Delivering Direct Sales Performance Feedback

The deadliest performance review line: 'You did well. But there's room to improve.' That’s not feedback. That’s a cop-out. And it’s one of the fastest ways to lose a rep’s motivation, trust, and eventually—retention. Let me be blunt: If you lead a sales team, generic feedback is not harmless. It’s lazy. It’s unfair. And it’s your accountability. I’ve seen this happen: A rep missed quota by 8%. No feedback mid-quarter. No 1:1 coaching sessions. End of year review? “You could’ve pushed harder.” No clarity on what “push” meant. No data on what they did right. No insight on what to fix. You think that rep walked out motivated? No. They walked out confused and eventually, they walked out for good. Salespeople aren’t mind readers. They’re learners, performers, and humans—who deserve specifics. What calls worked. What deals stalled. Where they got stuck. Where they outperformed expectations. You owe them that level of clarity. Not once a year. Not once a quarter. But every time you see something worth praising or correcting. Because your team’s growth isn’t an accident. It’s the result of consistent, honest, well-delivered feedback. And if your rep has no idea what next level looks like in your eyes—that’s not on them. If you can’t tell your rep exactly what made them a B+ instead of an A — you didn’t do your job as a leader.

It's mid-year, which means many leaders are conducting employee performance reviews. That's good—delaying until year-end is too late. More frequently is better, yet if you're not giving feedback the right way, it's pointless! Too often, reviews are unhelpful and vague, lacking concrete examples or clear explanations of how employees' work impacts customers. It creates confusion, low morale, and turnover. Research indicates: Only 31% of U.S. employees are engaged at work—the lowest in a decade (Gallup, 2025). 24% of employees would quit their jobs because of ineffective performance appraisals (Folkshr, 2025). The good news: You can turn it around at your company. Here are examples that benefit both individuals and those they serve. ✖️ Instead of: “You’re doing great.” ✔️ Say: “You took direct customer complaints and brought them into our weekly meeting. Because of that, we fixed an onboarding error that caused 40% of new users to call support in their first week.” ✖️ Instead of: “You’re a team player.” ✔️ Say: “You supported the product managers by sharing relevant customer feedback they didn’t have. That collaboration saved time—and solved the issue faster.” These are real examples. I’ve led hundreds of performance reviews—and been on the receiving end, too. I know how easy it is to get it wrong. And how powerful it is when you get it right. Want more actionable strategies? Message and follow me on LinkedIn + subscribe to my newsletter. What are your views? Comment below. #DoingCXRight #customerexperience #leadership

Ever received feedback that felt like a slap in the face? 7 tips to make sure your team never feels that way. Feedback can either build you up—or tear you down. Which one have you experienced? I’ve been on both sides. A moment I’ll never forget: Let's call her Sally. A month into her new role, she received an email from a senior leader three levels above her. Except it wasn’t feedback—it was an exhaustive list of everything she’d done wrong after one customer meeting. Several people were copied on the email—including me. I wasn’t even the target, but I felt uneasy just reading it. It felt more like an attack than feedback. It was brutal—like a wrecking ball to her confidence. And this one email impacted Sally for over a year. I realized then that feedback should never leave someone feeling this way. It should empower, not dismantle. That email taught me exactly what NOT to do when giving feedback. Because feedback can be right and kind—not cruel. It should lift people up, not tear them down. In over a decade of leading teams, I’ve learned this: The way you deliver feedback can shape careers—or break them. 7 Tips for Delivering Feedback That Inspires: 1️⃣ Give it in private. No audience is needed, in person or virtually. Privacy is a safe space for real growth. 2️⃣ Start with curiosity. Ask questions. Understand their perspective before offering feedback. 3️⃣ Focus on actions, not the person. Address specific behaviors and their impact. Not their character. 4️⃣ Acknowledge individuality. Avoid comparisons. Everyone has their own journey. 5️⃣ Be specific. Offer clear, actionable feedback. Provide real examples. 6️⃣ Listen fully. Let them share their thoughts. Don't interrupt. 7️⃣ Encourage, then move forward. Don’t hold it against them. Discuss steps to improve, then focus on the future. Great feedback builds trust, respect, and confidence. It’s the key to inspiring growth. If this resonates, share it with your network to help others give kind feedback. And hit 'Follow' for more actionable insights on leadership.

