Sales people, for the most part, are competitive by nature. Organizing a contest for a specific purpose, doesn’t always have to include a trip to Belize or a new BMW. If there is one thing to be won, whatever that is, sometimes, with the right team at the right time, that is enough.
Make it special. Make it unique. Make a big fuss about it. Reps will get fired up and want to be the one to win the prize. I used to say that if there is only one blue pen in the office, run a contest with sales. They will all fight for the blue pen because it is the only one. Pride still exists in the sales community. Dollars motivate in a different manner, but along the way, during the year, a short term contest with a unique prize will provide the spark needed to close a month.
To make my point, a long long time ago(say 1991), the company I worked for ran a contest where the first 10 reps in the district to replace a competitive product will win a prize. There were 108 reps in the district. I wanted the blue pencil – I have always been one of those. The prize, to replace a competitive colour copier, was a piece of “history”. Inside a glass case was a piece of a motherboard from the first competitive unit we had knocked out as a company. I remembered that because I found it on my 4 year old daughter’s shelf. She thought it was “nice looking”. Now, sales managers, find the blue pencil, run that contest and let your team’s competitive side emerge!
Filed under: Sales management | Tagged: motivate sales, sales, sales coaching, sales contest, Sales management, xerox | Leave a Comment »



