Study Says Treat Salespeople as Individuals
“Determining the participant’s view can be a bit more difficult than it might seem, but it is essential to your success,” says Mike Spellecy of Maritz.
One size doesn’t fit all when it comes to finding suitable ways to motivate salespeople.
That is among the findings of Maritz Motivation Solutions’ recent survey of more than 1,000 sales professionals from various industries, including automotive, telecommunications and technology.
Maritz says the study indicates how to best solidify and reinforce crucial relationships with sales staffers. Recommended ways include:
Put the sales rep at the center of an incentive program. Find out what motivates them. Everyone has a different rational and emotional behavioral make-up. Facilitate a process that reflects those characteristics.
“Determining the participant’s view can be a bit more difficult than it might seem, but it is essential to your success,” says Mike Spellecy, Maritz vice president-solution thought leadership.
“The fact that human beings are all very different has been long clichéd for a reason: it’s true,” he says.
Emphasize status among reps by encouraging increased sales with performance tiers as well as perks and privileges, rather than lumping them all together. Low-to-high tier perks could include anything from free training and business cards to iPads.
Communicate more effectively. Eight out of 10 respondents said the top three preferences for communicating information to them are, in order of effectiveness: email, company website and in-person meetings. Videos ranked at the bottom.
A mix of rewards (such as cash, merchandise and gift cards) is preferred over cash-only incentives.
“Do this, get that” still works best. It’s straightforward, easy to comprehend and within reach.
Some dealership salespeople get bad reputations for allegedly not doing enough. But the report indicates sales people tend not to be slackers.
Nearly one third in the survey said they would work hardest to reach a higher-end larger reward based on a higher/harder objective. That compares with 5% who said they’d rather reach a smaller reward based on an easier-to-attainable objective.
Manufacturers face stiff competition within distribution channels. The survey says the average salesperson has multiple opportunities to participate in a competing incentives program at any one time.
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