Can Sales Leaderboards Hurt Motivation eBook

download Can Sales Leaderboards Hurt Motivation eBook

of 16

Transcript of Can Sales Leaderboards Hurt Motivation eBook

  • 8/13/2019 Can Sales Leaderboards Hurt Motivation eBook

    1/16

    1

    Can Sales Leaderboards

    HURTMOTIVATION?

    I N S I D E

    An answer to the big question: Can leaderboards demotivate those

    not at the top?

  • 8/13/2019 Can Sales Leaderboards Hurt Motivation eBook

    2/16

    2

    TABLE OF CONTENTS

    Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

    Chapters

    1 Is having bottom performers a bad thing?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

    2 For the times when it can be harmful. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

    Additional resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

  • 8/13/2019 Can Sales Leaderboards Hurt Motivation eBook

    3/16

    3

    I N T R O D U C T I O N

    When it comes to controversial questions, this is the big one (in the world

    of workplace competitions, that is)

    CAN SALES LEADERBOARDS DEMOTIVATE THOSE NOT AT THE TOP?

    Some of you want to shout, YES! And we get it. Its easy to give accolades

    to the people at the top of a leaderboard, but when it comes to the people

    who land anywhere else, the situation can get mucky. Theres a fear of

    frustrating those employees to the point of harming morale or productivity.

    We wrote this eBook, because we want you to get rid of that fear.

    THIS EBOOK DISCUSSES SALES LEADERBOARDS IN THE CONTEXT OF

    THOSE USED TO DISPLAY COMPETITION STANDINGS IN THE WORKPLACE.NOTE

    ?

  • 8/13/2019 Can Sales Leaderboards Hurt Motivation eBook

    4/16

    4

    IS HAVING

    BOTTOMPERFORMERSA BAD THING?

    1CHAPTER

    Not necessarily. And we have three points to start theconversation that proves it

  • 8/13/2019 Can Sales Leaderboards Hurt Motivation eBook

    5/16

    5

    1.WE PLAY TO WIN.Most of us have some sense of competitive nature. When we find out were

    not performing as well as our peers especially when they see that, too this nature kicks in. It creates motivation. We start working harder. And

    yeah, sometimes we get frustrated.

    But that frustration can trigger creative ideas, as we stretch our minds to

    come up with new approaches. It can lead to better time management,

    once we realize we cant afford time spent slacking. It can allow us to

    accomplish bigger things than we would have otherwise.

    Regardless of all that, though, we have to ask: Would you want your sales

    reps to have a reaction other than frustration upon falling short of businessgoals, anyway?

    Note:The content in this chapter applies

    assuming your team works in an

    environment of healthy competition. Well

    get more into how you can ensure that

    later. (Or right now, if you click here.)

  • 8/13/2019 Can Sales Leaderboards Hurt Motivation eBook

    6/16

    6

    2.PUT ME IN, COACH.Sometimes, lower-performing competition participants could benefit from

    coaching or mentorship. Leaderboards can bring that to their attention and encourage a productive response.

    In other words, dont be surprised if those sales reps come to you for

    advice.

    When the Monterey Company ran a one-month

    competition around getting more salesopportunities, a rep told the companys

    president, Paul Stark: Im not okay with being

    at the bottom of the leaderboard. He then

    asked Paul for coaching. Nearly immediately

    afterward, positive changes accompanied the

    reps sales activities.

    E X A M P L E

    Want the full story? Click here.

    http://leveleleven.com/2013/03/the-monterey-company-sales-competition-leveling-the-playing-field/http://leveleleven.com/2013/03/the-monterey-company-sales-competition-leveling-the-playing-field/
  • 8/13/2019 Can Sales Leaderboards Hurt Motivation eBook

    7/16

    7

    3.TEACH ME YOUR WAYS.Some sales reps simply dont feel comfortable in going to their leader to

    request coaching. Leaderboards can help them, too. After all, at the topof each leaderboard sits potential for mentorship. And it may surprise you

    how often peers will go out of their way to seek insight from their top-

    performing colleagues once opportunities to do so become more visible.

