the pitch: as seen in sales and marketing management <\/p>\n
featuring rodger stotz, vice president & consultant,
\nmaritz inc.
\nprinter-friendly version
\n rodger stotz
\nbio <\/p>\n
http:\/\/rick.telberg.mr-2.us\/feature1.phtml<\/p>\n
motivating your top performers is a no-brainer. but will that alone increase your bottom line? not quite. that’s the finding of a recent survey by maritz incentives, a provider of reward and recognition programs based in st. louis. midlevel performers thrive when they know they’ve got something to work toward ? and you’ve got to give that to them. in fact, 52 percent of respondents who qualify for incentive programs at their companies ? which typically reward the top 10 percent of workers ? feel they have only somewhat or no chance of winning an award. this is far from motivating. “your b-players have a significant effect on your bottom line,” says rodger stotz, vice president and managing consultant for maritz inc. “you’ll always have a top five percent, but those rewards don’t move the middle.”<\/p>\n
a typical company may have 10 percent a players and 80 percent b players, stotz says. if you get the top 10 percent to improve by 20 percent, then overall results climb 2 percent. but if you get just 5 percent more out of your mid-performers, overall results will go up 4 percent. that is why managers must recognize and reward those who may not perform at the top level, but who perform consistently. “studies say that well-designed sales incentive programs do increase performance,” stotz says. “ask your b players what their impression is with the current recognition and reward plans. they may think, “i can’t try, because i can’t make it,” when it comes to top-performer incentive programs. that is just demotivating.”<\/p>\n
so what can you do to make sure your rewards plan doesn’t alienate your b players? stotz offers the following suggestions: <\/p>\n
be clear on your objectives “instead of only using top-performer measures, such as most volume, create an incentive for the most improved, which will attract the b’s,” stotz says.<\/p>\n
promote the plan sometimes executives “launch a program but participants don’t know they’re in the program ? that’s not good,” stotz says.<\/p>\n
stay involved the sales manager’s role is critical in any type of incentive program. salespeople are independent but they look to managers for direction.<\/p>\n
set up goals work with b players to set up individual goals for achievement and recognition. this can get them out of a rut and improve performance.<\/p>\n
create a mentor program “if it is within the culture, look to a players to mentor the b’s,” stotz says. “they can offer ‘tips from the top’ class sessions, for example, once a month. sharing tips for success motivates the b’s.” <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"