If it feels like your sales team has lost its oomph or if you want to give your sales staff encouragement to push a specific product or service, a sales incentive program can help you accomplish both these goals. To ensure your sales incentive program speaks to your sales team, follow these guidelines when designing and implementing the program.
1. See That the Program Appeals to Each Individual's Source of Motivation
When designing an incentive program, it's easy to forget that each individual is motivated by different incentives. Some people are motivated by the promise of increased financial compensation (like bonuses for hitting their sales targets), while others prefer rewards that enable them to have a better work-life balance (such as additional vacation days). Try to offer a variety of rewards to make sure each sales member has a potential incentive that they personally find motivating.
2. Don't Be Afraid to Think Outside the Box for Incentives
It's easy to "play it safe" with your sales incentives in hopes of guaranteeing they have universal appeal. However, non-conventional prizes can keep your program interesting and help it appeal to a wider variety of interests.
In additional to traditional prizes, like a monetary bonus or additional vacation days, here are some other prizes you should explore offering:
- Household goods (like furniture or electronics) the recipient will be motivated by each time they see the item
- Work-from-home days
- Tickets for sporting events, concerts, or plays (ideal for people who value experiences over tangible items)
- An all-expenses-paid trip to a picturesque destination
3. Make Sure That Every Sales Person Has a Chance to Win
A common mistake with sales incentive programs is that the same person continually wins all the rewards. If your salespeople don't feel like they stand a chance of winning, they're less likely to be motivated and enthused by the program. At the same time, you don't want your top salespeople to feel like they're being overlooked due to their exceptional efforts. You have a couple of different options to deal with this quandary.
One solution is to separate the salespeople into different groups. You might have a high-performing group, a group with average performance, and a group with a performance that could use a boost. Each group will have its own incentive rewards.
Another option is to switch up the activity that wins the incentive. Instead of always rewarding prizes based on the number of items sold, here are some alternatives:
- The largest increase in customer meetings
- Best customer service rating
- The highest increase in the percentage of closed sales after a product demo
If you're ready to motivate your employees, contact local sales incentive programs.
