“What Is the Best Incentive Plan For My Reps?”….
A question that always sparks heated debate amongst distributor principals. The ancient “5% of all sales in a territory” (and its refinements) has accumulating drawbacks. Now, with accelerating Omnichannel Cloud Commerce targeting B2B channels, what other Sales-Force questions come first?
LOOKING-BACKWARD QUESTIONS
- Have you written down and ranked the drawbacks and injustices of your current plan?
- (Assuming no fears about losing best reps), What account reassignments should be done?
- Can any incentive plan magically cure:
- Weak reps whom you would not hire again?
- Veteran Reps coasting to retirement while harvesting their (and possibly your) best accounts?
- A weak, unfocused, me-too strategy?
- The many net-unprofitable customers and SKUs leeching your business? (Get a cost-to-serve model – at the line-item level – to identify and fix them!)
FORWARD-ENVISIONING QUESTIONS TO ASK
- What accelerating trends will converge to make 2021 selling different, and stress traditional rep orthodoxy to possibly breaking?
- What are your suppliers envisioning for B2B, Omnichannel, Cloud-Commerce in 2021?
- How do you plan to develop e-selling skills?
- How will you score current reps for their 2021 fitness?
- In ’21, how will you segment your customers to then
sell them:
- Different service-metrics’ benefits and terms?
- Customized supply-chain replenishment solutions?
- Factory Omnichannel scenarios involving both dis
and re-intermediation?
- With what multiple selling-cost models?
- Are too many, too-small accounts currently assigned to reps?
- Are some huge accounts desiring supply-chain solutions that require a team selling process still assigned to solo reps?
- What analytics will help answer these questions and guide action plans?
- Based on answers for 1-6: how will you “right-size
and upgrade” your reps to:
- Solve all historic problems?
- And, spark a big increase in sales and profits from best accounts?
- Finally, what will be an incentive plan that will be customer-centric and please your best reps within a new e-selling era?
Help With Answers?
I could write an e-book on “B2B Distributor Sales Management Opportunities: 2019 to 2024”. But, only if:
- I get lots of “do it” demand from regular readers who in turn…
- Persuade others to vote “YES” and get trade or buying groups to offer some sponsorship.
Interested? Email your thoughts to: [email protected]. Otherwise, blogs will continue!