Submitted by ianb1469 on
in
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My salesman, a very capable, well respected, "High I" person wants to buy a bell to ring each time he makes a sale (say twice a month).
I feel it's tacky, disruptive to the rest of the office, conceited and really rather pointless. However, I'm a "High C+S", so I would say that.
Should I indulge him? What do others think?
Ring that bell
I would absolutely go ahead with it. I am a little biased as I manage a sales team and also have a bell. I actually want to buy a gong to replace it, much more theatrical. Do you have more than one sales rep? If so, this is a good motivation tool as the other reps see the bell being run and it feeds on itself. Remember many sales reps are high I personalities and they like the interaction (read attention) - your job is to motivate them. If ringing the bell is motivation, then go with it.
I will say when I first put the bell up, I thought others in the office (Admin, Sales, Executives) would see it as a gimmick, but the reaction was much the opposite. The whole office cheers when the bell goes off, everyone realizes that our customers are the ones that pay our salaries, benefits and keep the llights on.
Go ahead, ring the bell, I think you will be surprised at the reactions from everyone. I would be interested to see how you make out.
Do Ring That Bell....
I agree with that as well. Go ahead and do it - ring that bell. I think having things out there in the public for the sales team to see is great for everyone.
I keep a clear jar on my shelf for each of my team members with their name on it. The jar starts out empty. Whenever they get a new deal that signifigant or a sale they get a black marble in the jar. The jar is symbolic of their success. Everyone on the team (and the rest of the company) can walk by and see the jar either empty or full of marbles. It's a great team motivator for the sales team.
When I do my weekly meeting (O3) with them I ask them "What are you doing to fill the Jar?" and even bring the jar with me into the meeting and put it on the table. No one wants to have less marbles in the jar than anyone else - or an empty jar. It also provides laser focus for them and reminds them exactly what results are expected - Sales or symbolically, fill the jar.
So I am all for it. So go ahead and ring that bell.
Do Ring That Bell....
I agree with that as well. Go ahead and do it - ring that bell. I think having things out there in the public for the sales team to see is great for everyone.
I keep a clear jar on my shelf for each of my team members with their name on it. The jar starts out empty. Whenever they get a new deal that signifigant or a sale they get a black marble in the jar. The jar is symbolic of their success. Everyone on the team (and the rest of the company) can walk by and see the jar either empty or full of marbles. It's a great team motivator for the sales team.
When I do my weekly meeting (O3) with them I ask them "What are you doing to fill the Jar?" and even bring the jar with me into the meeting and put it on the table. No one wants to have less marbles in the jar than anyone else - or an empty jar. It also provides laser focus for them and reminds them exactly what results are expected - Sales or symbolically, fill the jar.
So I am all for it. So go ahead and ring that bell.
"The whole office cheers
"The whole office cheers when the bell goes off, everyone realizes that our customers are the ones that pay our salaries, benefits and keep the lights on. "
That's a really good point. I'm beginning to warm the the idea (slightly).
But where does it end? Horns for the development team, each time someone fixes a bug? Sirens for the support team when a ticket closes successfully? No, we have no high-I people there.
OK. A bell it is :(
DO it
The cheesiness allows folks to advertise when they have done something good - there is no downside. Even customers hearing it on the phone is a plus.
Everyone has a need for
Everyone has a need for recognition - but what works for one person might not work for another.
I'm in manager in engineering in a sales-driven business and lately there's been a lot of friction because the sales guys get there gongs and nobody pays much attention when (another) release goes out the door with little fanfare.
So the engineering managers have begun having an "after party" for engineering where we all get to drink some beer and a few people who did outstanding work on the release get recognized (hand written note from their manager and some sort of present). This lower key recognition works for the engineers.
Sales gets to keep their gongs, engineers are happy. Everyone wins.
The outcome
Jrlz said he'd be interested to know how the bell works out. So here you are.
I bought a bell, and put it on the wall in a convenient place in the office.
There certainly was some scepticism, as anticipated, from our engineering team who were quite confused and uncertain. We made it lighthearted with a little poem:
Ring this bell for every order;
let the office cheer!
Ring this bell without an order
and you'll be buying the beer.
We quickly followed up with an "away day" where I presented a seminar on DISC, which was really really well received and helped people to understand a bit more. I showed the whole of this thread and all the replies as evidence that the whole world except me wanted the bell. :)
So, in the end, how did it go down?
With the salesman (and also the rest of the commercial team): well!
With the rest, OK I guess. It does rouse a cheer, but we're a bit careful when to ring it. When everyone is hard at work on a technical issue, we wait until a few people begin to slope towards the coffee area for a break.
This (with some other away-day workshops) has certainly helped to focus people's minds on the customer a bit more and to understand that everything that they do is to support sales, which is where the money comes from.
Thanks for all the advice. I am convinced.