Sales contest effectiveness: An examination of sales contest design preferences of field sales forces

Sales contests, a widely used form of sales force special incentives, receive considerable attention in the trade and academic press. While understanding salespersons’ preferences for various contest designs is a critical first step for understanding how sales contests motivate salespeople to pursue contest goals, a knowledge gap exists in understanding design preferences. With expectancy theory serving as a theoretical basis, the authors develop hypotheses about preferences for sales contest components. Following tests of hypotheses using survey and conjoint data provided by field sales forces from three companies, exploratory analyses of how individual, supervisory, and sales setting characteristics may affect preferences suggest potential boundary conditions for initial findings. The results lead to an improved awareness of the determinants of contest design preferences as well as insights and implications for sales managers seeking to design effective contests.