Sales Management
Chapter 13
Motivation and Training
Chapter 13 Motivation & Training
1
Outline:
Certain motivation theories in selling
Apply motivation in practice
Set sales targets and quotas
Organize suitable sales training
programs and evaluate the
usefulness
Chapter 13 Motivation & Training
2
Motivation
Creating and maintaining well-motivated salesforce
is not easy.
In some industries, salespersons would easily suffer
from low morale and confidence because rejections
may greatly outnumber successes, I.e. insurance,
investment consultant, road-shows products etc.
Motivation is an essential method to keep up
working effectively. One of the roles of sales
manager is to motivate salesforce, or provide the
circumstances that will encourage salesforce to
motivate themselves.
Chapter 13 Motivation & Training
3
Motivational Theories
1. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/maslow.html
Chapter 13 Motivation & Training
4
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
Physiological Needs
needs for oxygen, food, water, and a relatively constant body temperature. They are the
strongest needs because if a person were deprived of all needs, the physiological ones would
come first in the person's search for satisfaction.
Safety Needs
When all physiological needs are satisfied, the needs for security can become active. Adults
have little awareness of their security needs except in times of emergency or periods of
disorganization in the social structure. Children often display the signs of insecurity and the
need to be safe.
Needs of Love, Affection and Belongingness
When the needs for safety and for physiological well-being are satisfied, the next class of needs
for love, affection and belongingness can emerge. Maslow assumes people seek to overcome
feelings of loneliness, involves giving / receiving love, affection and the sense of belonging.
Needs for Esteem
When the first three needs are satisfied, the needs for esteem can become dominant. These
involve needs for both self-esteem and for the esteem a person gets from others. Humans have
a need for a stable, firmly based, high level of self-respect, and respect from others. When
these needs are satisfied, the person feels self-confident and valuable as a person in the world.
When these needs are frustrated, the person feels inferior, weak, helpless and worthless.
Needs for Self-Actualization
The needs for self-actualization is a person's need to be and do that which the person was
"born to do." "A musician must make music, an artist must paint, and a poet must write."
These needs make themselves felt in signs of restlessness. The person feels on edge, tense,
lacking something, in short, restless.
Chapter 13 Motivation & Training
5
How’s Maslow’s theory related to selling in practice?
•A satisfied need is not a motivator of behavior. Therefore a
salesperson who already receives a more than adequate level of
salary, additional payments may have no effect on motivation
•A motivator for one salesperson may not be effective with another,
so different salespeople will have different combinations of needs
•Effective motivation results from an accurate assessment of the
needs of the individual salespeople under the manager’s
supervision
•E.g. - motivated by building their confidence.
- How to motivate salesperson who’s great need for esteem but working
performance is not good?—By announcing his/her poor sales performance to
colleagues in a sales meeting
Chapter 13 Motivation & Training
6
2. Frederick Herzberg’s Dual Factor (Motivation-Hygiene) Theory
•This theory has substantially contributed to the understanding of
motivation at work, particularly extended Maslow’s theory to the work
situation and highly the importance of job content factors.`
•There are two types of motivators, one type which results in satisfaction
with the job (the motivators ), and the other which merely prevents
dissatisfaction
(the hygienes).
Job satisfaction
motivator includes:
•achievement
•recognitionhygiene includes:
Dissatisfaction
Job satisfaction motivator includes:
•workpolicy/administration
itself
•company
•achievement
•working
conditions
•recognition
•responsibility
•supervision
•work itself
•advancement
•interpersonal relations
•money
•status
•security
•responsibility
•advancement
Chapter 13 Motivation & Training
7
2. Herzberg’s Dual Factor Theory (Motivation-Hygiene Theory )
Hygiene, if applied effectively, can at best prevent dissatisfaction: if
applied poorly, can result in negative feelings about the job.
Job satisfaction motivator includes:
It is•achievement
argued that salary should not be regarded as hygiene factor as
•recognition
salespersons
are largely motivated by the high commission. However,
•workbelieved
itself that high commission was a motivator through the
Herzberg
•responsibility
recognition
it gave to sales achievement.
•advancement
Herzberg believed that the degree of responsibility (authority to grant
credit or discount, handling complaints etc) is highly related to the higher
sales success.
