Do's And Don'ts Of Successful Sales Incentive Programs

Many organizations implement sales incentive programs to reward and motivate their sales team. Sales incentive programs provide perks such as travel to exotic destinations, movie tickets, sports events, and etcetera. Many companies set up incentives programs, but they are not always successful in motivating their sales teams. If a sales incentive program is not set up properly, it will not only end up failing to motivate the sales team but also most likely will complicate accounting balances. Below are some do's and don'ts for creating successful sales incentive programs.

Do's of Sales Incentive Programs

Successful sales incentive program administrators start by learning the interests of their sales team members. People have different interests. Hence, their motivational inspirations are different. For small teams, sales incentive programs can be customized to single members. For large or multiple teams, sales incentive programs can be customized by category of interest, travel, sports, arts, and music. A successful sales incentive program provides memorable incentives.

The best sales incentive programs do not always reward the results, but also the behaviors. Rewards can be provided when team members improve their management or reporting skills. Rewards can be issued when members come up with, share, and perform new sales strategies that are innovative.  The road to success does not start at the finish line.

Another factor that leads toward upscale sales incentive programs is the implementation of reasonable quotas for sales members. Incentives will not motivate teams that are burned out, so realistic goals are important.

A popular sales incentive program updates the program regularly. Administrators who just set it and forget it will see not motivational results from their teams. Therefore, it is important that incentives are updated to match interests. New team members join the team regularly, bringing with them their own unique interests. On the other hand, senior sales members may not be motivated to strive toward the same incentives every year.

Administrators for sales incentive programs need to communicate with their sales team members. They should update their sales teams on new incentives provided to the program. They should also inform sales members of time limits imposed on rewards. One complication that can arise with unused rewards is outstanding balances in accounting reports.

Don'ts of Sales Incentive Programs  

A successful incentive program does not provide rewards for competing for incentives. Too much competition will reduce the morale of other team members. Rewards should be matched based on skill sets. Unsuccessful incentive programs end up rewarding the top twenty percent achievers. Hence, the majority of the rewards get issued to the same sales team members. This competition results in low morale for other team members, which counteracts the purpose of sales incentive programs.

Another major reason for unsuccessful incentive programs is the complexity of the rewards system. It should be easy for team members to be rewarded for their successes. Any rewards will not motivate employees if the road to the rewards is long and filled with paperwork.

For more information, contact a company like Fab at Incentives.