    When the Detroit Pistons released a new

    product, single-game suites, their sales teamhesitated to take it to market until leadership

    built a competition around it.

    Once the products sales began rising,

    motivation even found its way to those reps who

    knew (based on rankings) that they probably

    wouldnt win. They saw the product could be

    sold and wanted to know how the top-level

    performers did it so well.

    As a result, many sales reps approached the

    competitions leaders for insightful

    conversations. They then implemented the best

    practices learned into their own daily activities

    and joined in on crushing single-game suite

    sales. Literally. The Pistons achieved an annual

    sales goal in only six months, driving over

    $500,000 in sales for that particular product.

    E X A M P L E

  • 8/13/2019 Can Sales Leaderboards Hurt Motivation eBook

    8/16

    8

    ENCOURAGINGCOLLABORATIONAs a leader, you obviously want just that sort of collaboration to take place

    between your reps. Heres how you can encourage it:

    1. Dig in when someone rises to the top of the leaderboard to

    understand why.

    2. Take whatever you find out and orchestrate a conversation around it

    when that top performer is around the rest of the team. For example,

    in a meeting, say things like: Can you share what youre doing?

    Whats your approach to this? Clearly youre doing something thats

    working, because youre rocking this leaderboard.

    Sounds simple right? It is. But its important, too. Your competition winners

    probably wont go around pounding their chests, sharing what works

    on their own. However, you can facilitate conversations in a way that

    opens channels of communication and keeps those contest winners from

    appearing boastful.

    While theyre at it, these conversations will also

    provide an alternative to singling people out for falling to the bottom

    of the leaderboard; motivate those reps by letting them listen to a top

    performer instead.

    .assist in achieving competition buy-in from the team. Theres a big

    difference between saying, Heres what you need to do and letting your

    team listen to someone whos actually doing it and visibly succeeding.

    BONUS

  • 8/13/2019 Can Sales Leaderboards Hurt Motivation eBook

    9/16

  • 8/13/2019 Can Sales Leaderboards Hurt Motivation eBook

    10/16

    RETHINKING THESTRUCTURE OF YOURCOMPETITIONS...So if you do think leaderboards could demotivate your team, whats the

    solution?

    Break up your contests. Pair people together with similar skill sets and

    similar challenges and place them in their own competitions. Some team

    members will begin to work harder when they see that they have a chance

    to win. Others may work just as hard as they would have otherwise, but

    morale will stay in tact.

    Either way, heres the point: While reps will compete separately, theyll

    improve your organization collectively.

    10

    Want to do further reading on this topic?

    1. The Other Guys: Why AverageSalespeople Are Your Most Valuable Asset

    2. Motivate Your Salespeople By First

    Recognizing Their Differences

    NOT SURE WHEN YOU MIGHT WANT TO USE THIS METHOD?

    TRY SEPARATING YOUR TEAM BASED ON TENURE AND GROUPING COMPETITIONS

    ACCORDINGLY. THIS SERVES AS ESPECIALLY RELEVANT WHEN IT COMES TO

    THE CLASSIC SALES CONTEST, BUILT AROUND REVENUE.

    ANY KIND OF ACTIVITYORIENTED CONTEST, SUCH AS THOSE BUILT AROUND

    BOOKING MEETINGS OR FOLLOWING YOUR COMPANYS SALES PROCESS.

