Sales leaders often build contests with a one-size-fits-all mentality. But that approach is flawed, according to LevelEleven CEO Bob Marsh. Here’s an excerpt from his recent piece on the topic — “The Other Guys: Why Average Sales People Are Your Most Valuable Asset” — published on the Salesforce.com blog…
Most of you have probably heard this line before:
“First prize is a Cadillac Eldorado. Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is you’re fired.”
It’s from the 1992 classic film about sales, Glengarry Glen Ross. As a refresher, the film details the plight of a small sales office and the inner motivations and struggles of the different men in it. The two main protagonists are hotshot number one seller Ricky Roma (the suave Al Pacino) and good intentioned but down-on-his-luck Shelly Levene (a hapless Jack Lemmon). Pressed to “always be closing,” in the end both the star salesman Roma and the past his prime Levene – as well as everyone in between – fail miserably, destroying the entire office.
The story makes for more than just great drama, it delivers a message any sales organization should heed: a winner-takes-it-all approach is seriously flawed. One of the most common examples of this is when companies create one-size-fits-all competitions or gamification programs among their sales teams where the top performers inevitably win.
By creating tailored programs for salespeople at all performance levels in your organization, you can help motivate your team as a whole and enhance sales for your business…
Read the full story here.
