Sales management · Motivation and coaching
Ask whether your reps believe effort turns into results and results into pay.
An expectancy and fairness check tests two beliefs: that effort leads to results, and that results lead to a reward worth having. It also tests whether pay, territory and target look fair beside colleagues. This page ends with an anonymous survey and a territory comparison.
Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.
In one paragraph
An expectancy and fairness check tests two beliefs: that effort leads to results, and that results lead to a reward worth having. It also tests whether pay, territory and target look fair beside colleagues. This page ends with an anonymous survey and a territory comparison.
A cement dealer in Belagavi set a generous incentive and watched effort stay flat. In a quiet talk, a rep said what the others thought: the Gokak territory had far fewer outlets than Belagavi city, and the target was the same. The reward was good. Nobody believed they could reach it.
The check has three parts. A short anonymous survey on the three links of belief, a table of each territory's potential next to its target, and a look at how late or early incentives have been paid. The owner reads the answers and decides what to change; the sales manager prepares the numbers.
It follows the motivation profile and comes before any redesign of the plan, which is a compensation question for the owner and the CA. It replaces the guess that reps are lazy with the evidence that they are right.
Where this sits
Topic 6 of 14 in sales management: motivation and coaching. Finding what moves each rep and coaching to it.
- The topic before
- Sales training and development
- The topic after
- Compensation
If you want this done for you
Your incentive plan rewards activity that has nothing to do with what needs selling.
The work
What this is actually like.
“Belief is the working part”
An incentive plan works through what reps believe, not through what it says on paper. If they think the target is out of reach, they do not try. If they think the bonus will be paid late, they discount it. Measure belief, not the plan.
“Anonymous means anonymous”
In a team of six, a paper slip dropped in a box is anonymous. A form on the manager's phone is not. Count the slips by hand and report only totals, so the reps who answer honestly are not found.
“Estimate potential from outlet counts”
You do not need market research. Count the outlets or customers in each territory from your own visit records and the trade directory, and set each target per outlet. A territory with half the outlets should not carry the same number.
“Pay the incentive on the promised date”
A rep who has been paid late once treats every promise as late. Put the payment date in the plan, pay on it every month, and if cash is tight, tell the team a day ahead.
What we do
What you end up with.
The documents this topic produces, what each one is for, and how you know it is finished.
The three-question survey
Statements rated 1 to 5: if I work harder I sell more; if I sell more I earn more; what I can earn is worth the effort. Add one open line for what would change my answer.
Result: Finished when every rep has answered without signing and the totals are on one page.
The territory fairness table
One row per rep: territory, outlets or customers, last year's sales, this year's target, target per outlet, and the rep's own comment.
Result: Finished when the owner can see if any territory carries a target far above its neighbours.
The payment record
A column of promised and actual payment dates for incentives over the last six months, with the number of days late.
Result: Finished when late payments, if any, have a reason written next to them.
The response note
One page back to the team: what you heard, what you will change, what you will not and why. Shared in person.
Result: Finished when each rep can say what they asked for and what happened to it.
Why us
Why owners pick GullySales over an agency.
Marketing and sales, as one job
Most agencies stop at the enquiry. We also fix what happens after it: the reply, the follow-up, the quote and the CRM.
The person on the first call does the work
No account managers in between. You are never handed to someone you have not met.
A baseline before anything starts
Your numbers are written down on day one, so every later report compares against something honest.
The fee in writing, split three ways
Our time, your media spend and production on separate lines. You always see what goes to us.
No guarantees we cannot keep
The term is agreed in writing and never a default twelve months. We never promise a ranking or a lead count, because nobody controls those.
One office, and we say so
Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru. We work across India by call and WhatsApp and travel when a session needs to be in person.
#257, 3rd floor, Sri Nanjundeshwara Complex, Nagarbhavi 8th Block, Outer Ring Road. How we work.
Your brief
Tell us what you need, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps about your business, what you want and who decides. Most questions are a tap, and you can skip any you would rather answer on the call.
FAQ
Questions owners ask before they call.
Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.
What if the survey says the plan is unfair and it is not?
Do we have to change targets after the survey?
How often should we run it?
Can pay rules be part of fairness?
How much does it cost?
How long is the contract?
How soon will we see results?
Who will actually do the work?
What do you need from us?
What if we are not happy with the work?
Where to go next
The work that carries this topic further.
The rest of motivation and coaching
Or read all of sales management.
Your next practical step
Tell us what you are trying to grow, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps, mostly taps. Skip anything you would rather answer on the call.