The role of financial incentives on individual sales performance in the automotive retail industry

Abstract

Financial incentives play a crucial role in how automotive retail companies attempt to drive organisational and individual sales performance. However, there is conflicting evidence in the literature as to whether financial incentives increase sales performance in sales contexts.The purpose of the study is to determine whether there is a relationship between financial incentives or motivation on sales performance and to contrast the relationships between the two constructs in order to understand what increases sales performance in the automotive retail industry. The unit of analysis were salespeople and sales managers within a South African automotive retail group.The study was a qualitative analysis of the impact of financial incentives and intrinsic motivation on individual sales performance in automotive retail. The correlation co-efficient for both sales performance metrics (units’ sold, gross profit and customer satisfaction) and intrinsic motivation were not statistically significant. The role of vehicle brand sold was a better predictor of sales performance amongst salespeople and sales managers.