How NOT To Choose Sales Incentives and Gifts

Picking the right rewards can take your sales incentive program to the next level. Choosing rewards that employees are legitimately excited about means that your sales force will be more motivated to achieve goals and repeat the positive behaviors that bring them (and the company) success.

After all, no one will work hard for a reward they don’t want. Here’s what not to do when choosing the incentives your sales team will be going after.

DON'T

1. Pick Gifts That Aren’t Worth Their While

Your sales team works hard, so the rewards you offer them need to be deserving of their time and effort. In order to put the work in, they need to believe that their input will get them an even greater outcome. An added bonus: employees seeing their co-workers enjoying a great prize will make them even more motivated to go after it themselves!

2.  Discredit the Power of Recognition

Good incentives don’t have to break the bank! Sometimes a simple ‘Thank You’ or certificate is enough to let your team know that you notice and appreciate their effort. Don’t make them think you’re just trying to buy their hard work; instead, make the incentive say something meaningful (whether it’s expensive or not).

3.  Be Too Narrow

Remember that everyone has different preferences and interests; don’t just assume that someone will like something just because you do. Again, offering a sales incentive that your sales team actually wants to go after will make them work that much harder! One way to do this is by ensuring that the incentive is equally attractive to everyone and provides the flexibility for your team members to get the gift they want (and deserve).

4.  Make It Difficult To Redeem

Your program participants (whether with an Employee Engagement Program, a Channel Partner Incentive Program, a Sales Incentive Program, or any of our other Sales Growth Programs) worked hard to get their reward - they shouldn’t have to work as hard to redeem it!

Ensure a pleasant experience by making sure that the reward recipients can get their gifts easily and quickly. Gone are the days where they need to wait until their next paycheck, the quarter to end, or 6-8 weeks for a catalog item to be delivered.

With a branded Digital Debit Card and Rewards Platform set up by Energy 2 Engage, participants are notified when their rewards are available and they're able to redeem immediately.