A great performance appraisal motivates your reps and creates an empowered work environment that contributes to the success of your team and company.

You want your sales team to be successful, happy and motivated—even after delivering sometimes tough-to-hear news. So how do you give constructive, meaningful feedback without damaging the delicate balance that is employee motivation?

There are some key dos and don’ts when it comes to providing performance feedback.

Here are five best practices for delivering feedback that motivates your sales team and facilitates change:

• Don’t wait until annual review time: Create a feedback loop that becomes part of your day-to-day management routine. Sales management plays a key role in reinforcing training concepts and providing ongoing coaching. In fact, ROI on training quadruples from 22 percent to 88 percent when employees receive in-field coaching and reinforcement. Don’t let your annual review be the only time you discuss performance with your employees. Spend time together, in-person or virtually, in real-time discussing opportunities for development.

• Don’t assume you’re right: Approach critical feedback sessions with the goal of getting a complete and accurate picture of the situation, instead of just delivering bad news. When it comes to giving constructive criticism, emotions can run high on both sides. Be sure you collect all the data possible and listen before delivering a blow. Ask questions to dig deeper and understand the full situation before delivering feedback.  Many companies suffer from having “lynchpins” – one person who can solve any problem. Is your employee the only person who knows how to do certain things? A lynchpin can slow your organization down when their workday is consumed with non-critical tasks. Identify lynchpins in your organization and get that knowledge shared.  Your lynchpin employee will be freed up to focus on selling.

• Let individuals create their own improvement plan: Use your regular in-field feedback loops to help employees uncover obstacles to their success and create their own solutions. When you move from a “telling” to “listening” approach, you will learn what motivates your employee and empower them to succeed at the same time. Research shows that employees prefer work environments where they are given creative freedom and opportunities for personal growth. Asking your employees to create a plan that conveys a message means you are testing their skills and abilities. Most employees take that personally and give it their best and when they do, reward them accordingly to lock in their performance for the future as well.
• Coach through experience: We learn best from a combination of experience, reflection and experimentation—ideally with a dose of good coaching. Simulations strengthen the learning process by allowing the user to ‘learn by doing’ in an accelerated environment. The purpose of a training program should not be to scrutinize but to enable. Be a support for your employees and help them overcome their problems and weaknesses. Push them to try their best and provide them opportunities to show how much they have learned.
• Get feedback on your feedback: Leaders who ask for feedback are 71 times more effective than leaders who don’t. The ability to give honest feedback is closely aligned with employee engagement. When you actively solicit feedback, this empowers employees and sends a clear signal that you’re willing to work on you, too.