RESEARCH_FILE
Michael Ahearne
University of Houston, C.T. Bauer College of Business
Known for:Large-scale field research on sales performance rankings, including the 2025 study of more than 27,000 salespeople showing that how ranking information is displayed changes real outcomes.
SEE THE PRACTICE
Turn a thought this research explains into one clear move.
THE THOUGHT
“I am my quota attainment”
YOUR RECORDED RESPONSE
“My rank is a snapshot of October outcomes, not a verdict on who I am in November.”
ONE PRIVATE MOVE
Pull up your deal history for the last 30 days. Read through three recent wins—what you discovered, what you solved, what the customer needed. Notice that none of that work disappears or changes based on your current rank position. Do not check the leaderboard while you do this.
Key findings
- 2025
Across more than 27,000 salespeople in 170 firms and 83 countries, the type of information displayed alongside a ranking — anonymized, identifiable, or identifiable-plus-quota — changed quota attainment and turnover even when the underlying rank was unchanged. Sales Performance Rankings: Impact of the Type of Information Displayed on Sales Force Outcomes ↗
- 2025
Identifiable rankings paired with quota information produced different quota-attainment and turnover patterns than anonymized rankings, showing the same rank tells a different story depending on how it's packaged. Sales Performance Rankings: Impact of the Type of Information Displayed on Sales Force Outcomes ↗