Recently, right before I was about to deliver a motivational speech at a sales conference, the Director of Sales took the stage and began talking about the importance of teamwork and how all the reps needed to work more effectively together. At the conclusion of his presentation, he turned to a large flip chart and turned the front page over.

On this large chart was a picture of a race track and a bunch of horses. In place of the horses heads were pictures of the sales reps faces. Each horse was at different points on the track. The Director of Sales then talked about the race that all the sales reps are in to hit a specific goal and where each one was standing in the race - and who was closest to winning the prize.

I about fell off my chair! Is this the same guy who just a moment ago was talking about teamwork? Well, any thoughts about teamwork flew out the proverbial door.

Incentive programs, whether they are for a sales team or any group within your company, can either be productive or counter-productive. In my opinion, the race horse idea is definitely counter productive and is a good example of a close-ended program. A close-ended program has a specific number of winners and will leave the rest feeling demoralized. Many will give up or not even start the program, because they don