Sales & Marketing Management

Scenario #5:

Salespeople can sometimes seem to be working for themselves rather than for
the business or as part of a team with others.

Problem

Field sales are highly competitive and, by nature, good salespeople must be
aggressive and highly motivated. These positive traits can emerge in a negative
way, if not channeled properly.

Possible solutions

Solve the problem in the following ways:

Better communication and involvement of the sales force in realizing the

business' goals

PPO are an excellent way to reward individual performance within a team

concept of sales management

Regular sales meetings are another way to promote interaction of

salespeople and the exchange of ideas

It can be very effective to have a top performer or perhaps just a different
salesperson at each meeting make a presentation to their peers and to
management on competitive situations encountered and the techniques
employed to achieve success.

For example

New promotional ideas and new ways to exploit opportunities may

be withheld for personal benefit rather than shared with the

group. This is particularly evident in businesses that pit one

salesperson against the other in sales contests.

Periodically, a contest can be fun and a morale booster. However,

if contests are too frequent and become the normal way of

stimulating sales results, they can be damaging to the

organization in terms of the effects on people and the

distortion of the mix of product movement.