What modern sales incentive programs are trending?
For any business to succeed, focusing on the sales is the most crucial aspect. Sales is an integral part of any business and plays an important role in making or breaking the business. It is hence, the company’s responsibility to ensure that the sales team is working on its full potential and is motivated throughout the time.
A motivated sales team can bring more business for the company, and this motivation often comes from various sales incentive programs launched by the company. Another factor of consideration here is that these sales incentive programs should feel worthwhile and equal to all the employees.
Additionally, this should be noted that using traditional methods and offering incentives as cash or a cheque, or any form of monetary factor doesn’t work as a mode of motivation for the employees anymore.
If the incentives don’t feel justified to the employees then there is no point in running the sales incentives programs as it has failed its purpose. Before you devise sales incentive programs for your employees, consider the following points.
- Understand the Needs of the Employees
The company should understand the different needs of the employees and make the incentives program equally motivating for all. If the company can understand the needs of the sales reps, they are going to perform well as they are being valued in the system which is the biggest form of motivation one can achieve.
Consider the strengths and weaknesses of each employee, don’t keep one single parameter for analysis. Every sales rep has their own process of working. Instead of having a single parameter, make different criterias for incentive allotment.
- Equal Incentives for all Employees
Not all the sales reps are looking for a holiday package or a gift voucher for a certain brand. Some of them just want to spend some quality time with their family.
Design the sales incentive program keeping this in mind and rather than defining one specific reward, allow the employees to choose what they would like.
- Always Keep an Element of Surprise
If your sales incentive program is the same every year then it becomes predictable for the employees and they will put efforts just before the incentive program and not throughout the year.
Instead, involve an element of suspense and surprise to ensure employees give their best throughout the year.
- Customisation
Start customising the incentive programs for different teams as per their work hours, and other concerning factors. This way when customised incentive programs are implemented, employees feel valued and seen. It also creates a sense of belonging with the company.
- Creating a Balance
Find the perfect balance between motivating employees and being rigid with the work deadlines. Having a carefree environment might portray a negative image in front of the employees. The incentives being awarded should feel earned and not just a name-sake process that the company has to follow.
Creating a perfect balance among all the employees is essential to not make it partial or biassed in any form.
- Consider the Social Factor
While selecting incentives consider the digital and social factors as well. Offering rewards that the employees can share on digital platforms will not only offer them a sense of achievement but will also work as a marketing tool for the company.
No employee is going to share the cash or cheque they received on digital platforms, instead offer something more meaningful, with a positive impact.
- Develop an Incentive Planning Team
Develop a designated team that can work on allotting incentives and designing the parameter for it. This designated team can analyse the performance of the sales reps throughout and make better decisions.
Having a designated team can help you to develop different sales incentives program for distributors and sales incentive programs for customers as well. This will enhance the impact of your company and increase brand recognition among the new customers. This strategy can help your brand get new customers easily.
- Incentive Distribution as per KPI & Targets
Among different sales teams, and different departments of the company, distribute the sales incentive program as per the different KPIs, processes, and target achievements. Developing a thorough sales incentive program will have more impact rather than using a basic program that is being adopted by the majority of the companies.
Tips for Sales Incentive Programs
Before you dive deep into developing a sales incentive program for your brand, here are some tips and tricks that you should read. These points are to be considered from the brand’s perspective although it is important to keep your employees motivated, it is also essential to keep the overall finances of the brand under consideration.
- Choose the Right Partner
There are various loyalty program providers available in the industry that can help you integrate a sales incentive program. But not all providers are right for every company.
Choose the right partner based on what your requirements are and how well they can provide you the desired services. Partners such as RewardPort having years of experience can help you develop and integrate a sales incentive program depending on your needs.
Additionally, choosing partners such as RewardPort and integrating their sales incentives programs that are customised as per the customer needs can help you boost your sales and allow more brand recognition. You can here choose from a variety of options such as CineRewards, Scratch2Win, DigiFlix and others.
- Thorough Market Research
There are various brands similar to your brand available in the market, study them properly and identify the key features of their program that can be adopted in your program, if any. This will help you get an extra edge over the competitors and provide more confidence to your employees in your brand.
- Affordability of Rewards
Keep a check on your brand’s financial stability as well before deciding on the incentives. This should not be the case that due to a high amount of incentives being rolled out, the brand is facing financial uncertainty.
