Inside Call Center — Lead Lines

Rethinking Old Practices: Four problems with extrinsic motivation

In his salestrainingadvice.com blog entry “Sales Management and Motivation,” Greg Blysniuk says the motivational tactics sales managers commonly use are flawed. Extrinsic motivation can cause problems because it is:

1. Manipulative. The use of extrinsic motivators can leave employees feeling demeaned and manipulated, because it widens the gap between subordinate and superior.

“Even though the attempts are not malicious, extrinsic motivators feed an “us vs. them” mentality, and undermine a salesperson’s capacity to identify with company goals,” Blysniuk writes.

2. Ineffective at solving problems. When sales are down, managers often turn to incentives such as prizes and contests. This may change the behavior for the duration of the program, but it does not do anything to solve the root of the problem. Managers can often find themselves in a cycle of contests to boost sales, while they should be trying to find ways to keep sales up consistently.

3. Superficial. “Study after study demonstrates that cash is not a primary motivator, even with salespeople,” says Blysniuk.

Recruitment and retention may require money, but consistent performance requires something more.

4. Inconsistent. Extrinsic motivators cannot guarantee sales. If they could, all a company would need to do is increase commission rates to increase sales, but that’s not always the case.

Blysniuk says the emerging approach to motivation is an attempt at utilizing intrinsic commitment to success.

“Command-and-control is being displaced by coach-and-mentor. Sales management’s role is not to light fires under salespeople, but rather to provide the tools, training and resources salespeople need to be successful,” he adds.

Inside Call Center — Training Tips

Advertising During Recession: Benefits for customers who increase spending

Everyone is trying to cut back costs because of the current economic recession. That does not mean customers should cut back on advertising spending. The Clark Company’s online article “Recession Marketing Strategies” discusses the relationship between advertising during a recession and success in business.

The U.S. has been through nine recessions since World War II. According to Philip Geier of Interpublic Group, consumers have spent an average of nine percent more at the end of each recession than they had before the start of it. Because of softening advertising rates and drops in competitors’ spending, those businesses that take advantage of the growth that does occur during recessions can make great strides in their industry. Studies conducted during recessions from the 1920s through the 1970s all show that businesses that did not cut advertising spending showed the biggest sales increases.

Furthermore, six recession studies show that cutting advertising in times of economic downturn often results in immediate and long-term detrimental effects on sales and profit levels.

“I have yet to see any study that proves timidity is the route to success. Studies consistently have proven that companies that have the intelligence and guts to maintain or increase their overall marketing and advertising efforts in times of business downturns will get the edge on their timid competitors,” says J. Welsey Rosberg, vice president of Meldrum and Fewsmith.

The article includes the following strategies for helping businesses thrive during the recession:

• Increasing advertising budgets. Because competitors are cutting back, marketing messages gain power.

• Developing strategic marketing plans. This prevents wasteful spending.

• Reassuring customers. Make customers feel they are minimizing risk by doing business with the company.

• Taking advantage of special promotions and softer rates.

• Maintain valuable relationships with customers.

• Increasing media presence with effective PR programs.

• Preserving quality of advertising. Customers will notice of businesses are skimping on creative or production costs.

“All great enterprises move forward in a recession, and the weaklings move backward. The dumbbells cut back on advertising. The smart people don’t,” says Ed McCabe, partner at Scali, McCabe, Sloves. 

Automotive Bailout Makes Progress

While we generally try not to report on things until they are finalized, Advertising Age has a nice summary of the automotive legislation coming down the pipes, which still requires the presidential seal of approval. Media companies may want to note that among the new 'car czar's' responsibilities is the ability to approve (or veto, it would seem) major media buys, such as those for new product launches. The article can be found here. We'll be reporting further on this topic in the next issue of MacDonald magazine once the bill has been signed.

Signs of the Times (and Tribune)

As a sign of just how rough things have gotten for newspapers lately, we present to you these three stories from three different newspaper companies showing how each has had to adjust its strategy. Some of this is old news, some very recent, but each reaffirms that times are changing in the newspaper industry more rapidly than most were prepared for:

Monday, New York Times Co. confirmed that it may mortgage is NYT headquarters to help pay its bills, as confirmed by SFNBlog.com.

