One of the driving forces to choose Sales as a career path is the opportunity to earn monies over and above a base salary. Whether it’s an incentive compensation plan, or one that is commission-based, the idea that there is no limit to your earnings can seem to be the answer to drive top Sales Performance in individuals.
Although cash incentives are a motivator, many companies continue to look for non-cash incentive programs to achieve better sales performance. These programs can be managed internally or by an outside firm like Maritz, Inc. Often the rewards are in the form of leisure travel, products, or services that can be earned as people achieve prescribed award levels.
The concept of leisure travel does not have to be to distant, exotic places. A weekend getaway at a nearby resort can fill the bill. Or, something more daring like a day driving racecars at the track may be in order. Work with your State Board of Tourism or local Chamber of Commerce for ideas and locations.
One of the attractive benefits to non-cash rewards is the ability to share them with others; be sure to build into the reward a component for more than one person to enjoy the award. Consider events that can be shared with friends or family. Don’t limit your thinking to just adults; you may want to consider family rewards that include children, too.
Other thoughts include gift certificates to local merchants who provide personal services like hair care, or services at a local health spa. Consider an evening out for dinner and a play (or concert). Often misunderstood in non-cash awards is that it’s not the size or value of the award, it’s the ability to earn it that counts. Look through the local newspaper and other magazines for more ideas along these lines.
When you put your program together, provide for each person to have an equal opportunity to earn an award; it may be best to create levels of awards so that most of the participants can reap the benefits of the program. Keep in mind, your program should reward only the individuals who achieve the desired performance objective, e.g., more product sales, increased profit margins, better customer service, higher order count, etc.
As you begin to consider Budgets, Forecasts, and Quota for the coming year, think about whether you can achieve better overall performance with non-cash incentives than the annual ritual of tweaking the compensation plan and commissions. When it comes to Sales professionals, although they may have chosen the profession of Sales for the income potential, their true motivation for higher performance may rest in the non-cash category.
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