- Right Technology for Analysis
Leverage the advanced technology for employee assessment programs while deciding on the incentive program. This will make the incentive program justified and transparent for all the employees.
Sales Incentive Program by RewardPort
Over the years the experience gained by RewardPort has made it one of the leading loyalty program providers in India. Implementing the experience, they have been able to integrate successful sales incentive program for various clients.
The sales incentive program by RewardPort is highly effective and caters to all the needs of the brand. These programs are customisable and can be adjusted as per the changing requirements of the brand.
For more details about the loyalty programs by RewardPort get in touch with the experts and design the sales incentive program for your brand.
Frequently Asked Questions: -
A sales incentive program will help the brand to provide more brand awareness in the market, and expand its customer base to the unexplored market.
For implementing an incentive program in your organization, understand the needs and requirements of your employees, their KRAs, targets achieved, and other criteria. After thorough analysis you can strategize your sales incentive program.
There is no specific structure for incentive programs. It can be modified as per the requirements and needs of your organization and the budget as well. You can get in touch with a loyalty program that provides for a customized incentives program.
Got a Marketing Challenge at Hand?
8 Unique Sales Ideas Used For Promotion Across The World
Every marketer desires more leads, signups, and subscribers while spending as little money as possible. Every day, businesses and causes of all sizes compete for your attention and persuade you to buy their products, embrace a category, change your opinion of their company, support their cause, or vote for their candidate.
Some marketing and advertising campaigns have done that job more convincingly and
memorably than others over the years. Many have survived the test of time.
Competing at the Bottom of Funnel
Every company wants to steal customers from competitors, but few make it their top priority. If you have a competitor who offers a similar product but isn’t providing great results for its customers, you have an opportunity to target those people.
Flash discounts, coupons, and limited sales, this space is filled with quick-fix strategies to divert aware consumers to your brand.
Start A Referral Program
Referral marketing may be your best bet for quickly increasing your followers. Customers can promote your product for you through referral programs. It’s a simple concept, but it’s underutilized by small businesses.
To pay actors or sports figures, you don’t need the budget of a major corporation. “Real” people are often more effective influencers than celebrities.
Try To Hold Photo Contests
Photo contests are a low-cost and simple way to engage potential customers with your brand. They’re simple to enter (anyone on Facebook or Instagram can submit a photo with your specific tags), and they provide you with great user-generated content that you can reuse on other channels.
Provide the winner with a special prize or discount, and don’t forget to ask them to share something about your brand to be considered.
Imitate the Experts
Sometimes being creative entails imitating someone else. It may appear counterintuitive but doing what has already worked for someone else can greatly benefit your business. While the audience and subject matter of the content may differ from yours, it’s a good idea to look at what other brands are doing well and learn from them. Examine the headlines, content structure, and how they promote the posts.
Make Your Product A Challenge
One of the most difficult aspects of viral marketing campaigns is tying the viral content back to the company’s actual products. You can achieve two goals by going against the grain and making your product the focal point of your viral marketing campaign.
Food companies, for example, ask their customers to create the brand’s next great flavour.
To make this work for you, identify the need that your product fills and turn it into a challenge for others to fill. They’ll be forced to keep your brand at the forefront of their minds throughout the process.
Begin Your Company as An Invite-Only Platform
We want what we can’t have as consumers. If you’re just getting started, consider opening your website to an exclusive list of customers to generate interest. Consider the early days of Facebook and Pinterest.
When only one person has access. Their friends will also want access.
Make Use of Popular Hashtags
Participating in weekly hashtag themes (via Twitter), such as #FlashbackFriday or #ThrowbackThursday, can help your brand get the attention it deserves. You become an active participant in the community and have access to an audience far beyond your typical follower count.
Active and regular participation with hashtags that thousands, if not millions, of people, are already using also increases your followership and visibility.
Distribute Stickers
Stickers may appear to be a ridiculously simple way to grow your business, but they can have a significant impact. You can get a lot of eyes on your brand by giving away free stickers (or other quick, easy, and cheap marketing swag) and encouraging people to post them in public places.
Real Life Success Stories with Unique Sales Ideas
Volkswagen: Think Small
The Volkswagen Think Small campaign is widely regarded as the greatest print campaign of all time, as well as one of the most successful campaigns before the rise of television. Before their 1959 campaign, automobiles were regarded as powerful and fashionable status symbols.
