There is nothing quite like peer pressure to make a sales force manage itself. How can you unleash peoples competitiveness? One of the simplest and best ways is by posting sales results in places where everybody can see them. Web sites are great for this purpose, because they can be updated, continuously. When you post sales results you make every day a contest, a race. People compare themselves, and evaluate their own stature relative to others. Ive used this silent motivator for years with great success, and right now, as a producer of articles, Im being motivated this way by one of the Ezine sites where I post my efforts. This site delivers several interesting statistics to writers and to readers. One of the most significant is the number of articles posted. I can see, today for instance, my 766 articles put me in the number five slot out of more than 28,500 writers. Im about 30 ahead of the next guy, and about 150 behind number four. I know EXACTLY where I stand. The publisher, like a sales manager, doesnt have to do anything to keep me grinding out articles but to continue posting these figures. There is an adage that says the best management is self-management. When a sales manager can use little devices like performance postings to goad his people on, other methods seem wasteful and primitive, by comparison. |
