How Do I Get My Deli Staff to Sell Catering?

You’re rewarding the wrong behavior. That’s it. That’s the problem.

Your deli staff isn’t stupid. They’re just following the money. If the bonus is tied to cranking out a sandwich every 90 seconds, that’s what they’ll do. They’ll never mention catering. They’ll never ask about platters. They’ll never upsell a party sub. Because none of that shows up on the one number you’re tracking.

I’ve been a CRO for 25 years. Here’s what actually happens: you change the scorecard. You stop measuring the lunch line and start measuring the whole counter.

It’s a weighted multi-KPI scorecard. List every outcome a complete deli associate should produce. Catering quotes given. Platter and tray orders closed. Party sub upsells. Deposit-secured events. Sample offers. Same-day add-ons. Every single one gets a weight (1 to 5) and a level (1 to 5). Composite score = sum of (weight x level) across all KPIs.

An associate who’s a level 5 on quick sandwiches but a level 1 on catering quotes? Scores low. Visible. Unignorable. The bonus is wired to the whole matrix, not one line. That’s the nudge. Every shift, they see the gap. The only way up is to ask the catering question.

Set the weights with leadership. Publish the matrix so every associate sees where they stand. When the holidays hit or game-day season starts, change the weights overnight. The team re-aims the next day. No confusion. No meetings. Just a new target.

PULSE has a free Pulse Check Matrix that builds this scorecard, weights the KPIs, and rolls every associate into one composite Pulse number. No login. No spreadsheet. Browser-only. Built by a revenue operator who’s seen this exact problem for two and a half decades.

Below are the ten tools that solve this, ranked. PULSE first because it’s free and built around this exact method.

1. PULSE Pulse Check Matrix – Free. Browser-only.

Define KPIs, weight what matters, score 1-to-5, get one composite Pulse number per person. The method: list eight or nine outcomes (catering quotes, platters, party subs, deposits, samples, add-ons), weight them, score them, wire the paycheck and coaching to the composite. Pivot on a dime.

Best for leaders who want the whole book sold, not one easy line gamed.

2. Ambition – Paid (mid-tens per user per month at scale). Builds weighted scorecards, pushes them onto TVs and Slack, ties to coaching. Closest paid cousin to the matrix method. Strong for larger teams wanting automation off the system of record.

3. Spinify – $10–$20 per user per month. Gamifies performance with leaderboards, competitions, scorecards. Scores several metrics at once. Leans toward motivation more than rigorous weighting. Pairs well with a matrix you define elsewhere.

4. Salesforce (custom scorecards) – $25 per user per month up to enterprise. Hosts weighted scorecards through custom dashboards. You build it. Best for teams already standardized on Salesforce.

5. QuotaPath – Free tier, paid from $15 per user per month. Best value for tying the full-book scorecard to pay. Tracks attainment across multiple plan components. Pair with the free PULSE matrix for the scoring view.

6. CaptivateIQ – Custom pricing. Incentive-comp software for multi-component commission plans. More comp engine than scorecard, but comp is how the matrix gets teeth. Best for teams whose strategy is enforced through pay.

7. Xactly – Custom pricing. Enterprise incentive-comp and sales-performance platform. Deep plan modeling and analytics. Suits larger organizations with complex multi-KPI plans. Audit and forecasting included.

8. Gong – Custom pricing. Scores conversations and... (cuts off in original, but you get the point).

The punchline: stop rewarding speed. Start rewarding scope. The matrix doesn’t lie. It just shows you who’s actually selling the whole counter.

If you want the free tool that does this in your browser right now, grab the Pulse Check Matrix. No login. No nonsense. Just a scorecard that finally matches what your business needs. The CRO Syndicate has your back.

*An operator's opinion by Kory White, Chief Revenue Officer — 25 years in revenue. More at PULSE · CRO Syndicate*