Volkswagen went in the opposite direction, which turned out to be a great move because it forced car norms to be reconsidered. They enticed readers with the “think small” slogan, and once they were hooked, they drew them in with the benefits of Volkswagen.
Commercials for Apple's Mac vs. PC
Commencing in 2006, Apple produced a series of commercials that featured two people, one of whom was a Mac and the other a PC. The Mac was a young, attractive man, whereas the PC was an older gentleman who stumbled over his words.
They would simply talk about the various things they could do, with the PC always seeming to struggle to keep up with the Mac. PCs in some commercials were unable to communicate with other devices such as digital cameras. In others, the computer would repeatedly freeze or restart.
Dove: Real Beauty
Before their most successful marketing campaign, Dove was negated by numerous brands in a crowded market. They discovered that only a small percentage of the women interviewed thought they were beautiful, which prompted them to launch their campaign.
The campaign helped to broaden the narrow definition of beauty and get people involved in making women feel empowered about their appearance. The campaign was so successful that it inspired other brands to follow suit.
They took a sensitive but popular topic for their customers and created ads based on what their customers believe rather than what is true. Even though it was a simple campaign, it had a significant impact.
Lipton Green Tea
Lipton Green Tea created a shopping cart that tracks your steps, calories burned, and time spent moving at the grocery store to encourage consumers to make healthier choices while shopping.
The cart, which is aimed at people who are too busy for regular exercise, is designed to show customers how many calories they can burn just by walking around the grocery store. The hope is that if they can see how many calories they’re burning in real-time, they’ll reconsider what they put in their shopping cart.
Uber POOL
Uber’s in-house marketing team launched a guerrilla campaign in Mexico City as part of a major advertising push in Latin America, sending out a small army of drones outfitted with cheeky signs promoting Uber POOL. While stuck in rush hour traffic, drivers were confronted with small planes and their mini billboards.
Although they do not intend to replicate the stunt in other markets (because doing so in the United States or Europe would necessitate significant bureaucratic hoop-jumping), the stunt garnered significant media coverage for the car service app.
Conclusion
Coming up with an unusual advertisement can be difficult. First, you’ll need to conduct a series of creative brainstorming sessions. Then, you must ensure that your campaign is understandable and captivating to the audiences to whom you present it.
One way to see if people will truly understand and engage with your unusual campaign is to first present it to a focus group.
One of the most important components of the promotion mix is sales promotion and RewardPort creates various types of sales promotions that work with your target audience to build long-term relationships with your customers.
Got a Marketing Challenge at Hand?
10 Sales Incentive Programs to keep your Team Effective and Efficient
To increase sales, you must have a sales team that is motivated and engaged in their work. Maintaining the motivation of your sales team is a year-round process. As a sales leader, you must constantly come up with new ways to motivate your team. Whether you’re trying to get your reps to close a quarter strong or kick off a new fiscal year, keeping reps engaged is critical to meeting your goals. Sales incentives are an excellent way to boost employee morale.
What exactly are Sales Incentives?
A sales incentive is a reward given to sales professionals by their employers for successfully selling a certain number of products or service hours. Sales incentives can be monetary, physical, experience-based, or any other type of incentive that is tailored to the interests and motivations of the employees.
Sales incentives differ from sales compensation in that compensation is typically in the form of a commission, which sales professionals typically earn in addition to their regular salary. Instead, sales incentives are rewards intended to provide recognition for exceeding expectations, meeting objectives, and contributing to an organization’s overall success.
When should companies use sales incentives?
When sales professionals meet specific sales objectives, many companies incorporate sales incentives as regular reward program (such as selling a certain number of products or meeting a certain amount in sales revenue). Furthermore, businesses will use sales incentive plans to motivate and engage employees, resulting in increased productivity and effort to meet objectives.
Benefits of Using Sales Incentives
Implementing a sales incentive plan has several significant advantages, including:
1. Enhanced team productivity
A system of rewards for consistently meeting or exceeding team sales goals or expectations can be extremely effective in increasing productivity. As sales teams work toward these objectives, they will gain new and valuable skills. With sales incentives in place, your team will be able to collaborate while also improving their job performance.
2. Increased levels of participation
Incentives can also be used to increase your team’s engagement in their work. Setting team objectives that result in recognition and rewards for the entire sales team, for example, can increase engagement in collaboration, strategizing, and implementing sales techniques.
