For many businesses, the way they make money is through sales – either a product or a service.
However, keeping your sales team motivated isn’t always easy, especially when times are hard and consumers are looking to make cutbacks wherever possible. Having employee sales incentives can do wonders for staff motivation and really encourage them to go that extra mile when it comes to pushing your product and closing the deal.
While you can, of course, use marketing and advertising to promote your products, sometimes this money could be better spent elsewhere. Many consumers are more inclined to purchase something from another person, either face-to-face or over the phone, especially if the product is something where they would want to ask questions or requires a greater deal of explanation. Rather than channelling all your spare funds into marketing and promotion, consider investing into staff incentive policy for staff instead and watch your profits soar!
The rewards you choose and how you run the programme is completely up to you. You may wish to have staggered rewards for the top sellers through to those who perform well but need that extra boost to aim for higher.
Here at Ovation Incentives, we’ve understood that reward programmes need to be flexible to meet different countries and people of all ages and genders. This is why we offer a rewards portfolio which comprises over 1,200 brand recognisable high street retailers across the globe. All rewards are highly desired and are available in the local currency, ensuring there’s always something available that your staff will want to achieve.
If the reward at the end of the journey isn’t desirable, they will stop making the effort to increase sales because they won’t want the prize! Employee incentives should not be the same as free gifts you might hand out to customers. No one is going to put the effort in for a company-branded pen or key ring which might be readily snapped up at a trade fair. That said, you will probably see that employees are also motivated because they enjoy the feeling of being rewarded, almost regardless of the reward itself.
Do remember that praise and encouragement is just as important, however, so don’t let your incentives programme take the place of a standard “good job!” or “well done!”
Employees also get a buzz from the competition it creates with other team members in the office or sales room. For some, it’s not just about getting a reward at the end of it, but for the feeling of knowing that they’re the best. By having a greater reward for top performers, you’re sure to get a real boost of productivity from your staff. You’ll be amazed at just how much of a difference offering sales incentives can make but how little you’ll have to shell out to achieve this.
Staff will feel that the work they do is valued and that their company cares for them enough to reward their hard work, and you’ll enjoy bumper profits month after month – everyone’s a winner!