How to Write "Reports" That Boost Your Evaluation and Lead to More Work

Well then, today I will be writing an article about how to write reports.

I now have about 10 staff members helping me with my work, and I look over their reports every day, but there are so many reports that make me feel, "What a waste..."

Even if there is only one fact, there are infinite interpretations.
It is a shame if you achieve good results but fail to get evaluated simply because your reporting method is poor.

This time, I will summarize the key points on how to report and how to write reports.

The Importance of Reports That Even Influence Your Evaluation

It is said that "Ho-Ren-So (Reporting, Communicating, Consulting)" is important for working professionals, and it is said that reporting is the very first and most important step.

However, we are not taught how to report or how to write reports in school.
Also, many people do not learn it properly after entering the workforce and just "imitate their seniors' sales reports..." don't they?
In fact, my most junior colleague also said, "I've never learned how to report, so I didn't know what to write." When I shared the content of this article, the accuracy of their reports improved every time, and they reached a level where they could submit them to clients with almost no revisions.

This is something that is often overlooked, but depending on "how you report and how you write your reports," you can increase your evaluation and lead to future work even with the same job and the same results.
Even if the facts are the same, the way you are evaluated changes completely just by changing your angle and interpretation.

By the way, I myself, who am writing this kind of article, was originally bad at reporting... and was in a situation where I didn't know what to write. However, when I joined a strategic consulting firm for a major energy company in my mid-20s, I worked with a consultant from a major consulting firm and received a lot of feedback, which allowed me to learn how to report. Haha.

The demonstration sales and recommended sales work that I currently do as a business can be thought of as B2C where we sell directly to customers... but since it is the client company that provides the budget, it is actually a B2B business, and I feel that I am able to utilize reporting for differentiation there as well.
Speaking of our work, competitors include other sales promotion agencies, staffing agencies, and companion agencies, but among them, by thoroughly implementing a reporting method that is valued by clients, I have been able to increase my evaluation and secure larger budgets. (It is a major premise that there are many staff members who thoroughly educate themselves and achieve results.)

Even with the same results, your evaluation changes depending on how you report. It is important to achieve results, but you can change your evaluation even more by changing how you present your reports.

It is a fact that while looking at many reports every day, there are some that make me feel "This way of writing is a waste" or "Couldn't you summarize the main points?"
When submitting reports from our company to clients, I read the staff's intentions, saying "You mean this, right?" and make some revisions before submitting them to the client.

I feel that there are really many people who are losing out in internal reports and sales reports, so I hope this article will help everyone improve their reporting skills.

The Problem of Reports Becoming Just a "Diary"

What I am particularly concerned about when looking at reports is... a very disappointing report that says, "This is just a diary...."

Events that occurred are written exactly as they happened, and their own emotions are written just as they are... and in the end, the low results were because there were few customers, because the store didn't cooperate, because it was raining...

When written down, you might think, "Is there anyone who writes such a report?" but even people with normal work experience tend to write such reports if they are not careful. If you try looking back at your own reports, you might find that you tend to write personal impressions or content that sounds like you are blaming others.

With a report like this, you don't really feel like reading it in the first place, do you?
A structure of "Facts + Your Emotions" becomes a diary-like report and will not be evaluated. Or rather, it can even lead to negative evaluations such as "There's a lot of complaining..." or "I don't know what you want to convey."

As a premise, let's keep firmly in mind that "a report is not a diary."

Point 1: "Think about who the report is for"

As in the example above, there are an overwhelming number of people who write "reports from their own perspective."
First of all, it is important to "write while thinking about who will see it." If you write from your own perspective, it often becomes an emotion-driven, diary-style report.

For example, in our company's reports,

and other such members will see it.
It is meaningless to write things like "I did my best!", "There were few customers...", or "There were many good customers, so sales increased!" It is important to write the information the other party wants in the report.

For example, what we want to know internally is

are the important parts.
As a note of caution, if it becomes only improvement proposals, it feels like you are making excuses in a way, and since it looks like you are blaming others and complaining, it is important to make it "improvement proposals to the extent that the reader does not feel uncomfortable" and not write more than necessary, and write in a way that does not cause offense.

And what the client (the requesting manufacturer) wants to know is,

are the information they want.

To repeat, it is meaningless to write your own impressions or feelings; it is important to write from the other party's perspective.

From the client's perspective, a report can also be used as raw marketing material. Even from the manufacturer's perspective, I can say for sure that they are not looking for information like your own diary.
Also, ideas on "how to structure the next sales strategy" and information on "what kind of things would make it sell even more" are also requested.
As a client, they are thinking that they want to maximize the outsourcing costs paid to our company and increase cost-effectiveness. Also, as our company, we want to tell the manufacturer that our staff is selling this much, so how to maximize sales from next time onwards is information we want.

