While travel awards are almost always used for the highest level of sales performers, motivating the middle 60% of the sales force is the key to an organization's success. Especially through a points-based recognition program – where reps can redeem points for electronics (the most popular category), jewelry, sporting goods, home goods, and other items with brand-name cache – companies can do well in a slow economy by progressively rewarding reps' incremental improvements.
To wit: If a rep rang up $100,000 in revenue in Q4 last year, hitting that number in Q4 this year earns 200 points; 10% above the number earns 300 points, while 20% above the number earns 500 points. And remember that the top 20% of your sales force is eligible for these awards too. So using product to drive monthly or quarterly goals will even boost their performance.
In fact, incentive programs can be structured to change behaviors that will lead to revenue in future quarters, too. Getting sales or customer service reps to increase their engagement with clients and prospects will help fill the sales pipeline – even as sales reps tap into that pipeline near the end of a quarter in order to qualify for incentive-award points.
Takeaway Tip: Motivating the middle 60% of the sales force is the key to an organization’s success, so think outside rewarding just the superstars.
Take a Trip
A Society of Incentive and Travel Executives survey showed that incentive programs can boost individual employee performance by 27% and team performance by 45%. As we mentioned, superstar employees are often rewarded with travel, and if that's the route you want to go for your top performers, you aren't alone.
Global performance improvement company Grass Roots notes that a high percentage of its clients are incorporating travel incentive programs into their employee rewards plans and the firm predicts incentive travel to grow throughout the year.
"When a sales incentive runs for several weeks or months, the buildup generated by teasers about the destination through an ongoing communication program can play a huge part in motivation to achieve targets, as can the brag factor of wanting to be able tell friends and colleagues about a place they have not visited before," Kathryn Hulse, communications consultant for Grass Roots, told Travel Daily News.
Of course, you can play an integral part in these teaser packages by offering your employess pre-trip gifts, such as passport holders, luggage tags and other items that would be useful and create excitement about the destination. Once they arrive, have room gifts, such as T-shirts, caps, beach towels and sunscreen, all imprinted with "President's Club 2011" or whatever the event happens to be.
Wellness Programs
Besides the engagement and goodwill wellness programs foster, they also serve to lower insurance premiums, sick time and medical costs at a moment when employer-sponsored health plans face legislative uncertainty.
One firm recently built a program where people earned even more points for placing step counters on their sneakers to verify that they were exercising as much as they reported they were. The program was turned into a game of mild espionage, where one "mole" was planted among each team of program participants to verify claims of increased exercise, decreased smoking, etc. Anyone who could positively identify the mole received additional points, and a new mole was chosen to keep the game going. It pushed people to tell the truth, but in a fun way.
"Seventy percent of firms say they have a wellness program, but too many don't get it right or make a half-hearted attempt," says one distributor rep. "They have a gym; they hold a biggest loser competition; they're in a volleyball league; they have a walking club at lunchtime. Those are good, but a true program requires constant communication plus incentives on the back end. You won't get everyone involved, but if you get even one quarter of your people to be active in it, you'll see cost savings and improved morale."
Takeaway Tip: Wellness programs are a prime opportunity for incentives. Similar to safety programs, besides the engagement and goodwill such programs can foster, they also serve to lower insurance premiums, sick time and medical costs at a moment when employer-sponsored health plans face legislative uncertainty.One idea that works is using wellness teams in which people can earn reward points for being active. To keep track, the firm monitors event sign-in sheets and online participation in lessons and quizzes about specific ailments. The program regularly doles out unannounced points as a bonus. Unannounced rewards can also make a strong impression. For instance, Ford recently ran a program for its Explorer line – buyers received collapsible chairs that fit perfectly into the SUV's storage compartment. The best part: The branded chairs arrived at buyer's homes a few weeks after the purchase, extending the excitement period for new owners.
Motivate Staff
When executives of the Seattle arm of Comcast, the cable-communications giant, wanted to cut the company's insurance premiums and medical costs by reducing the number of injuries among its field workers, they turned to a local distributor to create a super-successful safety program for the operation's 700 outside employees.
At the outset, Comcast didn't have a program concept in mind. They simply wanted to keep their people more focused on safety by rewarding them for keeping hardhats on, wearing their boots, following rules for working with cable and electric, and more. The first move of the program involved personal and specific products that employees chose themselves.
The online points-based program that was created rewarded individuals and teams alike after spot checks plus random calls to customers (who earned a free movie). Consisting mostly of items between $5 and $25, the program was diverse, offering items like flashlights, picnic packs, personalized pen sets and watch sets.
The program's results came rapidly. Just two months into the program, safety incidents fell to 17 from 54 versus the same period one year prior. What the program unquestionably saved was money: The number of incidents over the full year was low enough that the firm paid $125,000 less in insurance premiums, and saw many fewer sick days used. Total cost of the items redeemed in the incentive program: $65,000.
Takeaway Tip: Incentives don't have to be super-expensive. This safety awards program which included items from $5-$25, resulted in a decrease in safety incidents from 54 to 17 during the same period; $125,000 less paid in insurance premiums and the cost of items redeemed was $65,000.
