Answering the call to increase sales
A major telecommunications company needed to increase call center sales. Their long‑standing approach—cash rewards tied to a basic tiered structure—wasn’t driving performance. They wanted to test whether GoalQuest® could outperform the tiered model and whether experiences and merchandise would inspire stronger results than cash.
RESULTS
GoalQuest paired with experiences and merchandise delivered the strongest outcome at 87% over baseline. GoalQuest alone lifted performance 31% over baseline, and experiences/merchandise outperformed cash by a wide margin—43% over baseline versus cash underperformance.
Industry
Telecommunications
Problem space
Sales team motivation
Challenge
A major telecommunications company needed to increase call center sales. Their long‑standing approach—cash rewards tied to a basic tiered structure—wasn’t driving performance. They wanted to test whether GoalQuest® could outperform the tiered model and whether experiences and merchandise would inspire stronger results than cash.
Solution
We ran a 60‑day controlled study with four conditions: GoalQuest with experiences/merchandise, GoalQuest with cash, tiered with experiences/merchandise and tiered with cash. GoalQuest required reps to self‑select stretch goals with “all‑or‑nothing” rewards, while the tiered model paid at any level achieved. Each structure tested how goal‑setting and reward type influenced behavior and lift
Results
GoalQuest paired with experiences and merchandise delivered the strongest outcome at 87% over baseline. GoalQuest alone lifted performance 31% over baseline, and experiences/merchandise outperformed cash by a wide margin—43% over baseline versus cash underperformance. Tiered structures with cash even produced negative results for most rep segments, confirming that goal‑setting and non‑cash rewards drive significantly higher performance.
