Incentive

September, 1997, pgs 45-52

Five Myths of Sales Incentives

MONEY IS THE BEST REWARD FOR SALES PEOPLE

 

"Cash has its place, but sales people are a bit more complex than this.
Sometimes sales people crave recognition more than any other group
in a company because they need it to feed their ego. Since most sales
people get commissions, the incentive reward is often lost with a straight
cash award."

 

SALES INCENTIVES ARE EXPENSIVE

 

"Sales incentive programs should be self liquidating. If all the costs of
a reward are not easily covered by a percentage of the profits generated
by the program, the incentive was poorly designed".

 

TOP PERFORMERS WILL PRODUCE REGARDLESS OF THE INCENTIVE

 

"The top tier needs stimulation more than any other group. These people
thrive on challenge. You need to constantly adjust their goals and rewards
or they get bored and go elsewhere".

 

IF FEWER PEOPLE WIN, THE REWARD IS SEEN AS MORE EXCLUSIVE AND DESIRABLE

 

"The smaller the group of winners, the more people who are feeling very unappreciated
Companies have to do something for thedl group who didn’t make the cut but whose
contribution is necessary. If someone feels he is never going to get the award, he will
do just the minimum".

 

DON’T PUBLISH PROGRESS REPORTS SO PARTICIPANTS WILL WORK TO THE VERY END

 

"If people don’t have a clear idea of how they are doing, they tend to lose interest. Weekly
or monthly updates spur participants on and keep the program in front of them. The
surprise approach is asking for trouble. When the results come out there will be a lot of
arguments about who did or didn’t qualify. When sales people and the company track
progress regularly, both sides know what is going on the entire time."