The Halo Effect:

People who mould their opinion of somebody else on just one (often outstanding) trait. You are falling into the halo trap if, for example, you conclude that someone who has a very attractive outward appearance must, therefore, also be intelligent, successful and outgoing.

Prejudice:

If people have sympathetic feelings for or have antipathy for somebody quickly. Factors which influence your judgement are things like clothing, hairstyle, eye contact, way of speaking, handshake and gestures. Lots of people conclude from the fact that someone has long hair, for example, that they are, therefore, unreliable.

Centrist Tendencies:

People who tend to shy away from extremes. Many trainers who score either very good or very bad marks, are familiar with this phenomenon. Assessments are near the middle and are scattered. You can avoid this mistake in two ways:

1. Six or eight categories should be used for the assessment scale.
2. Proceed with the evaluation on the premise of what the sales person’s work should be.

Both excessive expectations and fear of a negative classification lead to false judgements.

Being too strict:

Many people are too critical in their assessment of others’ behaviour. For example, a sales manager who places a great deal of emphasis on polite, reserved manners, judges a client’s acceptance of a casual, unconventional sales representative in a worse light than is objectively the case. Sales managers attending management training courses have often admitted they are overly strict when they expect excessive requirements from their sales people.

Being too lenient:

Many sales managers shy away from giving sales representatives a negative classification. The sales managers who make this mistake are those who are unsure of their own judgement or who fear that they will not be able to justify their judgement in an interview with the applicant.

The contact mistake:

Liking engenders contact – contact engenders liking. This is one of the social psychological principles. A sales person appears more likable if the manager feels emotionally attached to that person. This closeness initially comes about through frequent contact. Do not, therefore, give too much of your time to any one sales representative. Keep interviews to a maximum of 30 or 40 minutes for each salesperson.

Short-termism:

Your most recent perceptions and impressions are those which are utmost in your mind and are judged more important than previous impressions. To eliminate short-termism, during the course of the interview make notes of your observations and refer back to them when you have the time to be objective about your impressions. In order to develop skills to assess employees, you can attend a management training programme.

Richard Stone ( richard.stone@spearhead-training.co.uk ) is a Director for Spearhead Training Limited that specialises in running management training courses to improve business performance. View more ways to motivate a sales force at => http://www.spearhead-training.co.uk/FreeTrainingMaterials/articles-section.php

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