Motivating salespeople to achieve growth: What really works?

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Myth: all salespeople respond equally to all incentives. In fact, sources of motivation are nuanced, dynamic and vary from one salesperson to the next. Overlooking these differences not only leads to poor team performance, but also leaves companies especially vulnerable during periods of disruptive change. Increasing demand, unpredictable supply, the challenge of quarantines and virtual selling are all factors from the past two years that have led to difficulties in motivating salespeople.

In this webinar, Dr. Ahearne will outline best practice approaches used by companies who have evolved beyond their one-size-fits-all incentive schemes. His research reveals a clearer picture of when and how to tailor incentive strategies to your sales force, as well as the performance advantages in organizations that are capable of fielding flexible
incentive schemes.

Dr. Michael Ahearne, Ph.D.

Professor of Marketing and C.T. Bauer Chair in Marketing - University of Houston
Research Director - Sales Excellence Institute

Michael Ahearne (Ph.D., Indiana University) is Professor of Marketing and C.T. Bauer Chair in Marketing at the University of Houston. He is also Research Director of the Sales Excellence Institute.

Mike's research has primarily focused on improving the performance of salespeople and sales organizations. He has published over 50 articles in leading journals such as Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Management Science, Strategic Management Journal, Journal of Applied Psychology, and Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. Mike was recently recognized by the American Marketing Association as one of the most research productive scholars in the field of marketing. His research has been profiled in the Wall Street Journal, Business 2.0, Business Investors Daily, Fox News, INC Magazine and many other news outlets.

Mike's textbook, Selling Today: Partnering to Create Customer Value, is the highest grossing professional selling textbook in the world, with copies being distributed in over forty countries. Paired with the many teaching awards he has won at the MBA and undergraduate levels in Sales, Sales Management, and Key Account Management, Mike has a proven track record of excellence when it comes to disseminating knowledge in his field. He has also had a significant impact outside of the classroom based on the reach of the Sales Excellence Institute, which is widely regarded as the worldwide leader in sales education and research. Mike was recently honored as the inaugural winner of the Sales Education Foundation's Research Dissemination Award for the impact of his research on business practice.

Before entering academia, Mike played professional baseball for the Montreal Expos and worked in marketing research and sales operations for Eli Lilly and PCS Healthcare. Throughout his career, Mike has consulted with over 200 companies in a wide range of industries such as consumer packaged goods, direct selling, health care, insurance, technology, and transportation. As both a principal at ZS Associates and as an independent consultant, he has worked with companies on a range of projects such as segmentation strategy, sales territory design, compensation plans, sales process optimization, and talent management.