Motivation is the driving force behind individuals’ desire and energy to remain committed and interested in their work, role, or subject. It serves as a catalyst for behavior and actions, stemming from a combination of conscious and unconscious factors, including the intensity of desire or need, the value of the goal’s incentive or reward, and the individual’s personal expectations as well as those of their important others.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs model suggests that there are five fundamental needs arranged in a hierarchy. The model proposes that when a person’s physiological needs are not fulfilled, they focus on fulfilling those needs. Once physiological needs are met, safety needs become a priority in influencing behavior. Once safety needs are satisfied, belongingness becomes important, and so on up the hierarchy. However, critics argue that Maslow’s belief that higher needs only become important after lower needs are completely satisfied is flawed.
This theory emphasizes the fact that a satisfied need does not motivate behavior. Even if a salesperson is already compensated adequately, additional payments may not motivate them. This theory suggests that what motivates one salesperson may not be effective for another. This is because different salespeople have different combinations of needs. To effectively motivate a salesperson, a manager must accurately assess their individual needs.
The primary requirement for a salesperson may be reassurance and the development of confidence, which can serve as motivation. However, for another salesperson who has a strong need for esteem, the sales manager may provide motivation by recognizing exceptional performance during a sales meeting. According to A. Capehart (2009) in the Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Volume 24, Number 2, Herzberg’s dual factor theory differentiates between factors that can lead to dissatisfaction but do not provide motivation and factors that can generate positive motivation.
According to Hertzberg, hygiene factors such as physical working conditions, security, salary, and interpersonal relationships can bring motivation up to a ‘theoretical zero’ but will not result in positive motivation. To achieve positive motivation, attention needs to be given to true motivators. These include the nature of the work itself, allowing the person to make concrete achievements and receive recognition for them, the responsibility exercised by the person, and the interest value of the work itself.
The decision to consider salary as a hygiene factor rather than a motivator faced criticism. However, sales managers, based on their experience, believed that commission for salespeople was an effective motivator in reality. Hertzberg partially agreed with this perspective by stating that higher commission as increased salary serves as a motivator due to the recognition it provides for sales achievement. Fortunately, the salesperson can directly observe their achievement through higher sales. Nonetheless, the level of responsibility given to salespeople varies greatly.
According to a study conducted by Paul, Robertson, and Hertzberg, granting sales people the power to grant credit, offer discounts, and decide on calling frequencies increased their success rates. The experiment involved a group of British sales people. The findings from this research were published in J W Jlocum’s (1986) article titled “Career stages approach to managing the salesforce” in the Journal of Consumer Marketing, volume 3, number 4.
In his article “Clarifying inspirational motivation and its relationship to extra effort,” published in Leadership and Organization Development Journal, vol 23, no. 1, I. L. Densten (2002) presents a unique theory of motivation specifically focused on salespeople. Unlike Maslow and Hertzberg’s general theories, Densten’s research is based on the examination of sales managers’ methods during sales meetings. The study compares two styles: group method and lecture method. Sales managers who use the group method encourage team discussion on field sales problems and foster a learning environment. Conversely, sales managers who prefer the lecture method discourage interaction and view the meeting as an opportunity to simply lecture their team. Interestingly, high-performing sales teams tend to adopt the group method. The article also mentions a study commissioned by the Chartered Institute of Marketing that asked sales managers to prioritize eight factors for effectively stimulating their salespeople to improve performance.
The diagram below shows the results of this research. The graph above presents potential strategies for motivating Fram’s sales team, as suggested in W H Murphy’s (1995) study titled “Salespersons perceptions about sales contests: towards a greater understanding” published in the European Journal of Marketing, vol 29, no. 13. It is typical for companies, regardless of whether they sell consumer or industrial goods, to offer commission or bonus payments to their salespeople. The most common payment structure is a salary plus commission system, which provides both security and the chance for higher earnings with increased sales.
However, in certain cases, salespeople receive payment based solely on commission, meaning their earnings depend entirely on their performance. Motivating a sales force is one of the most challenging tasks faced by sales managers, particularly given the various challenges associated with modern selling. These challenges include having salespeople located in different geographic regions, offering a wide range of products to diverse markets, engaging in technically complex and highly competitive selling tasks, being part of a multifaceted sales team, and incurring expenses that often account for a significant portion of the company’s marketing budget.