3. Increased job satisfaction
Incentives that recognize team effort and success will naturally increase your team’s overall job satisfaction. Employees will value their work if they know their managers recognize their contributions, which leads to increased productivity and performance.
4. Increased team collaboration
Increased team productivity, performance, and sales development can lead to an overall improvement in how your team works together. Providing incentives for the entire team rather than implementing a single reward for an individual results in a team-wide improvement effort. They will be more likely to recognize each other’s contributions, find creative solutions to problems, and implement creative strategies that will ultimately help the company meet its sales goals.
5. Improved team morale
Teams will be more likely to have an upbeat and positive attitude in the workplace if they improve their collaboration efforts, increase their productivity, and feel recognized for their work. This boost in team morale is critical for completing meaningful work, meeting objectives, and adding value to the organization as a whole. Employees who are satisfied and content are also more likely to be highly supportive of their teammates in achieving goals rather than focusing solely on their own needs.
10 Growth-Boosting Sales Incentives
1. Cash
Most businesses keep cold hard cash as a reward for the sales team’s efforts. This is the most common type of sales incentive that can never fail because everyone works to earn money. If you are a sales manager, you can keep a set amount of money as a bonus for meeting a specific sales target or closing more deals.
2. Gift Cert
A gift card is a good option if you want to provide a non-cash reward. Gift cards are extremely useful to employees now that the majority of people shop online.
3. Vouchers for Travel
Every employee follows the same routine of coming to work every day. If you want to break up the monotony, you can provide your employees with travel vouchers. Your employees will always look forward to such rewards, whether they are hotel vouchers, airline tickets, cruises, or travel points. Offering such sales incentives would motivate employees to work harder.
4. Boxes of Subscriptions
These days, personalized products are the new trend. That is why subscription boxes are becoming increasingly popular. This is the best option for your sales team these days because they can easily find what they need while remaining safe.
5. A gym membership
Getting a gym membership can be costly, and people may abandon their plans as a result. What you can do is give your sales team a membership to a well-known gym that he has always wanted. You can provide any membership to your team as a sales incentive, whether it is Yoga, cross-fit gyms, or aerobic classes, based on their interests. It would improve your sales team’s productivity and provide a work-life balance.
6. Courses in Online Learning
A subscription to online learning courses related to the industry in which your employees work is one of the best sales incentives you can offer them. This would not only broaden their knowledge base but would also aid in their personal career development. You can offer workshops, sales courses, English classes, online college courses, professional courses taught by industry experts, and a variety of other services. Employees’ personal development will benefit from these online learning courses.
7. Extensive Dining Experience
Isn’t it true that we all look forward to a fancy, exquisite dinner at some point in our lives? Giving your sales team a fine dining experience will fulfil their primary desires. You can give your employees the option of selecting from a variety of fine dining restaurants and hotels. This would give your employees the best experience while enjoying delicious food with their families.
8. Product Awards
Using physical products as prizes is a novel way to motivate your employees. You can sell iPhones, smartwatches, Bluetooth earphones, tablets, and other electronic devices. Employees can also be provided with household items such as a coffeemaker, food processor, and so on. According to the interests of your sales employees, you can also offer hobby products such as musical instruments, rock-climbing equipment, and so on. These product prizes can be a good option because they help to relieve the stress of winning repeatedly.
9. Office Additions or Modifications
The best option is to provide office upgrades. Whether it’s a good chair, a good table, a dual monitor system, or noise-cancelling headphones. This would serve two purposes: first, it would be a fantastic sales incentive, and second, it would increase the efficiency of your sales team.
10. Employees' Preference
Everyone has different tastes, hobbies, and preferences. Instead of providing one type of sales incentive to each employee, you can select a prize for each employee based on their personal preferences. All you have to do is set a budget and allow employees to choose their own incentive based on their own interests. They will feel more motivated and perform better as a result, increasing sales revenue for your company.
Frequently Asked Questions: -
Sales incentive programmes are a way to recognize top performers and show them how much you appreciate their contributions to the company. This loyalty benefits not only your company, but also your customers, who will benefit from improved customer service and long-term business relationships with your sales representatives.
Schemes for Sales Incentives >>>>> Types of sales incentives >>>>> Examples and ideas for real-world sales incentives >>>>> Motivating individual sales representatives >>>>> Creating the ideal sales incentive program for your company