Incorporating a quality improvement perspective into measures of salesperson performance

The quality improvement management (TQM) perspective has been embraced by an increasing number of firms. The application of response function and confidence interval approaches for establishing sales quota ranges is presented as one way to implement the quality improvement perspective into the measurement and evaluation of salesperson performance. Data from an industrial salesforce are used to compare results from a traditional judgmental sales quota procedure with the response funtion and confidence interval approaches. These comparisons suggest differences in the performance evaluation of individual salespeople from alternative approaches and indicate how the confidence interval approach can be used to implement important quality improvement concepts. The sales management changes associated with a quality improvement perspective and the confidence interval approach are discussed. Important research needs are also identified. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher. )