11. Contests between cities.—It may be desired to pit part of the organization against another part to the exclusion of other organization members. For example, a concern with salesmen all over the coun try but with only two city organizations, one in New York and one in Chicago, inaugurated what was called a "big cities" contest. Two sets of theater tickets, the tickets desired to be chosen by the winners, were of fered as prizes. It became the object of each of the city organizations to take both sets of tickets in the same month and, as a result, rivalry became keen. Standings were shown in each of the offices by listing the names of the contestants in the order of their standing, New York men in red and Chicago men in black.
12. Methods of showing standings.—The incentive to enter into a contest depends in some degree upon the way in which the standings are announced and, altho the method employed varies widely, a few sug gestions will be given here.
The standings in the Marathon race were shown, of course, by runners on a track, just as the standings in the automobile handicap race were shown by auto mobiles. In both cases the photographed faces of the individual contestants can be inserted in the drawn figures.
In the "big cities" contest just described, records were posted each week in each of the offices, showing the total of last year's business for that district, the total of the last month's business, the total of the last week's business and the totals for corresponding pe riods of the previous year. This furnished a contin ual incentive to exceed the last year's figures at all points.
One or two of the concerns running baseball and football contests even went so far as to get out special pink. sporting extras of the house organ to announce the standings. In the case of the sales manager's automobile, the usual number of parts in an automo bile was divided into the business that would be nec essary to secure it and the quotient was taken as the unit of sales that would provide one part. Then, weekly- announcements of the number of parts pro vided by each of the individual men were made and an automobile gradually being assembled was pic tured.
One concern pictures each month in the house organ the leading salesman at the top of a ladder. Another house has both in its home office and in its house organ a dial with three hands, one pointing to the last year's sales record, the second to the mark set for the current year, and the third showing the progress of the cur rent year's sales. Balloons marked with the con testants' names and with the number of points secured may be shown rising each week. A pictured ther mometer is often used. One organization which runs contests in its various district offices has in each office a large board on which are drawn a number of ther mometers and at the base of each one where the mer cury would ordinarily be is a glass globe of red paint. Each individual salesman's standing is shown by ex tending a red line up the thermometer.
In the conduct of any of these contests, it is a ques tion whether the names of the individual salesmen should be divulged. In a number of cases the names are withheld and the standings shown by numbers known only to the sales manager and to the indi vidual salesmen bearing them. Fanciful names may also be used to designate members, the real names represented being kept secret in the sales office. The idea of this secrecy is to save those in the low places from discouraging humiliation. Other concerns pub lish the names of the contestants on the ground that this furnishes a strong incentive to strive for a big change in standing between publications.
13. Quotas.—Quotas are of two kinds: First, the minimum amount of business that will be expected from a certain territory; and second, the volume of business set by the sales manager for each individual salesman, which will entitle the salesman to the dis tinction and honor of having attained or beaten his quota for a certain period and which will entitle him to a prize if one has been offered. It is with the lat ter class that we are concerned here. Competing for prizes under the quota plan differs from the contests previously described in that each man competes, not against his brother salesmen, but against himself and his quota. The contest, no matter bow carefully planned, will be discouraging to some in the organiza tion who will decide at the outset that they have no chance to win the prizes. Providing a salesman's quota is properly determined, it is a poor man indeed who will become discouraged and fail to make an ef fort to attain it.
14. Method of determining quotas.—The setting of the quota is necessarily more or less arbitrary. The sales manager will consider past results in the sales man's territory, present local conditions that might affect sales, and any selling and advertising plan that may have a bearing on the business to be expected during the quota period; but more particularly, he will consider the past performances of the individual salesman and this will have the greatest weight in de termining the quota. Special care should be taken not to place the quota too high. It is much less se rious to set it too low. It may be set down as a fundamental principle in handling salesmen that a quota should never be given which it is impossible or even difficult for them to reach. The quota set should be such that with good, consistent work, it will be easy of attainment. A quota that the salesman is able to beat, and does beat strengthens him, gives him confidence and puts him in a position to assume a lit tle larger quota the following month. A quota that is beyond the salesman's reach, on the other hand, discourages him a.nd tends to confirm in him the habit of failure. Some sales managers will allow each sales man to set his own quota and will then cut it down, if they think he has placed it too high.