15. Examples of quota prizes.—Quota prizes may be offered for periods of a month or longer. Some firms make it a .point to set quotas and offer prizes each month; others, while they may set quotas each month, offer prizes only occasionally. Still more keep the quota prize a novelty by setting quotas and offering prizes intermittently. In order to keep up the July sales a sales manager offered as a prize to each member of the organization who attained a quota, a handsome, perfectly marked snakewood cane. While the stick itself was valuable, the sales manager laid particular stress on a mental picture of the stick winners marching down Broadway in a body when they came to New York for the annual convention in December. Frequent references were made during the month to the "snakewood brigade." VVhat sales man would be unconcerned about being left out of such a triumphant company? For attaining their quotas for the four months im mediately preceding their convention, another house offered each of its salesmen a genuine walrus traveling bag adorned with his initials in gold. The sales man ager announced that he wanted to make this quota contest unique in that he wanted to have the pleasure of presenting every single man in the organization with a walrus bag in the convention hall and, with that end in view, had set the quotas particularly low. With few exceptions the salesmen won their bags and, as evidence that the quotas were really set low, several of them attained the required amount of busi ness in little more than half the time. To keep the interest of these men alive, new quotas were set on the attainment of which they were presented with toilet sets to go into the bags. A few months after the con
vention, new quotas were set and a folding umbrella that could be carried in the walrus bag was offered.
Another house, for the attainment of a quota set for the months of June, July and August, offered as a prize a folding typewriter which the salesman could carry with him in his travels and which would save bim a great deal of trouble in making out reports and sending the necessary correspondence.
To prevent any tendency toward a slow start after an annual convention, another sales manager set quotas for the month of January and offered a gold penknife as a prize. After the convention, a class of a dozen men were trained and started out in their territories on January 15th. To insure an early start for these men the sales manager allowed them to com pete for the gold knives and gave them nominal quotas. It will be readily appreciated that the pride of these men in winning a quota prize in their first half month's work made them better salesmen.
All the quota prizes previously referred to were suitably inscribed. On the umbrella and cane, the inscription was engraved on the silver mounting. In the case of the typewriter, a special plate was pro vided. This is a point that may well be borne in mind in connection with quota prizes. The pride of the salesman in possessing and being able to show the various quota prizes of his house is a strong incentive to him to strive for them.