Also in This Report:

There’s a new type of rep out there: Recognition considered equally rewarding as traditional incentives: page 22

Life in the ’90s: Mariposa offers four perspectives on life in sales in this chilly decade: page 25

Everyone plays a part: Non-sales employees are part of your salesforce: page 25

Invertising: ‘A substantive, strategic approach encircled by creative relevance:’ page 27

High performance: Developing an effective incentive strategy is simple – in theory: page 27

Doug Keeley is the president of ICE Integrated Communications and Entertainment in Toronto. This fictitious letter outlines his views on salesforce motivation.

To: Ron Stinson@acme.com, Internet

From: Joyce Frederick

Hi Ron:

Congratulations on the new job as vice-president sales. We’re all excited for you.

This is a response to your request for input from the Canadian region into this year’s sales conference and excellence program.

Since you’re still relatively new to acme and missed ‘The Executioner’s Years,’ I can probably offer some insight on my team.

The past few years have been tough up here. Cutbacks always hurt. But the survivors on my team know they deserve to be here.

We’re lean now, and there’s a quiet confidence because of it.

They know there’s a job to do, they’re focused on doing it, and their mood is good. I think we’ve convinced them acme has turned the corner.

Pricing is still an issue, though, and we have to be careful because our market will not tolerate another increase.

The weak Canadian dollar continues to plague us because of our u.s. manufacturing base. We’re selling on added value, and it is not always easy when products are indistinguishable.

By the way, everyone is pumped to know that the new product will be out in Q4. We need a new story to talk up. There hasn’t been a lot of product development in the past few years to get excited about.

The notebook computer program has been a big hit, as you know.

Downloading pricing and order forms over the network has been a huge time-saver, as has being able to stay abreast of our back-order situation.

I think the team feels they’re not left exposed like they used to be when they’d be quoting out-of-date pricing, or not knowing about new discount structures.

And being able to connect with e-mail is an obvious time-saver, as this memo proves.

Training continues to be an issue. The cd-rom training program has gone over well. Everyone likes being able to learn at their own speed without having to go to Toronto for courses.

I also think they feel good just knowing they’re equipped with state-of-the-art tools (even if sometimes they use them to play Myst.)

But we need a lot of work in understanding what adding value really means. More training would help.

As you know, we’re on target to hit our numbers, but it won’t be easy and everyone knows it.

I think we’re all aware we have to be smarter and scrappier than the competition, and understand our customers better than they do.

And your message about the salesforce being the eyes and ears to the customer has been clearly understood. I am already starting to get useful information, which I will feedback to you next week when it is compiled.

So, what should this year’s kickoff meeting be like? Well, most important, we can’t give them any b.s. Take it easy on the pure-hype-for-hype’s-sake.

I think we need to convince them that our management team knows what it is doing, and that you’re listening to the field and their input from our customers.

Also, I think we have to prove to them that we’ll continue to give them the products and tools they need to win.

Most important, be straight, be candid, and be open.

A few years ago, there was lots of talk about teamwork, but then 15% of the team got cut. If the news is bad, tell them. If it is good, tell them that, too.

I think you should also get the salesforce involved in the meeting more. Make it more interactive. Don’t just have a bunch of executives giving prepared speeches, or singers and dancers singing about how great the future will be.

If this really is a new regime, then the style has to be different.

Also, recognition is critical. The more people you recognize, the better, however you do it. Get their names up on a screen, mention them in a speech. It doesn’t matter as long as you do a lot of it.

So, overall, be positive, talk about our strengths, but, equally, be candid about our weaknesses and tell the team what you are doing to correct them.

As for the excellence program, I think everyone is really excited about Greece this year. It was a good idea to take fewer people to a better location.

They’re salespeople. They understand competition better than anyone. And, by the way, the response to including the support teams this year has been outstanding.

I hope this helps. I look forward to seeing you at the committee meeting next week.

Yours, Joyce