The Pygmalion Effect is a scientific term referring to the phenomenon in which the greater the expectation placed upon people the better they perform. Surprising as it may be, the Pygmalion Effect is active in every one of your sales offices. It is not always easily apparent or positive in nature.

The Effect can act in reverse as well. The lower we expect a team member to perform the greater the chance they will live up to our expectations. There are obviously many other matters affecting the performance of your team, but none are as easily controlled as this one if you take three steps.

1. Increase your awareness of subtle and significant expectations expressed to your team.
2. Adjust your communication to elevate expectations.
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 with your individual team members.

Increasing your self-awareness of ways you are communicating to your team can be tough to do alone. Reach out to your management or external consultants specializing in this area. Invite them to your team and one-on-one meetings to observe you in action. Provide them samples of your group emails or other non-verbal communication.

An astute consultant will be able to highlight areas in which you can subtly adjust your verbal and non-verbal messaging to elevate expectations and achieve greater results. Step out of your Sales Manager perspective and attempt to see how sales peer’s expectations are affecting the performance of each other. Work with them in a workshop or one-on-one fashion to make them aware of their self-fulfilling expectations.

Simple and fun projects can bring the Pygmalion Effect into application. One project written in the book DRIVEN: A Manager’s Field Guide to Sales Team Optimization was the “Million Dollar Proposal” project. Each rep was challenged with proposing a deal at $1M or more within a set period of time. Expectations of their ability to perform in this range (previously beyond their capability) increased their goal achievement by a factor of 10.

Please contact us if you would like to learn more.