Designing Sales Contests in Call Centers: Understanding Inside Salespeople’s Preferences for Contest Design Attributes and Rewards

Sandrine Hollet-Haudebert (1) , Christophe Fournier (2) , Fanny-Juliet Poujol (2) , Ellen Pullins

1 IRG - Institut de Recherche en Gestion
2 MRM - Montpellier Research in Management

A sales contest is a special incentive program designed to motivate salespeople to pursue goals beyond the performance range generated by their standard compensation package (Murphy and Dacin 1998). With the move to inside sales growing, and with research on sales contests limited, little information exists as to what type of sales contests may be appropriate in these settings. It, therefore, may be prudent to survey the interests of the sales force to determine preferences of call center employees regarding the design and relevance of sales contests and associated rewards. Data from a quantitative survey of 202 inside salespeople was analyzed using conjoint analysis to understand inside salesperson preference for contest design and rewards. Conclusions indicate that salespeople prefer non-specific (more global) objectives, few winners, and team competitions.

Domaines: Gestion et management

Sandrine Hollet-Haudebert, Christophe Fournier, Fanny-Juliet Poujol, Ellen Pullins. Designing Sales Contests in Call Centers: Understanding Inside Salespeople’s Preferences for Contest Design Attributes and Rewards. Journal of Selling, 2015, 15 (1), pp.56-68. ⟨hal-02044554⟩