Sales managers get what they expect

Abstract

Tactics for motivating salespersons have characteristically varied little f rom tactics used to motivate a whole range of knowledge oriented workers. These tactics have included both and st ick approaches. The emphasis in sales management , particularly in the case of knowledge oriented workers, has tended to tilt toward carrot oriented incentive systems related to compensat ion plans based upon commissions, salary-draw, quota plans, prizes, contests, and profit sharing. Younger persons in field selling positions, however, have responded somewhat reluctantly to motivat ion plans based exclusively on compensat ion related to commissions and have instead shown a preference for compensation plans which feature a combinat ion of salary plus commission. Excessive emphasis on incentive payment plans for salespersons is often perceived by them as bo th demeaning and risky. Thus, the extrinsic rewards of salary, bonuses, and other fringe benefits const i tute the main carrot approaches to salesperson mot ivat ion and performance. The negative, threatening, and aversive tactics of motivat ion for salespersons simply have lost their effectiveness as our culture and society have moved markedly toward the human relations school of management whereby the logic of cost and efficiency has been temporized by the logic of human feelings and sentiments. Employees in all categories of commerce and industry are beginning to question what has traditionally been the Western passion for efficiency, cost effectiveness, and control by statistics.