Quick question for the group: In sales it is widely believed that posting team or sales force rankings is motivating particularly for those in the middle or bottom. However, is this really true? In thinking about sending out QTD sales figures, I thought about the effect it might have on members of my team. I have 4 veterans (4+ years) and 4 rookies (<1 year). While each is a competitive animal, I wonder if sometimes, especially in this competitive environment where reps are dealing with so much more than in the past when the "conventional wisdom" came to be, if the rankings may actually de-motivate some whom I am wanting to reach. My thought is that an individual who feels that they are doing the best they can, and have been checking all the right boxes, would feel even more beaten down. In a management culture where we try to fix what's wrong as opposed to maximizing what is right, are rankings an effective method? Or am I just too soft? Thanks in advance for your responses.
Nothing worse then busting your ass trying to do something good just to be crushed by contracts, recalls, corporate initiatives etc. And then the rankings come out and you really feel like a loser. Can you find something good to say about everyone? Or instead of posting rankings just shout out to the top producers?
Post 'em. I would want to see who is ahead of me so I can aim at taking them out and moving up the ladder.
You have just received a response from someone who is doing well and another that is not doing well. The overall goal of posting sales numbers is to motivate the team and increase performance. The problem is that those at the top like it and those at the bottom do not. You could say that those at the bottom need to step it up but even if the entire sales force is over 100% there will always be someone at the bottom. My suggestion is to post the top 20%. This way the top performers get the recognition they deserve and the bottom 80% will strive to make the list. Other problem I see with stack rankings is that it creates competition within our own organization when our main focus should be on kicking the competitions ass. This can stifle best practices from being shared from region to region and could possibly impact the entire organization.
Actually, I did quite well the last 3 years. Always make quota with a little to spare. But I have been on the bottom a couple of times due to things out of my control. I agree with above poster...post top 20%. I was trying to come up with a good way of stating that but unfortunately my typing skills don't allow. We need to be kicking competition's butt - not each others.
