Teaching Reevaluation of Salespersons Through the Use of a Simulation Game

Abstract

Gaming approaches to the teaching of salesperson evaluation are reviewed briefly, and a need for a more specific tool is discussed. SPREE (Sales Person Review and Evaluation Exercise), a new game developed to meet this need, is discussed. The game allows the player to access up to 28 items for each salesperson in the areas of personal data, territory conditions, expense records, margins, effort, and sales history. The students rate the salesperson on the expenses, behavior, and performance dimensions, and then make recommendations for further steps such as termination or additional training. Feedback is provided to the students in the form of comparisons of their ratings with those of a board of “experts.”