Motivational Strategies and Sales Force Performance in the Insurance Industry in Kenya

A Research Report Submitted to the Chandaria School of Business in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirement for the Degree of Global Executive Master of Business Administration (GeMBA)The study aimed at looking at motivational strategies and sales performance in the insurance industry in Kenya. The study was guided by three research questions: to what extent does intrinsic motivation influence sales force performance in the insurance industry in Kenya? To what extent does extrinsic motivation influence sales performance in the insurance industry in Kenya? To what extent that does motivational strategies influence sales performance in the insurance industry in Kenya? This study used descriptive survey design. The population of the study comprised of all the employees of the 51 insurance companies in Kenya (Insurance Regulatory Authority, 2016). The study adopted a probability sampling design. The study further adopted stratified random sampling in determination of the sample size. Out of the 8013 target population 163 participants were sampled for the study. This study used primary data collected using questionnaires. The questionnaires include both open and closed ended. A drop and pick method was adopted in distribution of the questionnaires to minimize on disruptions. The researcher selected from each branch four staff to fill out questionnaires. Pilot testing was conducted to identify mistakes in the questionnaires. Data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics. The data analysis tool is Statistical package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and Microsoft Excel to generate quantitative reports. The analyzed data was presented in the form of tables and figures. Regarding intrinsic motivational strategies, the study revealed that extra selling efforts in tough times is recognized by the management, employees are highly involved with the operations of the company and that reward system in the company is fair for all employees. The study further established that, years of work experience helps employees perform better at job and that the incentives given have a positive effect on sales performance. Furthermore, it was established that employees are allowed to make choices on where to do sales and that they are encouraged to work on opportunities that increase returns on their efforts. The findings of the study on extrinsic motivation strategies indicated that effective reward mechanism leads to higher sales performance and that sales agents receive additional benefits to their salaries. The company also offers training programs to sales personnel and that sales personnel have specialized training courses to improve sales performance. The findings of the study further indicated that working environment has a positive influence on number of sales and those sales personnel are able to interact freely with other employees. The study concludes that the intrinsic motivational strategies contribution through the various factors had a major impact on the Sales force performance. These factors are those such as job enrichment, purpose and where the sales force needs to feel appreciated in order for them to strive and achieve the best and field coaching, feedback and appraisal, communication, training and development, nature of work and good working condition motivate sales people to large extents and insurance companies use them to different extents. The study recommends that the sales force should undertake adequate training to make them more viable to efficiently and effectively distribute insurance products and services and that sales force is a very integral part in insurance companies who need to put strategies in place to ensure they are using the right ways to motivate the sales people to perform