Want better performance? Make feedback less scary. I am puzzled when I see companies still holding feedback for performance reviews. The reality is, feedback piles never work. Especially worse when they are a feedback pile within a feedback sandwich. Yikes! Feedback is scary when it isn't done regularly. As simple as it sounds, the easiest way to support high performance is to get into the cadence of sharing feedback real-time (or as close to real time as possible). Let's bring this to life: Consider a newly promoted manager. Their manager hears some rumblings from the new manager's team that the manager is struggling to delegate effectively. They are not giving their team meaningful work and are micromanaging. Example 1: The manager's manager takes the time to share feedback at their next 1:1, and says something like this: I wanted to share something I’ve been hearing and thought it was worth chatting through. A few folks on the team have mentioned feeling like they’re not getting much meaningful work lately, and there’s been some frustration around feeling micromanaged. I know stepping into a manager role is a big shift—and it’s totally normal to want to make sure everything’s running smoothly. What I’m noticing, though, is a chance to lean a bit more into delegation. Your team’s capable and seems eager to take on more; giving them that space can really help them grow, and free you up too. I'd love to learn more about how delegation’s feeling so far—what’s working and what’s tricky. I'm here to support! Example 2: The manager's manager leaves this feedback for months, waiting for the performance review process because they are worried it will shatter the new manager's confidence. While the problem is temporarily avoided for the manager's manager, the team grows resentful and begins underperforming. By the time the performance review process kicks off, what could have been a small conversation, now is a huge one -- full of emotions and unexpected outcomes. Here is the thing -- feedback is what drives performance. Saving it up never works. It is about being kind and direct and ensuring the person is in the right headspace to hear what you have to share. If you want high performing teams, start with feedback as the center of that vision. Share often. Share directly. Share kindly. #feedback #performance #leadership

I still remember the moment an employee cried after I gave them feedback. Walking away from that conversation felt terrible. I made myself a promise that day: I will never give feedback this way again. My observations were accurate and validated by others. But my delivery landed with icy bluntness.   The truth is, I cared deeply about this person. But in that moment, I was more focused on my own discomfort with giving tough feedback than on their experience receiving it. I wasn't demonstrating kindness, empathy, or support, even though that's what I intended.   That day changed how I managed performance.   I learned that when you combine clear observations with genuine care for the other person, something powerful happens:   Both people open up to a safe conversation. A partnership for growth is created. The path forward becomes shared, not forced.   Since then, I've come to believe this fully: Care + clear feedback is an act of kindness.   Too many leaders avoid hard feedback to spare someone's feelings. But avoiding the conversation creates confusion, erodes trust, and stalls growth.   Managers often operate from a belief that tough feedback hurts people. The opposite is true.   When leaders exercise compassion with directness, they blend two commitments:   Compassion: You genuinely care about the person. Directness: You speak clearly about what must change.   When those two come together, performance rises, and trust grows.   Here are five ways to put it into practice:   1. Lead with care and your intent to support their success. 2. Be clear and specific. Describe the behavior, not the person. 3. Invite their perspective before deciding what comes next. 4. Co-create a path forward and agree on the next steps. 5. Follow through, acknowledge progress, and address patterns early.   When you speak the truth with care, you help people grow in ways they remember for years.   If this resonated, repost so more leaders learn to deliver feedback that truly makes a difference. Join hundreds of others in getting weekly practical tips to uplevel your leadership. Head to my profile Bill Tingle and click "View my Newsletter"

You don’t lose good people because of hard feedback. You lose them because no one tells them the truth. I’ve seen it over and over again in sales teams. Leaders avoid feedback because they don’t want to hurt feelings. But silence hurts a lot worse because it leaves people guessing, frustrated, and stuck. Here’s how to give feedback that actually develops your people: ꪜ  Set the tone. Don’t pull a rep aside right after a missed sale or bad call. Wait until emotions settle. Then something like, “Hey, I want to walk through that client conversation with you. There’s something there we can learn from together.” Now it’s about growth, not guilt. ꪜ  Talk about what happened, not who they are. Avoid blanket statements like “You’re not a closer.” Instead, get specific: “When the client asked about our accident plan, you shifted to life insurance. That’s where we lost their focus.” That turns feedback into something they can fix, not something they are. ꪜ Explain the ripple effect. Help them see the bigger picture. “When we miss explaining our core products clearly, it affects trust. Clients start thinking we’re just selling, not solving a problem.” People care more when they see how their actions impact the mission. ꪜ Build the fix together. You don’t need to have every answer. “Next time, let’s role-play how to handle that question so you feel more confident. What’s one approach you’d try?” Coaching works best when it’s a conversation instead of a lecture. ꪜ Check back in. “Let’s listen to your next call together and see how that new approach sounds.” Follow-up shows you care enough to stay in the process with them. That’s how trust grows and performance follows. When leaders hold back the truth, they hold back growth. The best leaders coach others toward their potential instead of just correcting them.  ➤ What’s the best piece of feedback you’ve ever received? 

