Sales incentives are proven to work, but for improving sales and overall employee performance, it is essential to choose the right program. The following are some tips for choosing the right plan for any company. Regularly schedule sales contests Monthly contests that are available to all employees can motivate staff to improve their performance and get excited about their jobs.The following are some great ideas to keep office morale up and encourage healthy competition.
- Set up a reward system that promotes monthly gains such as recognizing the salesperson with the most significant increase in month-to-month revenue increases.
- Recognize an employee who regains the most clients who have previously reduced their contracted services. This is an incredibly valuable skill, even if it brings in a small amount of money for the company. Bringing back old customers is guaranteed to improve overall company performance in the long run.
- Congratulate departments that have exceeded sales goals for the month. This not only promotes higher sales, but also encourages teamwork and a sense of comradery among employees. This improves office morale and decreases negative competition.
Be creative Sales compensation doesn’t always have to revolve around monetary rewards (although they’re certainly popular). Here are some creative ways to motivate employees while having a bit of fun.
- Affinion Group recommends holding a monthly or quarterly raffle for gains in sales. For each sales representative who reaches a specific sales goal, enter his or her name in a raffle to win prizes. These can include gift certificates, physical prizes such as TVs or something as large as a trip to a sunny location. Hold a company-wide drawing to pick up workplace excitement and reward stellar employees – there’s no doubt that salespeople will be motivated by the possibility of a prize each month.
- Hold incentive compensation competitions to earn more tangible prizes such as a prime parking spot, free lunch or extra days off. This will keep employees guessing and on their toes to earn something different each time around.
- Include employees in developing ideas for incentive programs.Sending out a company-wide email asking for suggestions shows employees that management cares about their input and overall job satisfaction.
Consider employees as individuals Setting out goals for salespeople to reach in order to receive a merit increase or reward doesn’t have to be a cut-and-dry experience. Remembering that employees have lives outside of work is an important part of developing an exciting and creative program.
- Some team members might appreciate a gift certificate for two at a high-quality restaurant, a gesture that could show managers and HR representatives are paying attention to their lives outside of the office.
- Or, if an employee has talked about a love for yoga, rock climbing or skydiving, rewarding that person with a gift certificate for any of these activities will most likely be seriously appreciated. Another perk? These employees might just tell their colleagues about their personalized rewards, creating an environment in which employees not only respect, but appreciate their supervisors.
Money, money, money
- Well, here it is, the most obvious of incentives. Creativity is a fantastic route to take when considering employees’ needs, but forgetting to include cash rewards would be a mistake. There’s nothing like a merit increase, monthly or yearly bonus or cash prizes to keep an office motivated. This traditional route has been a tradition for so long for many reasons, but most of all, because it works. Who wouldn’t want to get a little (or a lot) of extra cash now and then?
Developing and keeping track of a program to reward employees can be daunting, which is why so many companies are turning toward incentive compensation software run by experts to help navigate their way to the perfect system.
