The link person or manager can do the following to motivate a distributor:
- Attempt to categories and understand the distributors’ motives in terms of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: security, social needs, esteem, and self fulfillment.
- Discover their wants as well as their needs; this will help your dealings with them.
- Remember that monetary rewards serve many needs and are therefore the best rewards.
- Bear in mind, however, that recognition, praise, promotion and successful achievement of a task can also be effective motivations and are sometimes more needed than money.
- If people know that good work will earn a reward, this makes the reward more effective. The expectation should be clearly set out on a payment by-results basis, with an appropriate bonus or commission scheme. Achievable targets and standards should be set. Praise should be bestowed when deserved at not too frequent intervals. The rewards and efforts required should be clarified. The penalties also should be stated, if targets are underachieved or if substandard results are recorded.
- Paraphrasing what Douglas McGregor said in another context, conditions should be such that the members of the channel system should best achieve their own expectations by working for the success of the channel system as a whole. It is necessary to identify the needs of the members so that appropriate rewards can be devised and to agree targets and standards with all the members.
- People can be motivated by the work itself if their needs for achievement and responsibility are thereby satisfied. This can result from:
- Giving ,people more responsibility where called for and
- More scope for variations in methods and speed of work;
- Giving groups a unit of work to perform, thus reducing specialization and increasing the sense of achievement and responsibility and the expertise;
- Relaxing overhead controls while setting targets and/or standards to make members accountable;
- Making available the necessary information so that members can monitor their own performance;
- Encouraging the channel members to join in planning and innovation.
- Try to make sure that the group pressure is working for you by involving the members of the channel in decisions which affect them.
The link person’s role can be likened to that of a master of ceremonies, who initiates the use of the available motivational tools, the link persons have to be self-motivated and display enthusiasm for their company, its products and its distributors. It is important that they appear self-confident. Their leadership, management skills and bond-building activities will then be able to play the necessary part in motivating the distributor principal and the sales force.
Managing and Motivating Your Agents and Distributors : This process calls for an understanding of the relationship, mutual SWOTs, mutuality of benefits and a commitment to working together for common goals.
- A creation of the right environment – nature, scope and style of operation
- Realistic objective setting, review & control
- Joint development of campaigns