    TIP

    http://blogs.salesforce.com/company/2013/03/the-other-guys-why-average-sales-people-are-your-most-valuable-commodity.htmlhttp://blogs.salesforce.com/company/2013/03/the-other-guys-why-average-sales-people-are-your-most-valuable-commodity.htmlhttp://leveleleven.com/2013/02/motivate-your-salespeople-by-first-recognizing-their-differences/http://leveleleven.com/2013/02/motivate-your-salespeople-by-first-recognizing-their-differences/http://leveleleven.com/2013/02/motivate-your-salespeople-by-first-recognizing-their-differences/http://leveleleven.com/2013/02/motivate-your-salespeople-by-first-recognizing-their-differences/http://blogs.salesforce.com/company/2013/03/the-other-guys-why-average-sales-people-are-your-most-valuable-commodity.htmlhttp://blogs.salesforce.com/company/2013/03/the-other-guys-why-average-sales-people-are-your-most-valuable-commodity.html
  • 8/13/2019 Can Sales Leaderboards Hurt Motivation eBook

    11/16

    11

    SO BREAK UP ALLCOMPETITIONS, ALL THETIME?Please dont. In fact, remember this:

    SEGMENT ONLY SOMETIMES.

    Its healthy for your team members to be exposed to peers of diverse

    performance levels. It will equip them with a more comprehensive view of

    where they stand and where they could and should go.

    Especially if youre

    facilitating those

    conversations we

    talked about.

    E X A M P L E

    If you do set up a less-tenured sales rep to

    compete against your established reps in an

    activity-based competition, it can help to deter

    the relaxed, Ill catch on eventually approach

    and contribute to quicker onboarding.

  • 8/13/2019 Can Sales Leaderboards Hurt Motivation eBook

    12/16

    12

    THE BOTTOM OF THELEADERBOARD: WHAT TODO WITH ITWere on one of the last pages of this eBook. We know what youre thinking

    (or at least were going to assume we do, for the sake of the content to

    come):

    Are they suggesting we ignore those at the bottom of the leaderboard?

    Not at all. But what weve seen work best is to keep those conversations as

    positive as possible.

    Go to those reps and say something like: I know as well as you do that

    you should be a lot farther along. Then offer to take a look at their

    opportunities and talk through strategy with them.

    The situations where companies track negative behaviors and recognize

    employees for those, almost always create unhealthy, Big Brother-esque

    environments. That kind of setting never serves as healthy for motivation.

    That kind of setting never serves as healthy

    for CRM adoption, either. You can read

    about that in our Getting Started with

    Salesforce: What Not to DoeBook.

    KEEPIT

    POSITIVE

    http://leveleleven.com/ebooks-getting-started-with-salesforce-what-not-to-do/http://leveleleven.com/ebooks-getting-started-with-salesforce-what-not-to-do/http://leveleleven.com/ebooks-getting-started-with-salesforce-what-not-to-do/http://leveleleven.com/ebooks-getting-started-with-salesforce-what-not-to-do/
  • 8/13/2019 Can Sales Leaderboards Hurt Motivation eBook

    13/16

    13

    THIS IS WHERE WE BRINGTHIS THING TO A CLOSEbecause you know what you need to, in order to address the big

    question. So, lets do that:

    CAN SALES LEADERBOARDS DEMOTIVATE THOSENOT AT THE TOP?

    Yes, of course. Luckily, you now have techniques to arm

    you against such a circumstance.

    Want to add more layers to that armor?

  • 8/13/2019 Can Sales Leaderboards Hurt Motivation eBook

    14/16

    14

    ADDITIONAL

    RESOURCES

  • 8/13/2019 Can Sales Leaderboards Hurt Motivation eBook

    15/16

    15

    FOR ADDING LAYERS

    First of all, you should definitely check out the rest of the Sales

    Leaderboard Series.

    You can also visit LevelElevens Resource Center leveleleven.com/

    resources and Sales Game Blog leveleleven.com/blog for

    additional wisdom on motivating your sales team.

    LEARNMORE

    http://leveleleven.com/resources/ebook/http://leveleleven.com/resources/ebook/http://leveleleven.com/resources/white-papers/http://leveleleven.com/resources/white-papers/http://leveleleven.com/blog/http://leveleleven.com/blog/http://leveleleven.com/resources/white-papers/http://leveleleven.com/resources/white-papers/http://leveleleven.com/resources/ebook/http://leveleleven.com/resources/ebook/
  • 8/13/2019 Can Sales Leaderboards Hurt Motivation eBook

    16/16

    THANKS FOR READING!