This report from The Wall Street Journal in NYC, N.Y., reviews the details of Tribune Company's filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Finally, for those who have been keeping a close eye on the layoffs at Gannett, you'll know that the tally has reached around 2,000. What you might have missed was that newspaper jobs site CareerBuilder.com suffered as well, as reported by the East Valley Tribune in Phoenix.

At MacDonald, our goal is and always has been to assist newspaper executives to increase advertising efforts for maximum results. We are working hard to continue in that tradition on behalf of our valued newspaper customers. If you have any questions, comments or success stories you'd like to share, please send them to editorial (at) gomacdonald.com.

Bits & Bytes

New iPhone app turns cell users into citizen journalists. Cell Journalist, Nashville-based provider of user-generated content solutions to media outlets created an free iPhone app that enables cell users to upload images and information about breaking news. The application integrates uploaded informatiton with Cell Journalist's current platform and passes it on to subscribers, Editor & Publisher reported. The application features a geographic locater that sends media outlets information on a citizen journalists location at the time at which information is being submitted. Subscribing media outlets can also use their own brand on the application in the app store.

Inside Call Center — Lead Lines

How to Move Forward After Mistakes

Be accountable and learn from them

In his leadershiparticles.com article “How to Learn from Your Leadership Mistakes,” Steven Sonsino discusses the importance of admitting mistakes. Denying them, trying to conceal them or trying to blame someone else can make learning from mistakes impossible. According to Sonsino, mistakes are integral to learning.

“Success stops you learning. When we take action and we succeed, we just don’t learn. We don’t bother,” he writes.

Many people do not take the time to review how they succeeded; they just move on to the next challenge. This causes problems because when they meet failure, it is devastating. If leaders do not learn from their mistakes, they are doomed to repeat them. The following are ways leaders may prevent themselves from learning from their mistakes:

• Denying them. “It’s likely that we can’t believe we made a mistake. Our subconscious mind is trying to protect our ego to save face,” Sonsino explains. When leaders do not recognize their mistakes, they cannot be dealt with.

• Trying to conceal them. Problems must be looked at as they really are to be solved properly.

• Blaming someone else. If a manager decides to blame others for his or her mistakes, it will cause problems among employees and prevent the person from acknowledging what he or she did wrong.

“The only surefire way to learn from our mistakes is to admit there’s been a mistake and then to act differently the next time,” Sonsino says.

Inside Call Center — Training Tips

Don’t Kid Yourself

Six misconceptions about sales

Not all sales professionals are alike. Tony Parinello discusses six misconceptions about sales in his entrepreneur.com article “Six Common Sales Myths.” Contrary to what some may believe, sales professionals do not have to be:

1. Fast-talkers. In fact, those who are cocky and try to be smoothe have a bad reputation in sales. Prospects respond to compassion and concern, not insincerity and pressure.

2. Obsessed with numbers. “Sales work is about people, not numbers. It’s a lot more like brain surgery than bingo,” Parinello writes.

Although managers use quotas to monitor sales professionals, research, information and relationships are the truly important factors.

3. Aggressive. Some sales professionals develop an outer persona that is overly aggressive in order to deal with inevitable setbacks. These people are not very successful. Successful deals result in both the customer and sales professional being satisfied with the outcome.

4. Susceptible to “bad” seasons. “There is always opportunity for salespeople who are committed enough to find it,” Parinello says.

Sales professionals who control the process instead of letting the process control them avoid the intense emotional roller coaster ride. Although every industry is vulnerable to shifts, a little planning can help sales professionals find success even during dry seasons.

5. Have tough egos. Sales professionals do not have suffer bruised egos if they view rejection as a positive opportunity for learning.

6. Stuck in a dead-end career. “Eighty-five percent of the company leaders and entrepreneurs in America today were once salespeople. They carried sample cases, made cold calls, dialed for dollars, did product demonstrations and handled objections,” Parinello explains.

“There are a number of potentially dangerous misconceptions that surround the sales profession. An attitude of self-pity can be contagious, so get things straight in your own mind first,” he suggests.