5 Sales Incentives Best Practices to Follow

Organizations across all industries are composed of several departments, each one playing a vital role in the overall operations of the organization. However, it is the sales department that is considered as the lifeblood of every organization. Without it, the business simply wouldn’t exist.

With sales being a vastly important function, it is therefore important for every business to understand how to nurture it. A single misstep can result in losing a client. One wrong move and your monthly targets will be negatively affected.

The sales landscape has changed significantly in the last couple of years, the competition has only gotten stronger and your customers are also becoming even more discerning. Your sales tactics must keep up with the ever-changing times and serve not only your client’s best interests but benefit your sales agents and partners as well. As they are in charge of maintaining the relationship between your company and your clients, your sales agents and partners play a crucial role in the success of your business. You must keep them motivated so that they will bring their A-game at all times.

 Here are a couple of ways on how you can elevate your sales teams’ morale and give them a performance boost:

It’s good to have an incentives scheme in place, but what you are incentivizing should also be clear to you and your team. This levels the playing field for all of the participants. Discuss with your team the metrics that they must hit in order to earn an incentive. Involve them in coming up with these metrics so it becomes more of a partnership. This way, you can directly hear from your team what is feasible and what is fair.

Cash incentives are always a good idea, but you can also consider digital rewards and other non-cash items for more flexibility and to add another layer in your benefits package. For example, Sodexo has four different products that will surely match any incentive program you are planning to roll out. These includes:

• Sodexo+ digital gift certificates (GCs), where you can give your recipients the flexibility to use and redeem rewards whether it’s physically at the store, through Sodexo’s partner e-Commerce merchants, or even for call-to-deliver items;
• SMGP digital GC in Sodexo+ app allows your recipients to shop to their heart’s content at all SM Malls and its affiliate brands that are available nationwide;
• SMGP Choice, on the other hand, is a non-cash product in printed GC format, which recipients can also use in all SM Malls and select affiliate brands. What’s more is that this GC will soon be accepted in SM online channels too;
• Mobile Pass gives you the flexibility to customize the digital GC you will give to your recipients. We have a variety of partner merchants and/or products that you can choose from and you can conveniently share this GC via email.

Some organizations use other sales channels aside from the in-house sales teams. Don’t forget to reach out to them too and keep them well-informed of the incentive program that you are setting in place. If possible, set up a help desk so that anyone—whether in-house or outsourced sales partners—will have someone to ask in case they have questions about how best to earn their rewards from the company.

4. Reward your sales partners accurately and on time

Sometimes, businesses fail to hand out incentives to their sales team on time. This causes friction. The sales partners worked hard to meet their KPIs, so the delays in giving their incentive can be demotivating and can come across as if the management doesn’t value the team’s contributions and efforts. Avoid these situations by honoring your commitment when it comes to your incentives program. In case handing out the incentive will be delayed due to unforeseen circumstances, be transparent and let your team know about it beforehand.

Mention the rewards program in your weekly meetings or send out regular newsletters about it to your team. Constantly remind the sales team, especially the new members, that your company has an incentive program in place. That way, they will always keep in mind that the company values their contribution to the business’ growth.

Treat your incentive program as one of your organization’s banner programs, instead of an afterthought. When you do, you are making sure that the lifeblood of your business is going strong and staying healthy. Choosing the right incentives to give can be a daunting process, so it helps to have a partner in this endeavor, one that knows exactly what they are doing. With over 20 years of experience in providing gifting and rewards solutions in the Philippines, Sodexo will help you find the right mix of benefits so your employees will have more reasons to love and appreciate what they are doing.