Don't be afraid to repeat yourself.
Don't be afraid to repeat yourself.

The Goal

The objective of the Record Searchlight, located in Redding, Calif. (35,000; 40,000) was to increase carrier starts to 75 per month.

The Story

“Each carrier was told that two starts would earn a $25 gas card. Along with the gas card, they were also given a chance to win a trip, if our goal for carrier starts was reached that month. District managers were given a $5 commission on each of their carriers’ starts, and if they achieved 12 starts in their district, they were entered in the drawing to win a trip of their own. We also gave each sales rep a chance to win a trip if they reached their goal for their district,” said Circulation Sales and Marketing Manager Lisa Drafall.

“Communication seemed to be a roadblock. We discovered that carriers, like customers; need to be encouraged at least three times before they feel excited about a program. We now have a timeline for each promotion that lists how we plan for the district managers to communicate to the carriers at least twice a week during the course of a contest. This included fliers and voice broadcast messages,” said Drafall.

The Moral of the Story

Carriers are just like customers: they need frequent appeals in order to understand your sales message and respond. Urge district managers to repeat the benefits of your sales promotions as many times and in as many ways as your resources will allow.

Percentage-based incentives for district managers

The Goal

The objective of the Green Bay Press Gazette, located in Green Bay, Wis. (56,000; 82,000) was to increase district manager responsibility and accountability while improving home-delivery penetration.

The Story

“Rather than have the district managers compete against each other in a typical contest, we began awarding smaller incentives on a percentage basis. For instance, in a week during which 100 district manager or carrier orders were received, the managers would be paid $30 in gas cards if they were responsible for 20 percent of the department orders.  A manager who achieved less than 5 percent of the department sales receives no incentive. This information is broken down on a spreadsheet and distributed at our weekly staff meeting. Additionally, zone managers receive the amount of gas cards corresponding to the average percentage of their district managers,” said Consumer Marketing Manager Kimberly Clevenger.

One obstacle that the Green Bay Press Gazette had to overcome was convincing the sales representatives that results were possible.

As a result of the promotion, sales representatives’ orders are up by nearly 5 percent year- over-year and feedback has been very positive and encouraging.

The Moral of the Story

Instead of having managers compete against each other, try rewarding them on a percentage basis