Chapter 13 Motivation & Training
8
3. Vroom’s expectancy theory
Assumes that a person’s motivation to put effort depends on his
expectation for success
Expectancy:motivator
relationship
between effort and performance.
Job satisfaction
includes:
e.g. increase effort -> higher performance
•achievement
•recognition
Instrumentality: relationship between performance and reward.
•work
E.g.itself
higher performance -> promotion
•responsibility
•advancement
Valence: a value placed upon a particular reward.
E.g. promotion may be highly valued by some salespeople but not others.
Chapter 13 Motivation & Training
9
4. Adam’s inequity theory
Feelings of inequity (unfairness) can arise when one’s effort or
performance on the job is greater than the reward. Salespeople who feel
they contribute more than others expect to receive greater rewards.
Monetary rewards
Workload
JobPromotion
satisfaction motivator includes:
•achievement
Degree of recognition
•recognition
Targets
•work
Tasks
itself
•responsibility
• The•advancement
greater the inequities the salesperson perceive(feeling unfair), the
lower the motivation
•Therefore sales managers must monitor their salesforce to detect any
feelings of unfairness.
Chapter 13 Motivation & Training
10
5. Likert’s sales management theory
The hypotheses that the sales managers’ behaviour will affect the
behaviour of the salespeople. I.e. high performance sales team usually
had sales managers who had high performance goals.
Job satisfaction motivator includes:
The•achievement
management style such as close communication between salesforce
and the
managers, usually has a better outcome/productive than a
•recognition
monopolistic
management style.
•work itself
•responsibility
•advancement
Chapter 13 Motivation & Training
11
Motivation in practice --- Motivation factors
Financial incentives
Commission may motivate salespeople through providing a direct reward for
extra effort (Vroom) and by giving recognition for achievement (Herzberg)
salary + commissions: provides a level of security plus higher
Job satisfaction motivator
includes:
earning
for higher sales
•achievement
Straight commission : earnings entirely depend on achievement
•recognition
Commission
•work itself systems: - commission base e.g. sales revenue/profit
- commission rate. E.g. % of all sales
•responsibility
- starting point for commission e.g. at some
•advancement
predetermined sales level
Commission can also comprise a given % of sales per salesperson/ group or %
of sales revenue in excess of a sales quota (or other combination)
Some companies introduce higher rates commission on higher-profit items
(harder to sell). So commissions not only stimulate/motivate salesperson
greater effort but also direct salespeople towards products particularly want to
sell.
Chapter 13 Motivation & Training
12
Motivation in practice --- Motivation factors
Promotion
Merit-base promotional system can be a motivator.
The best salesperson may not necessary be the best sales manager.
Because the skills required of a sales manager are wider than those
of a salesperson.
A sales
manager
must be able to analyze, control,
Job satisfaction
motivator
includes:
motivate
and train salesforce.
•achievement
•recognition
If the•work
promotion
itself is based on sales performance, try to consider a
dual promotional
•responsibilityroute: managerial career sequence + reward
outstanding
sales success.
•advancement
e.g Salesperson -> Senior salesperson -> Account Executive ->
Assistant Sales Manager
other related position: key holder, shop manager, assistant area
manager, area manager etc.
Chapter 13 Motivation & Training
13
Motivation in practice --- Motivation factors
Sales Contests
Encourage a higher level of sales
Increase the sales of a slow-moving product or reward the
generation of new customers
Rules:Job satisfaction motivator includes:
-must•achievement
appeal the competitive spirit of salespeople and to their needs
•recognition / recognition. E.g. financial incentives, promotions
for achievement
itself
-Must •work
be fair
-Must •responsibility
be attainable
•advancement
Limitation:
-Cheating may occur.
-Different cultural ideas and expectation
Chapter 13 Motivation & Training
14
Motivation in practice --- Motivation factors
Sales targets or quotas
Must be fair
Must be attainable and challenging
Targets or quotas needed to consistent to company objectives
Usually linked with financial incentives
Sales managers needed to know the tactics of determining the
targets according to the individual ability and the market situation.
Chapter 13 Motivation & Training
15
Motivation in practice --- Motivation factors
Meeting between manager and salespeople
Meeting is a very good opportunity to motivate salesforce in person.
