Money makes the world go around and it takes only bonuses to get salespeople to perform!

❸ Money makes the world go around – and it takes only bonuses to get salespeople to perform! Many companies set sales targets and give bonuses in cash and other forms to salespeople who meet or exceed their budgets.

However, it would be unwise to believe that all it takes to get salespeople to perform to the optimum level for the company is to give them bonuses.

There are several dangers in doing this. For one thing, it can set up pressures to lower sales targets. Another issue is what to do when consumer and business confidence falls away after a major world event and salespeople do not meet the targets set for them, resulting in a major part of their income being lost through no fault of their own.

There are other issues. Salespeople experience many knock-backs as they go about their daily duties. More obstacles are put in their path than most other company employees experience, and it requires considerable internal recognition to maintain feelings of positive worth in the face of such adversity. In addition, salespeople can spend most of their time away from others in the company, maintaining their links through mobile phones, text messages, or email received through their laptops and tablet devices.

Sometimes, the only company people they see are sales managers who are intent on accompanying them to assess their capabilities and ensure they are working 12-hour days. For this reason, a company’s culture is most important. Some companies and managers handle sales teams better than others do, ensuring that their human assets are allowed to ‘fail’ on occasions, and helping to build them up. Such companies often maintain flexibility in their management of salespeople. Returning to the payment issue, the perennial question is what proportion should be paid as salary and what proportion provides the ‘carrot and stick’? What is your view? Explain your answer. (Learning Objective 2) (AACSB: Reflective Thinking)