Performance management process for Medical distributors: reviewing salesmen on orders and on payments received
A salesman who books large orders and leaves the bills unpaid has hurt the distributor. A regular review that counts orders, collections and service makes the real performance visible.
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Share your requirementsWhy performance management process matters in medical distributors
Most distributors review salesmen on orders booked against target, because it is easy to count. Collections, returns and service to chemists are tracked elsewhere or not at all. The salesman with the best order figure may have the oldest dues, while a quieter colleague who collects steadily is overlooked. Targets set at year start become unrealistic by midyear when a manufacturer changes a scheme.
A performance process uses a short list of measures for each role and a regular conversation. For route salesmen: orders, collections, new chemists and complaints. For godown staff: accuracy and dispatch time. For drivers: on-time delivery and vehicle care. A manager meets each person every month for a short review and every quarter for a longer one, and notes what help is needed.
How to set it up
1. Choose three to four measures per role
Keep them to what the person can influence. For a salesman, include orders and collections together, so neither is chased at the cost of the other.
2. Set targets for the territory
Use history, the chemists on the route and company schemes. Adjust when a line changes. Share targets in writing.
3. Hold a short monthly review
Fifteen minutes: numbers, difficulties, chemists to visit, help needed. Write two lines and share them. The performance management process page explains how we would set this up.
4. Look at dues together with orders
Review aging of dues by salesman and discuss chemists at risk. Agree actions with dates.
5. Do a quarterly conversation
Look at the longer trend, training needs and growth. Record decisions on pay and role changes with reasons.
Check these first
Before changing anything, find out what is true today. These take an afternoon and use your own records.
- Compare each salesman's orders with his unpaid dues.
- Ask a salesman what he is being measured on and see whether it matches what you intend.
- Check whether targets were adjusted when a scheme changed midyear.
- See whether godown and driver roles have any measure beyond attendance.
GullyHR can do this with you. Read how we approach performance management process in general, or share your requirements and we will tell you where to start.
Questions owners ask
Use each route's history, number of chemists and potential. A new route cannot have the same target as an established one, so explain the reasoning.
A part linked to collections keeps salesmen interested in payments. Make sure they have enough say in credit decisions to act on it.
A short monthly check on accuracy, punctuality and conduct, and a longer talk each half year. Keep it simple and fair.