You're failing people if you're not giving them direct, actionable feedback. I operate on the principle of being kind over being nice. It's more important to be kind than nice when you're leading a team because people don't want a best friend. They want someone to help motivate them, help them earn more money, and help them grow in their career. Early on in my career leading teams, I was just too nice. I wouldn't give direct feedback. Then I wouldn't promote people, and they'd ask why. I'd say "well, you're messing up these few things," and they'd say "I wish you would have told me that six months ago." Real-time direct feedback in a positive, constructive way is the best thing you can do for your team. I like to do it on Slack right after a call. I'll say "hey, I thought this is what went well, this is what I'd work on." I always say the words "positive intent" a lot. "This is coming from a place of positive intent. This is coming from a place where I want you to do better." I never want a review to be a surprise. If you're not performing well, you should know why, you should know what the plan is, and I'll work with you on a plan to solve it. If you're worried about being too direct, frame it around where the person wants to go in their career. Ask them what they want next, then explain what it's going to take to get there. "In order for us to get you promoted, here are the things we're going to work on." You're not just saying "you really messed up in these three areas." You're framing it as working together to get them where they want to go. I also tell people: every time I put a team member up for promotion, I have to make the case to my management team that you're ready. If I'm not giving you this feedback and I go say "I want to promote Sarah to senior AE," the management team is going to say "well, she's challenged by timeline management and her quota attainment is inconsistent." Frame it like you're on their team and you're trying to make the case for them to continue to rise. Then talk about your commitment to helping them get there through call coaching and support. That makes it a lot easier to be direct.

As we start the second half of the year, it’s important to use July to pause and reflect on our team's attainment of its desired outcomes and provide open and transparent feedback. In the spirit of continually learning, I attended a session led by Chris Foltz (IBM’s Chief Talent Officer) who facilitated a panel discussion with five upline managers on performance development. The session was structured to draw out personal learnings from this amazing group of leaders across IBM’s business areas. The ultimate goal is to improve the dialogue with your managers around coaching for the performance of their teams. Here are my takeaways: ✦ Be clear. Ensure you have clearly defined and documented the goals, objectives, and measurement criteria that align with your company's desired outcomes based on role, experience level, and expertise. Setting the bar high and having a transparent and open forum about these expectations is important. ✦ Be prepared. When you have conversations with both high and low performers, it’s best to have specific examples to back up the ratings. This provides evidence to help the individual understand where they stand relative to their outcomes and provides the basis for a conversation. ✦ Gather feedback. While it’s important to hear from individuals on how they feel they are doing, it’s equally important to cast a wide net from their [matrixed] leadership, peers, and those they manage to get a broad perspective from five to ten others to identify strengths and areas for improvement, with an understanding of what they did and how they did it. ✦ No surprises. Throughout the year, the individual and his/her manager should talk directly or indirectly about how they are meeting/not meeting their personal goals aligned with expected outcomes. When the mid-year assessment comes, the individual should already know where they stand, and the conversation can shift to how he/she can better meet those outcomes. Ensure the focus areas are acknowledged to confirm understanding of the gaps so he/she can start internalizing your feedback. ✦ Set a course together. Use each moment you engage with your direct reports as an opportunity to help them grow as leaders while aligning their results to desired outcomes. When defining such plans, be precise and don’t clutter action plans with anything extra to keep them on point. It’s a time to make a powerful connection, so you must have the data and perspectives ready before these discussions to have the biggest impact. While giving and sharing feedback has been around for some time, I found it refreshing to hear fundamental principles reinforced and brought to life by real-life examples, practices, and proven techniques. Following the key learnings above, we can close the employee expectations gap around communicating goals and aligning work to targeted outcomes. Chitralekha Datta Christy Tyberg Laura Smith Ging Calica Andrew Goetz #ibm #feedback #coaching #leadership

"I can tell they're improving" used to be my go-to coaching feedback. Until I saw the data that proved me wrong 73% of the time. Here's what happens when you let data drive your coaching: Your "strongest" rep might actually be losing the most winnable deals. Numbers don't lie - even when our instincts do. I discovered this when analyzing both call scores & conversion rates: The "natural closer" was bottom quartile in early discovery calls. The "struggling" rep? Top performer in demo-to-close. This changed everything about our coaching approach: • Replaced "great job" with "your qualification score increased 22%" • Swapped "needs improvement" with "here's where you're losing momentum" • Started tracking call quality scores in each sales stage The result? Rep performance feedback became unquestionable. Coaching conversations transformed from defensive to collaborative. Revenue increased 31% in 6 months. Not because we worked harder. Because we finally knew exactly what to work on. Your gut feeling might be good. But data-driven coaching is transformational. What metrics are you tracking in your coaching sessions?