious
forms of negative feedback.
Rule #5: Constantly review your progress with your manager
until you can get him to admit that you have solved one of the
issues he raised.
As far as changing the culture you will need the assistance of
your peers. If they are being treated in the same manner you
may be able to execute an effective change if you all ask for
the same thing. The next time your manager gives you
negative feedback, listen and accept it – then ask “so can you
tell me three things I did well so that I can repeat them next
time?” If your manager, or the salespeople, cannot come up
with a single positive thing to say it is time to review your
position within the company.
You should also look for third-party acceptance of your talents.
For example, if a customer tells you that you did a great job
explaining something, installing some software or fixing some
hardware ask the customer to tell your boss. Give them your
manager’s email. It is hard to argue with a customer attaboy.
I’ll leave you with a piece of philosophy I read a few months ago:
“The bottom line is that as long as we are striving to better our
lives as well as those around us, we should never fear the
negativity that will inevitably come our way. Some will be true
and some, half-true, but none should make us feel any less
capable than before. Learn to properly filter this feedback and
you will always maintain your motivation and proper piece of
mind.”
It is never a pleasant experience to be on the receiving end of
constant negative feedback. You are actually dealing with two
issues here – the first is the culture of negative feedback within
the company, and the second is how to handle that feedback. I’
ll deal with how to handle feedback first by giving you some
general rules to live by.
Rule #1: Don’t immediately react to the feedback – just listen
to it. Instead of getting defensive and justifying your apparent
poor sales behavior, listen to what your manager or the
salespeople have to say and write it down. Much as you would
conduct a sales discovery call, get all the issues on the table
before you start to deal with any of them.
Rule #2: Ask for specific and actionable examples of your
behavior. Having your manager tell you “Mohan, you don’t
engage enough with the customers” or “Mohan, you jump
around too much in the demo”, you need to hear “Mohan – in
that demo this morning you spend too much time going through
each of the options with the customer on the initial screen. Next
time you should only speak about the 2-3 options most
important to the customer and explain why they are important
to his business”. Note that you may not agree with the
feedback, but now it is getting more specific.
Rule #3: Put a plan in place with your manager to address the
feedback. Ask for his help to improve your skills. This is why
you write the feedback down. Agree on a measurable course of
action to resolve your behavior and a timeframe to accomplish
it. You should also prioritize the feedback to determine which is
most important.
Rule #4: Now seek alternative points of view to determine if the
feedback is realistic and credible. This is your boss so you still
need to do something. Speak with your peers, even your
customers to get their candid feedback on your performance.
There are often half-truths buried in even the most vicious
forms of negative feedback.
Rule #5: Constantly review your progress with your manager
until you can get him to admit that you have solved one of the
issues he raised.
As far as changing the culture you will need the assistance of
your peers. If they are being treated in the same manner you
may be able to execute an effective change if you all ask for
the same thing. The next time your manager gives you
negative feedback, listen and accept it – then ask “so can you
tell me three things I did well so that I can repeat them next
time?” If your manager, or the salespeople, cannot come up
with a single positive thing to say it is time to review your
position within the company.
You should also look for third-party acceptance of your talents.
For example, if a customer tells you that you did a great job
explaining something, installing some software or fixing some
hardware ask the customer to tell your boss. Give them your
manager’s email. It is hard to argue with a customer attaboy.
I’ll leave you with a piece of philosophy I read a few months ago:
“The bottom line is that as long as we are striving to better our
lives as well as those around us, we should never fear the
negativity that will inevitably come our way. Some will be true
and some, half-true, but none should make us feel any less
capable than before. Learn to properly filter this feedback and
you will always maintain your motivation and proper piece of
mind.”
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