LA PERCEPTION DES CHALLENGES PAR LES COMMERCIAUX : UNE ÉTUDE QUALITATIVE

More than 70% of French companies utilize sales contests in order to motivate salespeople to achieve or beat objectives. Despite the development of these incentive programs, the knowledge of their impact on salespeople is very limited. However, researchers and experts think that sales contests can also discourage salespeople. This fact drives us to ask the following questions: How do salespeople perceive sales contests? Do sales contests motivate them? Aren't contests a source of stress? A qualitative study is conducted to describe and understand the various perceptions of sales contests by salespeople. A content analysis of salespeople's speech shows the variety of sales contest's perception while a typology clarifies salespeople's reaction toward sales contests.