Position Your Team a Little Bit Behind

Advisors from University of Pennsylvania recommend that you keep your retailing team behind the competition—a little bit behind. The payoff is that your team will exert a greater effort.
     It was a half century ago that Avis Rent A Car System unveiled a series of ads which the trade journal Advertising Age later called one of the top ten campaigns of the 20th century. The theme of the ads: “We’re number 2 in rent a cars behind Hertz, so we try harder.”
     The Pennsylvania researchers applied their theory to an analysis of data from 60,000 basketball games, including 18,000 National Basketball Association games. They found that teams which were behind by one point at halftime were more likely to end up winning the game than were teams ahead by one point at halftime. It was not a large effect—about an 8% advantage in odds—but it was a consistent finding. Also note that this held only when the team was a little bit behind. Overall, for every two points a team was ahead at halftime, the chances of winning the game increased by about 7%.
     Being slightly in back of the leader boosts motivation, and thereby sharpens performance. Here’s how to get the most out of the effect:

• Choose your competition carefully and periodically revise your selection as the performance of your retailing team changes. Be sure you’re playing in the right league.
• Within your team, help each member to select a comparison point they can aspire to achieve. Out of grasp and within reach.
• Take breaks from the pursuit in order to analyze where you stand. Then strategize and train for the next period of competition. The halftime break in basketball games serves the function of analyzing and strategizing. The teams that were a little bit behind made up for most of the point spread during the first seven minutes after returning to play. In real-life retailing, you can use the break for training, as well.
• Boast to consumers about your underdog determination. Researchers at Harvard University, Simmons College, and Boston College find that the underdog’s appeal to consumers endures. Come-from-behind fits well with the American stories of successful immigrants and of second chances met with passionate determination. Every consumer has felt they’re behind the leader in something at one time, so every consumer cheers for others in that position.

For your profitability: Sell Well: What Really Moves Your Shoppers

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Boast About Underdog Determination