In the classic sales movie, Glengarry Glen Ross, there is a scene in which Mr. Blake is brought in from corporate to lead a meeting to introduce a sales contest to the sellers.  And it goes like this:

Blake: We're adding a little something to this month's sales contest. As you all know, first prize is a Cadillac Eldorado. Anybody want to see second prize?
[Holds up prize]
Blake: Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is you're fired.

What are we to make of a contest like this?  First place is obviously worth winning but what about second and third place?  Not so good.  The result of this contest is that any seller who thinks they can't win will start thinking about how to make a living somewhere else.

In the movie, that is fine with Blake because he is trying to separate the men from the boys and anyone who wants to quit is welcome to do so.  But in the real world, sales contests are designed to inspire at least the majority, if not all, of the account managers to perform at their highest level.  No one actually creates a contest hoping that some of the account managers will quit.

Or do they?  Along comes a broadcast company that has just implemented a contest in which the winners take home fabulous cash prizes and trips to exotic destinations.  Plus, there is going to be a gala to distribute the prizes and to fete the winners.  The losers?  They get to clean up after the dinner.

This is akin to having a contest in which the entire sales team is taken to an equestrian center.  The winners get to ride the horses while the losers clean up the barn. 

Or, a contest where the winners get to eat pulled pork barbeque while the losers slop the pigs.

Maybe they rejected those ideas as being too humiliating but doesn't their contest accomplish the same thing?

I once learned from a sales manager that people come to work for their own reasons.   Some are motivated by money while others enjoy the freedom of choosing their own schedules.  Some just want to get out of the house.  None of them is interested in humiliation.

Some may argue that the avoidance of humiliation is motivation.  I contend that the vast majority of people humiliated at work while making their best effort to achieve their professional goals will not try harder the next time humiliation is offered.  They will quit and avoid being humiliated at that job forever.

Here are some of the elements of a successful sales contest:

1)  Reward achievements.  The achievers are held up as an example to all while the non-achievers are simply ignored.

2)  Veterans and newcomers both have a shot at winning.  Otherwise, the outcome is pre-determined and the sellers who know they can't win will not even try.

3)  Good prizes.  Don't empty out the promotions closet and offer up T-shirts from a long ago concert as prizes.  Before the contest, solicit some information about the type of prizes the sellers would like to win and then put those up for grabs.

4)  The rules are clear.  Make the rules in advance, publish them and then stick to them.  Re-interpretting the rules midway through a contest makes it look like the management wanted a particular seller to win. 

5)  The contest is short enough to hold attention.  Long contests that drag on for months lose their effectiveness.  Sellers will ramp up their energy level for several weeks at a time but they can't and won't do it for months.

6) FUN!  Perhaps the most important element of all.  Find a way to celebrate the joy of selling while the contest is going on instead of just at the end. 

What is the worst sales contest you've every participated in?  What made it the worst?


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