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My sales force is made up of a national accounts rep who travels frequently, two outside reps covering different geographic territories, and one inside salesperson calling on customers below a certain dollar volume nationwide. While they get along, there's not much team rapport or support for each other in situations where it would be helpful.
A sales staff effectively organized to serve your customer base equals smart sales management. However, that leaves you with four independent operators when you'd like a cohesive crew.
Group Goal Time
What's needed is a group goal.
I recommend that the first time or two you try this, you establish the group goal for a relatively short time period, like a month. That allows you to change the goal up from month-to-month, and also to observe and make adjustments based on the outcome(s) and your staff's input.
For example, add their four monthly quotas together to come up with a group goal. Offer them a modest monetary bonus if they achieve this number together.
Possibly for the first time, the reps will begin to take a real interest in how the others are doing against their individual quota. They might discuss it with each other - offering tips and encouragement. With protected territories and accounts, everyone can be a winner.
Someone could create a dashboard or chart to track progress. Fun, competitive texts will fly back and forth between the participants.
All-for-One and One-for-All
With a group contest, everyone has "star" potential. They don't receive the bonus unless each rep hits their individual goal. The national accounts rep cannot save the day by closing a big deal and hitting the number for all.
You might have real concerns about one rep, and don't want to create resentment if everyone else succeeds and they do not. In that case, you could allow the other salespeople to contribute a maximum of 5% of any additional revenue they bring in after achieving their own quota. Beyond that, each rep pulls their own weight.
Will Everyone be Interested?
Let me guess. This national accounts rep earns more money annually than the other three. You're concerned this contest will hold little appeal for her or him. That's not usually the case. Typically, they're all in.
Salespeople are competitive by nature and a group bonus is a competitive sport. Just because the amount of money won't make a big difference in their overall income, doesn't mean they want to forego it altogether. I've seen many sophisticated, highly compensated reps get really excited about an event like this.
Mix It Up
Group contests are ultimately very, very flexible. One quarter, offer a bonus for hitting the group goal and another more lucrative bonus if they achieve an additional 5% of sales revenue. Create group contests for new business or incremental increases within current accounts. The list goes on and on.
Talk Things Through
If one person in the group fails to make their number, talk it over. Review their performance for the time period. Look at what might have gone wrong. Encourage the other reps to offer their support. Don't give up on the group bonus, though. It's a powerful team building tool.
Check In
As a manager, I would just sit back and observe the first time around. See how each rep reacts to the idea of a group bonus. How does their behavior change - if at all? Win or lose, discuss the whole exercise with your sales team. Let them make suggestions for improvements for additional group contests. This should be the beginning of your sales staff forming a more cohesive unit while respecting each others' individual talents and contributions.
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