The way information is presented is also important here, and while we want improvement proposals like "it would be better to do this to increase sales"... if you point out too many problems, it can sound like you are complaining a lot, right?
"There's no this, there's no that," "the sales floor is not good," "the sales floor is dirty," I understand the feeling of wanting to say it because you want to defend yourself, but it may sound like a request just wanting the other party to act and sound like an excuse, like "It's your fault that it didn't sell today."

This way of speaking, which sandwiches negative information between positive information—gratitude/appreciation → pointing out problems → enthusiasm for the next time—is called sandwich feedback.
Pointing out problems is important, but if you don't use this way of speaking, you might just look like someone making excuses. Therefore, it is important to make your next proposal using this kind of phrasing.

Point 2: "Speed is important for reports"

Speed is important for reports.
You can understand this if you think from the other person's perspective. For example, if it were me, I would be very curious about how a staff member who started today did.
Things like, "The weather is bad, how did it go?", "It's their first time with this manufacturer", or "Were they okay?"... If the report is late, I start wondering if they were okay, so it is important to report quickly.
From the client's (manufacturer's) perspective, if the report comes in the day after the event, they think, "They worked hard for us."

The timing of the report is very important, and since a 100-point report is impossible, it is important to submit it quickly at 60 points. If you submit it at 60 points, the other party will ask about anything they are concerned about. It is better to submit it quickly at 60 points than to aim for a 100-point report and be late.
Also, it goes without saying that missing the report deadline is out of the question. It is important to strictly adhere to the deadline and submit it as early as possible within that timeframe.

Point 3: "Definition of a good report"

As for the definition of a good report... a certain number of people mistakenly believe that "it's better to write a long report."
However, a report without substance has low productivity and can sometimes lead to a negative evaluation as someone who cannot summarize key points. In other words, a long report does not equal a good report.

You can understand this if you think from the other person's perspective; it leads to wasting the other person's time. They are taking time out of their day to read the report, so "writing a long report equals a good report or conveys enthusiasm" is not true.
Conversely, it tends to make them think, "Are they not very efficient?", "There are parts that could be written more concisely," or "This report is just full of complaints."
I understand that you want to convey the situation in detail, but it is impossible to watch that site for a whole day. This is the same for sales activity reports; you cannot track everything for a whole month. It is meaningless to ramble on about your actions and feelings at the time, and it is important to summarize the information the other party wants.

The task of reading a report is also an act that takes up the other person's time, so they will also think, "Please summarize the points better."
Regarding this as well, let's think from the other person's perspective, not your own.
You might think, "I want them to understand my enthusiasm and feelings," but from the other person's point of view, you are just wasting their time reading it, so it is important to summarize the key points and write down the information the other party wants without any omissions or excesses.

For example, if you are submitting a report for sales or retail...

The report should end with these three points.
Emotional arguments about how you felt in the meantime are meaningless, and the other party does not want them.
There is no problem if you can summarize the key points regarding these three items and submit the report. If you write it out in a long, rambling way, it looks like you are making excuses and, above all, it makes the reader feel like it's a hassle to read.
If you summarize these three points without any omissions or excesses and submit the report, your internal evaluation will improve, and the evaluation from the clients who see it will also improve, so please try to be conscious of this.

What can be read from other people's reports

Are you in a position where you can see other people's reports?
If you are in a position to see reports, learn how to read reports in a way that connects other people's achievements to your own.
What you should be conscious of at that time is

. For example, in our business report last week, we held a new product sale at two stores, and Person A entered Store A' and Person B entered Store B'. Looking at the numerical report,

That was the result.
Results are results. It is important to build hypotheses from the composition of these sold products.

You can formulate such a hypothesis.
Instead of simply stopping your thinking at environmental factors like "Store A' had strong customer attraction and many people" or "Store A' was an area with many wealthy people where it was easy to sell,"taking it personally and thinking, "What could I have done to increase sales?" will lead to self-growth.

And by thinking of strategies based on your hypotheses and verifying them in your next field opportunity,you can put any job into a growth cycle through this repetition.
If you are someone who can see other people's reports,please try to be conscious of forming hypotheses from numerical values and connecting them to your own self-growth.

Finally

Finally, based on the thinking mentioned above, our company does not just stop at how to report, butconducts training and education to enhance the sales and selling capabilities of our staff. Also, for those who say, "It's not possible as a job, but I want you to consult with me! I want to improve my sales and selling skills!," we also provide sales training and selling skills training both online and in person.

• I want to try my hand at demonstration sales

• I want to improve my sales and selling skills

• I want to discuss my work concerns

We can respond to various needs such as these.

For this article only,we will provide a [30-minute individual online session] for free to everyone who likes and shares this article.

If you are interested,
https://to-smba.com/contact/
I will handle it directly from here.
Thank you.