Motivating and rewarding the sales force

16th December 2017 |   Dr Javier Marcos and Dr Monica Franco-Santos

In previous articles of this series in the International Journal of Sales Transformation, “Managing and Measuring Sales Performance” and “Setting Sales Targets”, we presented an outline of the properties of effective sales performance measurement systems guidelines to minimise the unintended consequences of sales targets. In this last article of the series, we address employee motivation and its relation to sales compensation.

Motivating the sales force is a critical component of sales force management, given its profound effect on people’s behaviour and sales performance. Here, we provide an overview of the motivation theories that are relevant to sales force compensation and management.

A (brief) outline of motivation theories applicable to sales

Motivation theories aim to understand people’s attitudes towards work and the behaviours they display when putting effort into accomplishing tasks. Key questions addressed by motivation theories are: Why do people work? Why do they put in the effort they do? Why do some people work harder than others? Why do individuals respond differently to motivation-related management practices?

Dr Javier Marcos

Director of Learning for Performance Ltd | + posts

Dr Javier Marcos is the Director of Learning for Performance Ltd, a boutique sales training and consultancy practice and the Research and Executive Development Lead at the Association of Professional Sales. He holds visiting fellow positions at Cranfield School of Management and the University of Cambridge IfM.

Dr Monica Franco-Santos

Senior Lecturer in Business Performance and Compensation at Cranfield School of Management | + posts

Dr Monica Franco-Santos is a Senior Lecturer in Business Performance and Compensation at Cranfield School of Management. She co-authored the book Compensation and Organizational Performance (Routledge).