Meeting allows sales manager to understand the personality, needs and problems
of each salesperson
Allow sales manager to understand the motivation and demotivation factor of
salesperson. Sometimes manager and salesperson may have different perspective
e.g.motivators:
salesperson: fringe benefits
manager:
competition/ incentive based target setting
demotivators:
Salesperson: lack of advancement, security, long working hrs
manager:
supervisory relations and personal problems
 Meeting can serve as evaluation and training program and to improve sales
technique and confidence
Group meeting can motivate, according to Likert, a manager’s open style of
meeting can encourage sales to discuss and share views and problem, which lead
to a greater sense of group loyalty and improved performance.
Meeting allows opportunity for performance feedback where weaknesses are
identified and recognition for good work is given
Chapter 13 Motivation & Training
16
Training
Training can be carried out in two forms:
Training new salespeople:
1. Training programmes
2. New salesperson works with an experienced salesperson and
being observed how selling is done.
Even an experienced salesperson also need to be trained
periodically to refresh and further enhance selling skills and
knowledge.
Chapter 13 Motivation & Training
17
Training
1.Skill development
One of the main objective of conducting training course is to
develop selling skills of salesperson.
New salesperson has to go through four stages in training:
1.Unconsciously unable--- Trainee doesn't think about skills
2.Consciously unable---Trained reads about skills but can’t carry
them out in practice
3.Consciously able---Trainee is reasonably proficient in skills but
has difficulty putting them all into practice
4.Unconsciously able---Trainee can automatically perform the
task without thinking about it
Chapter 13 Motivation & Training
18
Training
1.Skill development
A successful training programme takes the trainee to the final stage
(unconsciously able) when he/she can perform all of the skills at
once and has the ability to control the selling situation.
E.g. a new salesperson is trained to be competent when he/she can
open an interview, identify customers needs, presentation and
handle objections in a natural manner, and close the sale at right
time with right technique.
Chapter 13 Motivation & Training
19
Training
2. Components of a training programme
1st categories: The company’s objective, history, policies
e.g. what’s the flow of work, how’s the compensation system, how salesperson
are evaluated etc.
2nd categories:Product knowledge, competitors and their products
e.g. how the products are made, product quality and reliability, product features
and what benefits they bring to the consumer. Knowing the difference of the
products between competitors products and company’s products.
3rd categories: Selling procedure and techniques
e.g. Selling preparation, selling procedures, how to deal with objections,
concession, negotiation etc. (chapter 4, 5)
Chapter 13 Motivation & Training
20
3. Methods
•
Lecture
Useful in giving information and principles, communication and discussion.
Use visual aid such as distributing notes, PowerPoint, transparencies etc.
2. Films
Useful supplement to the lecture in giving information, showing how a skill
should be performed by demonstrating how the principles can be applied in
a real selling situation. Stage of consciously unable
3. Role playing
Move the trainee to the stage of being consciously able. Allows the trainee
to learn by his/her own successes and failure in a buyer-seller situation.
Feedback from other members and trainer is valuable. Trainee can also
learn from other group member’s performance. Playback allows trainee to
see the situation through the eye of a third person so problems are more
easily recognized and accepted.
4. Case Study
Appropriate for developing analytical skills. Trainees are asked to analyze
situations, identify problem and make recommendations.
Chapter 13 Motivation & Training
21
3. Methods
5. On job training
Al l the previous training should be reinforced by the on job training. The
experience gained by real-life selling situation with the evaluation and
feedback provided by the sales manager enable the trainee moves to the
final stage of learning skills--unconsciously able. The trainee should be able
to do things automatically.
Sometimes salesperson loses an order in the job training, e.g. argue with
customer and unpleasant situation created. Sales manager should step in
and handle the case in advance to avoid further dampened relationship with
customer. Then sales person should do the assessment and review
regarding the case with the trainee again.
Manager can first ask the trainee to relate any aspects of the sales which
could be improved upon to see if the trainee can realize that he/she has a
weakness. Then the manager can suggest methods to overcome the
problem.
Chapter 13 Motivation & Training
22
4. Evaluation of the training
Generally the effectiveness of the training course are evaluated by:
Change in sales net volume
Number in new accounts/customers gained
Number of old accounts lost
Ability improvement
Gained in reputation of improved services or image.
Chapter 13 Motivation & Training
23