248 CHAPTER 6 Motivation Lighting a Fire Under the Sales Force yMorton owns a sm

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248 CHAPTER 6 Motivation Lighting a Fire Under the Sales Force yMorton owns a small chain of shoe stores. The stores sell medium- o quality shoes for both men and women, and the sales force is paid on comm commission. rs for a group meeting in order to seek their advice on how to get the managers are the direct supervisors of their sales people. Kelly started the meeting bou Lou was the first to speak. Lou said, "I think the solution is simple. We've Over the past six months sales have been flat. Kelly has brought in the store people to generate more sales. Because the stores are relatively small, the store reviewing sales figures and then asked the store managers how to improve sales. always done well with commissions. Because we pay straight commission, we ger good sales people and they tend to stay with us. Our sales people make more than those at other stores who get paid an hourly wage. I think we're getting some competition from the larger retailers that are beginning to carry lines of shoessi to some of our higher-quality merchandise. We need to bite the bullet and i e percentage for commissions. I'll cost more, but we'll make up for the extra with volume. Chris spoke up next. "I disagree with Lou. We've always paid commissions, but sales are still flat. Something has changed, and it's not just the competition from big chains. That tells me that we need to add something else. Let's have an awards dinner where we give out plaques to our top sales people. We can post their pictures in each store. You know, sort of a Wall of Fame. And we could have a professional athlete come in and make a motivational speech that will fire everybody up for next year Money is not the answer because these people already make good money What's a bigger commission or a cash award going to mean to them? I think that people want to see themselves standing up in front of their peers receiving the top sales person award for the year and hear the applause. They can visualize that, and it's real to them." Lou said, "I disagree. Plaques dont mean much because everybody gets them. The next time you go to your insurance agent's office look at the line of plaques on the wall.Those insurance people aren't all superstars, but they all have plaques. If we want more sales, we need to get out the checkbook. Cary said, "I think you're wrong, Lou. But I don't know whether an awards dinner is the answer. I try to create a warm environment where the sales people like to come to work. In our store we all like each other, and I try to tell people when they've done a good job. This causes the sales people to treat the customers well and t repeat business. Sure, the money's important, but our sales are flat we ge not enough of our people know that we appreciate their efforts. next. "I don't think praise and pats on the back are going to in sales. They might work with kids' soccer teams, but they won't work with adults. Why don't we have a contest where the sales person having the highest sales next quarter gets an all-expenses paid trip for two to Hawaii. It will be January then, a it will probably be about 5 degrees here with a cold wind blowing off the lake.Our sales people will work harder to try to sell the most shoes because they know they could be sitting on the beach in Maui. My sister is an insurance agent, and her company has contests all the time. Last year she got to go to Bermuda because of one of those contests

Explanation / Answer

1. Motivating the employees is an inevitable quality that every leader should have inorder to have a successful and productive team. In this case study the store managers have the same opinion of motivating the sales persons in order to acheive more sales but by applying different theories of motivation. Lou, the first one to open up came with the Hertzberg's hygiene factor of motivation where the sales person can be given a higher rate of commission so that they may work harder to improve the sales. Pat also had the opinion of giving money as a reward for motivating the sales person.

Chris on the other hand had the opinion of following the Hertzberg's motivator factor theory where he argues that their sales person are earning pretty well and giving more money is not going to really help. He is of the opinion to motivate the sales person by giving them best performance awards and giving them motivation and recognition. This will create a sense of pride in the sales persons and would fell motivated and give their best in the work.

Cary also advised to follow the motivator theor of Hertzberg where instead of giving awards, making the environment warm and comfortable for the employees would make them more presentable to the customers. Cary suggests that praising and motivating them with in the team is more than sufficient instead of spending on dinner and commission.

Lynn the last one to share the thoughts had the opinion of giving the best performing sales representative a chance of world trip with family which follows the hygiene factor of the Herzberg theory. The employess would put their full effort to win the contest and take ther family to a foreign trip at the company's cost.

These are the motivation theories that the managers of kelly followed in their meeting to improve the sales of their product.

2. Having the business flat is always very critical. The employees have to be motivated in order to work toward more sales and services. The basic need of the sales person to perform best is to make him comfortable inthe work place. This will help him in satisfying the customers. Setting a target and making them work towards it will create a sense of competition between the employees which has its own pros and cons. But fixing a realistic target and giving an award or cash prize for the acheivers will help to boost the sales. Employees work for money and if they are paid well they can take care of their vacations. Periodic revison of scales and bonus would motivate them more.

3. Human beings are more talented than they actually think of themselves. In a company the employees work hard to produce the result in the initial stages of their career. But as years pass they tend to be in their comfort zone and do work. In such situations motivating them by orientation programs and contest will help them to regain energy and work better. They tend to belive that they have acheived the goal and attained saturation at work. Through motivation and giving recognition they can be made to bring the best out of them. This reveals the basic human desire to seek attention and the pleasure of enjoying the recognition. Motivation does the same.

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