Joel Spolsky has written another article for Inc magazine, this time about the way that incentive schemes and commissions always end up backfiring.
Worth a read, and applicable to any process, not just sales. As I pointed out in a recent post, assessing a development team on lines of code, or number of bugs or any other deceptively simple measure fails because of the same problems.
For me, the solution is the same. Give everyone enough information and authority to improve the whole system, not just maximise local perks.
How Hard Could It Be?: Sins of Commissions, Marketing and Advertising Article – Inc. Article


For years Frank Carver has been paying attention to the strange world of convergent technology. During that time he has discussed and researched broad subject areas, come to some surprising conclusions, produced and distributed digital media, scattered ideas and opinions like sparks from a firework, and above all consulted for businesses both large and small to help develop and deploy successful systems, services, and products in this highly complex arena.

