Football fans in my hometown of Foxboro, Mass., are still celebrating the Super Bowl victory of the New England Patriots, the team's third such victory in the past few years. In addition to the accolades bestowed upon the athletes, the management of the Patriots—particularly head coach Bill Belichick—has been widely praised.

There have been several books written about the management strategies used by the Patriots to turn a team that had been the doormat of the National Football League into NFL champions.

Just a few weeks after winning the Super Bowl, the Patriots shocked many fans by announcing they were not re-signing three of their most well-liked players. It was a business decision, the coaching staff said, adding that it was based on the best interests of the team as they looked at their salaries, positions and possible draft choices. The team realized changes had to be made if they were going to be champions again.

The decision by the Patriots was a tough one, but it was entirely necessary. And it's one that many business people fail to make. All too often, sales managers and other top executives don't take the time to evaluate their team. Are yearly reviews given to all your employees? Do you really know who your top performers are? Do you coach your top performers as well as your worst performers?

Jack Welch, the legendary former CEO of General Electric, was praised for his stringent evaluation system, which led to firing 20 percent of lower-rated performers. At the same time, he paid his top performers extremely well, giving them the incentive to do a better job and a chance for advancement.

Not many distributors today, I'm willing to bet, have any formal evaluation system in place. Every employee, whether they've been on the job for 15 years or 15 months, needs feedback to improve performance.

Is your veteran salesperson the best salesperson he can be? Does he consistently look for new prospects? Or does he just call on friends—his traditional customer base?

These are questions that only you, as a manager, can answer. But if you want to play in the Super Bowl, you sometimes have to make changes in your starting lineup, as painful as they may be.

jkeough@reedbusiness.com