Sales force management

Sales force management

Motivation

Three Major Determinants

Motivation Session

Objectives

 understand the components of motivation through the expectancy-value model

 relate management tools to components

of the expectancy-value model, to use in influencing motivational levels

 consider how management style and the use of various “tools” influence motivation

Motivation Session Outline

 Locus of Control and Motivation

 Expectancy-Value Model of motivation

 what is it?

 Who cares? (implications of the model)

 Glengarry Glen Ross & the impact of the sales manager on motivation

 The impact of role stress

Locus of Control and

Motivation

 Locus:

 External vs internal attributions

 Stable vs unstable attributions

 Expectancy Principle: salespeople choose a level

of effort based on the expected payoffs of

alternative effort levels

 Most popular model of motivation (at least

among sales force researchers)

Expectancy-Value Model in Notation

 Mj=Ej x Vj where:

 Mj=motivational drive to achieve level j of performance (e.g sales, number of new accounts etc.)

 Ej =beliefs about the effort to performance linkage:

perceived chances of achieving level j of performance given effort

 Vj = overall subjective utility (valence or value) of

achieving level j of performance

Examples:

Ej Vj Mj Level of Performance

80% 60 48 If j=$200,000 in sales 40% 100 40 If j=$300,000 in sales 10% 80 8 If j=$400,000 in sales

Valence/Value: V j

 Valence is a composite of the utility you derive from the suboutcomes (consequences) that

accompany achieving level j of performance

 These might include:

more pay, promotion, liking & respect, lack of leisure time, personal growth

security, sense of accomplishment, recognition,

hurting personal life

 Outcomes can have negative utility/valence

 Obviously the list could be longer & vary across individuals

Example: 30% chance that selling $300K (performance level j) would get one a promotion (suboutcome I)

Vi = the utility an individual derives from suboutcome I

(e.g., a promotion) Note: this can be negative

That’s nice, but who

cares?

 Nobody thinks like this (it’s too

complicated)

 But model holds up well in field testing

(good “as if” model)

 Explains up to 40% of variance in

performance

 Different people can exhibit the same

level of motivation for very different

reasons

 Nice vocabulary to talk about motivation

 Can motivate by trying to induce sales people to:

 raise expectancy (I.e through training, encouragement)

 consider a negative suboutcome unlikely

 consider a positive suboutcome likely

 Change their ideas about whether suboutcomes are desirable or undesirable (vi: doomed strategy for the most part)

Glengarry Glen Ross

 what is the impact of management style on the

components of the expectancy value model?

 What motivational “tools” are used?

 How do these tools impact motivation in the short-term? Over the long term?

 How do these tools impact extrinsic motivations?

Intrinsic motivation?

Sales Manager Objectives

& Tools

 Objectives:

 Increase magnitude and accuracy of expectancies

 Increase accuracy of instrumentalities

 Key:

 reduce role stress arising from role ambiguity & role conflict

 Tools:

 training: expectancies

 evaluations, reviews: expectancies, instrumentalities

 communication, participation: instrumentalities

 selection: hire SP whose Vi’s match company suboutcomes

How to Motivate

 Define each employee’s motivating factors and provide an environment that incorporates those factors

 Praise performance

 Address poor performance

 Set goals & clearly communicate expectations

 Share your vision and include your team in creating it

Measuring Components of the

Model

 May be done informally for small sales forces, but

beware of biases (e.g we believe what we want to

believe; we think everyone else is like we are)

 periodic surveys can be conducted to quantify each

component of the model

 expectancies: to what extent do you believe that if you do x, y will happen

 instrumentalities: to what extent do you believe that if y

happens, you’ll receive z

 valences for suboutcomes: how important is

 Quantified information is valuable at both the aggregate level and the individual level

Role Stress

 “A primary influence on how salespeople perform is their perceptions of the demands placed upon them”

 “A role is a prescription:

 it tells you the activities and behavior that are expected of

anyone in a position

 Role partners

 pressure salespeople to meet them

 A role partner is anyone with a vested interest in how a salesperson does the job, such as:

 the boss, the customers, other executives, other salespeople

and support people, people who are significant in the sales rep’s personal life

Role Stress (continued)

 Role stress is like a disease; most reps suffer

complications of role stress

 Sales reps personify the cruel voice of the marketplace

(scapegoat- kill the messenger)

 Time and resource constraints necessitate tradeoffs between role partners’ expectations

Role Stress (continued)

 Day after day, salespeople grapple with the messages their role partners send them and the pressures role

partners put on them

 Two things create role stress (create problems that

eventually will make the salesperson miserable):

 Perceived Role Conflict

 Perceived Role Ambiguity

Perceived Role Conflict:

 you feel that the demands of your role partners are

incompatible To make one happy, you have to upset another (perceived)

 Upshot: misery & poor motivation

Perceived Role Ambiguity:

 You feel you don’t have the information to cope with

your job demands

 don’t know how to do a task

 don’t know what role partners expect

 don’t know how your performance is being evaluated

 don’t have clear objectives

How to reduce Role Stress

 Communicate! Give feedback!

 Even bad news is better than news

 Salespeople must have accurate expectancies &

instrumentalities

 Training and encouragement: increase expectancies for desired levels of performance- people who believe they can, often do

 Accept that some role stress is normal (even desirable)

 but be especially alert for dysfunctional levels of role

stress in inexperienced people

Sales Manager Atmosphere

Non-traditional atmosphere

 Participate leadership

 Emphasis on intrinsic rewards & motivation

 people work because selling satisfies them with:

 sense of shared values

 identify with company

 A motivator is one who can understand an overall goal and inspire others to make a personal commitment to this goal

 5 ways to provide a motivating environment

 Participation: involvement in decisions that affect the team

 Environment: climate for success, creativity

 Recognition: giving credit, praise, rewards

 Knowledge: having it, communicating it

 Style: use appropriate style for each situation:

 coaching, supporting, delegating, directing