If you’re a small business owner, measuring employee performance can mean the difference between success and failure. It’s vital to be able to measure performance with specific skill-related questions that will give both you and your employees the means to pinpoint strengths and areas in need of improvement.

The following are five valuable specifics particular to employee performance retail. Questions are also included that you may ask yourself and/or your employees during evaluations.

While there will almost certainly be a learning curve with less experienced employees, the overall assessment early on should be that the employee is a fast learner and has a knack for sales.

It takes both tenacity and efficiency to make a sale. The motivated employee will engage prospective customers as they browse and create sales opportunities.

The employee who is truly interested in helping people – not just in “making the sale” – will go above and beyond to communicate with customers about products, follow up on leads, and close the sale. With the best employees, the lines of communication are always open, and customers will always get their questions answered.

Depending on the industry and the employee in question, formal education may or may not be necessary; for example, an employee who works in computer sales may be better at the job because he/she also has a degree in computer science, although this is often optional.

The most important thing is that the retail employee is educated and is knowledgeable about the products he or she sells. The employee must be able to converse knowledgeably about the product in great detail with customers, to know its advantages and benefits without fail. He or she must be able to answer questions about the product, what it can or can’t do, and what alternatives may be available if a particular product doesn’t quite fit what a customer needs.

This is one of the most effective evaluations of employee performance, since the employee is assessed by everyone he or she interacts with. This includes typical performance measurements by managers and peers, but it also includes evaluations from customers and other people the employee interacts with on a regular basis. This is one of the most comprehensive and accurate ways to measure performance.