Lecture Dalrymple''s sales management: Concepts and cases – Chapter 11: Motivating salespeople

This chapter presents the following content: What is motivation? reasons for motivating salespeople, what goals are most important? how successful were you at reaching your goals? maslow’s hierarchy of needs, an exercise to determine your motivational needs,...

 Drive to initiate an action.

 The intensity of effort in an action

 The persistence of effort over time.

 Frequent rejection

 Physical separation from company  support

 Direct influence on quality of sales  presentation

 Indirect influence on performance

Reasons for Motivating Salespeople

Expand Visibility

of Sales Increase Sales Revenue

Enhance Company

Credibility Build the Brand

43.9%

66.1%

31.9%

29.8%

Credibility

Build the Brand

Most Successful Least Successful

 Achievement, respect, recognition,  responsibility, prestige, independence,  attention, importance, appreciation.

 Belonging, acceptance, love, affection,  family and group acceptance, friendships.

 Security, stability, dependency, protection,  need for structure, order, law, tenure, 

pension, insurance.

 Hunger, thirst, reproduction, shelter,  clothing, air, rest.

To perform the exercise, read through the following statements…check those which are most important in  motivating you to do your best work.  Select the ten most important statements.

The statements are divided into five categories intended to represent the five levels in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.  The second digit in each statement number indicates the category.  These categories are:

motivational drivers. 

Your Score

Your Score

Maslow’s Needs & Related Sales  Force Motivators

Safety Physiological Affiliation (belonging)

Self­actualization

in service to society

Chinese Culture

Hierarchy of Needs

 Motivational Needs

– Learning the skills required to do the job well.

 Manager Role?

 Motivational Needs

– Use skills to produce results, increase job autonomy

 Manager Role?

 Motivational Needs

– Develop a broader view of work and organization,  maintain a high level of performance

 Manager Role?

 Motivational Needs

– Establish a stronger self­identity outside of work, maintain performance level

 Manager Role?

5. Field Sales Council 

­ meet president for 1/2 day open­ended discussion on field marketing conditions ­ report back to field meetings the results

Also suppose, if you get an “A” for the course, your GPA hits the 3.5 mark, which now makes you eligible to get an interview with a prestigious firm.

VALENCE

Importance of receiving More of certain rewards

REWARD PERFORMANCE

EFFORT

 Indicates where management should direct its attention 

to sales force as a whole or to an individual

 What may account for a lack of greater effort in an 

individual salesperson?

Job Dimension Activities Activities

SELLING FUNCTION Plan Activities

Develop leads  Prospecting Identify  Decision­ Makers

Prepare Presentations  Make Presentations  Overcome Objections Introduce New Products WORKING WITH ORDERS Write orders

Expedite orders Handle back orders

Find last orders Handle shipping problems

PRODUCT SERVICING Learn about product 

Test equipment Supervise installation

Train customers  Supervise repairs Perform maintenance MANAGING INFORMATION Receive feedback

Travel with trainees Train new reps

Drinks

Dinner Lunch TRAVELING DISTRIBUTION Out­of­Town

Sell through Establish relationships

In­Town  Train Credit

 How do these self­management techniques relate to the  motivation theories ­­ Maslow, Expectancy, etc.?

 How will career stages affect this process?

 Devise a self­management technique for taking more  complete class notes.

 Devise a self­management technique for making more  sales presentations for a key product group­ e.g., PCs

 What is the role of management in self­managing?

 Clear detailed description of behavior targeted  for change.

 How behavior is to be observed, measured and  recorded

 Detail of criterion for reinforcement

 Designates the reinforcement

 Stipulates the negative consequences of not  fulfilling contract

 Sets timing for delivering reinforcement

on Saturday morning.  For every new account I secure I will reward myself by playing an extra  round of golf on Sunday.

Review Date  

 Points not affected by inflation.

 Sales quota may be developed for: 

– Total territory sales, and/or

– Individual product or product group

 More directly under control of the salesperson

 Biggest problem is falsification of call reports

 Issue of quantity vs. quality of activity?

 Difficult goals, if accepted, will lead to greater  performance than moderate or easy goals

 Difficult and specific goals, if accepted, will lead 

to even higher performance than general, “do  your best” or no goals.

 Feedback is necessary for goals to be effective

 The goal must be personally embraced

 A person who is confident in his/her ability will  outperform someone who is not confident.

(1838)(1840)(1843 and 1845)(1856)

 Most Universal salespeople are “quota achievers”  not “dollar maximizers”.

 When given a more easily attainable quota, 

motivation declines so much they will be less 

likely to make lower than higher quota.

 Set quotas at challenging levels and attach great  significance to attainment

 What salespeople say will likely differ from what  they do.

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