This guide walks through how to create, launch, and manage Initiatives, and how both leaders and reps should use them in practice. You will also learn about best practices to help you get the most value from each Initiative.
Instead of relying on ad-hoc feedback or manual call reviews, Initiatives allow you to define what good looks like, evaluate real sales conversations against that standard, and track whether coaching is actually changing behavior over time.
An Initiative is a structured coaching program that evaluates real sales calls against a defined set of objectives.
Each Initiative:
Focuses on a specific behavior or outcome you want to improve
Applies the same criteria and model to every rep
Scores performance consistently on a 0–10 scale
Tracks adoption and improvement over time using real customer conversations
Initiatives are designed to be active, ongoing coaching mechanisms, not one-off reviews.
You might create an Initiative when you want to:
Improve execution in a specific deal stage (for example, Discovery or Demo)
Reinforce new messaging or positioning
Address recurring issues identified in pipeline reviews
Roll out a new coaching focus and measure adoption over time
Initiatives work best when reviewed weekly and used as part of a regular coaching cadence.
Initiatives are created and managed by sales leaders.
After navigating to the Initiatives tab on the sidebar, click Create Initiative.
You’ll be asked to define:
Initiative title
A clear, outcome-focused name (for example, “Discovery Excellence”)
Initiative description
A short explanation of what this Initiative is designed to improve
Start and end date
The Initiative begins scoring as soon as it is published. Calls outside this timeframe are not included.
Email notifications
Enable email updates to receive weekly summaries and performance insights
Next, define where the Initiative applies:
Pipeline and deal stages
Only calls associated with selected deal stages are evaluated
Sales representatives
Only selected reps are included in the Initiative
Internal calls are excluded automatically. Reps will appear in results once they have at least one qualifying call.
Select the 'Custom Context' tickbox for an additional input field.
Custom Context allows you to provide additional background to help Hive Perform evaluate calls more accurately.
Useful context may include:
Your ICP and target customer profile
How your product is positioned
The type of problems you typically solve
Terminology or messaging specific to your business
Best practices:
Keep context focused and relevant
Avoid overloading the model with unnecessary detail
Aim to stay under approximately 500 words
Objectives describe the behaviors, signals, or outcomes you want evaluated in each call.
Be specific and observable. For example:
Did the rep uncover prospect pain points?
Were decision makers identified?
Did the rep demonstrate active listening?
Were budget or timeline discussed?
Each call is scored from 0–10, based on how closely your call matched the objectives and criteria defined for this Initiative. How you write your objectives directly determines how calls are evaluated and how feedback is delivered.
When defining objectives, think in terms of observable behavior, not intent. A strong objective makes it clear what good execution looks like in a real conversation.
Each qualifying call is assessed against the Initiative’s objectives using the same criteria for every rep. Scores reflect how closely the rep’s behavior matched what the objective is designed to measure.
As a general rule:
Strong execution (7–10)
The rep clearly demonstrates the behavior, explores it in depth, and connects it to the buyer’s context, priorities, or decision process.
Partial execution (4–6)
The rep touches on the behavior but does not go deep enough, misses follow-up opportunities, or moves on too quickly.
Weak or missing execution (0–3)
The behavior is absent, rushed, or handled superficially without meaningful insight.
Being explicit about this upfront ensures scoring is consistent, transparent, and easy for reps to understand.
Evaluation criteria describe what success looks like by the end of the Initiative.
This might include:
A target average score
Improvement trends over time
Consistent demonstration of specific behaviors
Scores are averaged across all qualifying calls for the duration of the Initiative.
Objectives and evaluation criteria cannot be edited once the Initiative is live, ensuring consistency in measurement.
Once published:
Scoring begins immediately
Only new calls are evaluated
The selected reps are notified that a new Initiative is active
Initiatives move from draft to in progress, and are marked complete once the defined timeframe ends.
Each Initiative includes three main views designed to support ongoing coaching.
The Overview provides a high-level snapshot of performance, including:
Total calls evaluated
Overall average score
Rep score trends over time
Top performer indicators
Scorecard breakdown by objective
This view is designed for weekly manager review, helping leaders understand progress at a glance.
The Calls tab shows a log of all evaluated calls, including:
Call name
Associated deal
Rep
Date
Score
Leaders can use this view to connect scores directly to real conversations and ground coaching in specific examples.
The Details tab shows:
Selected pipeline and deal stages
Participating reps
Context used for evaluation
Objectives and evaluation criteria
This helps ensure the Initiative remains aligned with its original intent.
Each active Initiative sends an automatic feedback email to the sales rep after every call that qualifies for that Initiative.
These emails are designed to deliver timely, actionable coaching while the conversation is still fresh. Instead of waiting for a weekly review, reps receive direct feedback tied to the exact call that was evaluated.
Each email typically contains:
Overall call score
A clear grade (0–10) showing how the call performed against the Initiative’s evaluation criteria.
Score breakdown by objective
Individual scores for each behavior being coached, such as discovery quality, active listening, or qualification rigor.
What worked well
Specific moments where the rep demonstrated strong execution aligned with the Initiative’s goals.
Missed opportunities
Clear call-outs of moments where the rep could have gone deeper, asked a better question, or handled an objection more effectively.
Practical next-step guidance
Concrete suggestions the rep can apply on their very next call.
Each email links back to Hive Perform, allowing reps to review the call, see their full scorecard, and track progress over time.
Feedback emails are designed to support continuous improvement, not one-off evaluation.
Best practices include:
Reviewing the feedback shortly after each call while the conversation is still fresh
Comparing your score breakdown against the Initiative’s objectives to understand what “good” looks like
Noting one or two specific behaviors to apply on your very next call
Using the feedback to prepare for 1:1 coaching conversations with your manager
Tracking trends over time rather than focusing on a single score
Rather than acting as a report card, feedback emails help reps build repeatable habits and improve execution call by call.
Focus on one clear behavior or outcome per Initiative
Write objectives that are specific and observable
Keep Custom Context concise and relevant
Review performance weekly, not daily
Initiatives should be short bursts of coaching, roughly one month long
Use scores as a coaching input, not a performance hammer
Multiple Initiatives can run at the same time. Leaders of multiple initiatives will receive separate weekly emails for each active Initiative.
Initiatives give sales leaders a repeatable way to turn coaching priorities into execution.
By evaluating real calls against consistent criteria and reinforcing insights through weekly summaries, leaders can move beyond anecdotal feedback and see whether coaching is actually changing behavior.
Used well, Initiatives make coaching measurable, scalable, and embedded in how sales teams operate week to week.