What inspires you to leave your bed and get to work in the morning? Is it because you have a great sales team at work? Do you anticipate a fresh opportunity with anticipation? Do you genuinely adore your work? Even if all of this may be true, sales incentives are still crucial for motivating sales teams to perform well.
Even if you work with the most wonderful coworkers and have the nicest job in the world, there will still be times when motivation is difficult to come by. Both sales managers and their reps should be aware of this. How can you maintain team morale? Employee engagement has been demonstrated to increase with sales incentives: According to one research by the Incentive Research Foundation, a properly designed sales compensation program can boost performance by up to 44%.
It might be challenging to stay motivated, especially in these circumstances. Make sure it’s designed in a way that appeals to them if you’re considering launching a sales incentive program to increase morale among your workforce.
What kind of sales incentives will therefore inspire your staff to continue selling even in the face of obstacles? How can you create a team-wide motivational program?
Sales incentive ideas to motivate your whole team
Are there alternative sales incentives that will actually motivate your salespeople instead than just pure cash rewards? Here are 11 suggestions for sales incentives that sales managers can use to inspire their reps.
1. Cold hard cash
Money does indeed talk. Due to this, many incentive schemes for sales teams centre on giving employees a fixed sum of money as a reward for their efforts.
Because your staff is working to make money, cash is effective. You can create a clear commission structure or utilize cash bonuses to encourage your reps to concentrate on a certain objective to make this incentive effective. Typically, this is awarding a certain sum of money in exchange for achieving a particular goal, such as meeting or exceeding quota, closing a predetermined number of deals, or exceeding a sales activity target.
However, don’t assume that your team will always favour cash over other types of prizes. In fact, a different Incentive Research Foundation study discovered that up to 85% of respondents would select a non-cash reward if they truly preferred the other choice.
What additional choices exist for sales incentives, then?
2. Product prizes
A great technique to inspire your sales team is to give away tangible goods as a sales incentive.
You could say:
- Technological devices, like the newest iPhone or a smartwatch
- Fun home goods like a premium coffee machine, a 4K TV, or a cutting-edge sound system.
- Products for hobbies like a fancy bike, climbing gear, or a musical instrument.
Because they serve as a concrete reminder of your team’s accomplishments, product prizes are an excellent motivator (as long as it’s a product they genuinely want). In the future, others might inquire about it, giving them the chance to repeatedly enjoy the thrill of victory.
You may provide a choice between two or three different products to ensure that this incentive appeals to all the members of your team.
3. Courses and training
Reps who are keen to advance themselves might find great motivation in personal and professional development.
And there is a significant dearth of this kind of incentive: Only 44% of employees, according to the American Psychological Association, are happy with the professional development options they are provided at work.
Why not provide possibilities for professional advancement as a reward, such as:
- Special sales training from a qualified coach
- Tickets for a forthcoming conference or sales event
- Sales courses to develop advanced techniques
- Workshops, training, and manuals on how to use sales technology more effectively, such as CRM training
The chance for personal growth might also be appealing to your employees. You may provide rewards like:
- Access to an online course website
- Art classes
- Cooking classes
- One month of a fitness class membership
4. Entertainment
Tickets for the major event. seats in the front row for their preferred band. a two-person romantic meal. Because these are the activities your reps would like to pursue but might not be willing to spend money on for themselves, entertainment incentives are effective motivators.
Naturally, in these situations, you might need to get a little more inventive with your entertainment choices. For instance, a fancy supper at home with food delivery services may take the place of that beautiful night out.
5. Activity-based rewards
Wouldn’t your salespeople love to relax with a day at the spa or a game of golf after working so hard for a month to meet their quota and go above and above to earn the reward?
Or, if your team enjoys going on adventures, you might provide activity rewards like:
- Bungee jumping
- Escape rooms
- Rock climbing
- Sky diving
- Zipline
In this category also enter travel incentives. Travel incentives provide a substantially greater ROI than other non-cash awards because they generate a high level of motivation, according to research from the 1970s.
But once more, given the state of the world today, typical activity-based sales incentives might need to be modified. For instance, Airbnb now provides a wide range of online activities, including cocktail mixing in one’s own home, magic shows, cooking workshops, scavenger hunts, online escape rooms, dance lessons, private concerts, and more. Why not look for online activities you can give to your representatives?
The Bottom Line
You’ll be more successful in inspiring your team’s sales representatives to action if you tailor your sales incentives to each individual rep. You may identify offerings that appeal to each rep by using the incentive options we covered above, giving them the motivation they need to keep working hard even during challenging times.