Furthermore, with the presence of international sales forces, the motivation challenge becomes even more complex for many companies. As salespeople progress through different stages of their careers, their needs change, and so must the sales incentives and compensation. Both sales trainees and older salespeople pose unique motivational challenges. Motivating trainees, who require a prolonged period of adaptation before they become productive, is difficult. It is a challenge to provide them with a sense of accomplishment. Moreover, it is especially challenging to generate enthusiasm for selling when trainees possess technical training but lack a sales orientation or motivation for the job. Therefore, it may be prudent to reward and compensate beginners for their learning efforts rather than their ability to produce results.
In contrast, experienced salespeople may encounter limitations on their earning potential and perceive restrictions on their advancement and personal growth. Due to these complexities and others in the field of selling, a sales manager cannot assume that salespeople are consistently highly motivated.
Failure to identify the needs of subordinates and provide effective motivation leads to increased turnover, lower sales force productivity, and unnecessary selling expenses. The first challenge for a sales manager is identifying the individual needs of sales personnel. The manager must then create conditions that offer motivation opportunities for growth, achievement, participation, responsibility, and recognition. Additionally, the manager must ensure that the basic conditions for good morale are met, such as adequate pay, suitable physical surroundings, social opportunities, and more.
To a great extent, the various forms of sales incentives, compensation, and leadership will fulfill these needs. According to L J Mullins (1985), motivation in the sales field is heavily reliant on sales incentives, which includes compensation. Sales incentives are defined as rewards given to sales personnel for their achievements. In order to motivate salespeople, managers must have an understanding of their needs. It is important for managers to recognize that individuals often have different work values and motivations than what their managers may expect.
Although the supervisory task involves gaining a general understanding of human behavior, this is not enough. The sales manager must also recognize the specific needs of individual sales personnel. For instance, take the case of Ram, who has four children and a mortgage, and is primarily concerned with security. In contrast, Mohan, who is single, is driven by the potential for progression and training. The incentives employed to motivate these two salespeople must also be distinct. While personal leadership is a powerful motivating factor, financial and non-financial incentives are two other significant methods for motivating salespeople.
Both effective leadership and well-chosen incentives play a role in motivating salespeople. Non-financial incentives are diverse techniques used primarily for special-effort situations. These include recognition (such as honors, awards, privileges, and communication), sales contests and incentive programs, sales meetings, and sales training. The main goal of these non-financial incentives is usually to meet specific short-term objectives.
It is crucial for the company’s long-term marketing goals and overall human resources program that the incentives are in alignment. If a company wants to achieve balanced sales across all its product lines, it would not be wise to introduce a sales contest that encourages salespeople to solely focus on one product line, disregarding others. The implementation of sales contests should be carefully considered as they can redirect sales efforts. (Source: G B Rabey, 2001, Motivation in Response; Industrial & Commercial Training, vol 33, no. 1)
Understanding the functioning of financial incentives is crucial for sales managers as it plays a vital role in motivating the sales force through fair and sufficient compensation. In comparison to an advertising campaign that would have incurred costs for the company, Frams’ internal incentive scheme proved more effective. Under this scheme, employees received certificates enabling them to acquire products at a reduced price.
References:
A. Capehart (2009) Elements of salesperson control: an organization theory perspective; Journal of business & Industrial Marketing, vol 24, no. .
I L. Densten (2002) Clarifying inspirational motivation and its relationship to extra effort; Leadership and organization Development Journal, vol 23, no. 1.
J W Jlocum (1986) Career stages approach to managing the salesforce; Journal of Consumer Marketing, vol 3, no. 4.
L J Mullins (1985) The process of Motivation; Industrial management and data systems, vol 85, no. ?.
W H Murphy (1995) Salespersons perceptions about sales contests: towards a greater understanding; European Journal of Marketing, vol 29, no. 13.
G B Rabey (2001) Motivation in Response; Industrial & Commersial Training, vol 33, no. 1.
