No sales force consists entirely of stars; sales staffs are usually made up mainly of solid performers, with smaller groups of laggards and rainmakers. Though most compensation plans approach these three groups as if they were the same, research shows that each is motivated by something different. By accounting for those differences in their incentive programs, companies can coax better performance from all their salespeople.
In this keynote session, Professors Michael Ahearne (C.T. Bauer College of Business, University of Houston) and Tom Steenburgh (Harvard Business School and Darden School of Business, University of Virginia), authors of a recent Harvard Business Review article on this topic, will review their recent research and discuss its implications for sales leaders.
