Sales Incentives – 10 x To Reward Your Sales Team
Sales incentives can be an excellent way to show your appreciation when your sales team not only meet quota; but work hard to exceed it.
Depending on your business type, you maybe limited to using money only as a form of a sales incentive.
Fortunately, although money can be a great incentive for salespeople; there are many more things you can do to motivate your staff and show your appreciation.
In this article, you’ll learn:
- What are sales incentives
- How to find the right sales incentives for your team
- Examples you can use to incentivise your sales team
What Are Sales Incentives?
Put simply, a sales incentive is a reward of some kind to show your appreciation when your sales team or a salesperson on your team has demonstrated that they’ve gone above and beyond the status quo.
Sales incentives work well because it gives people an extra target to aim for.
If your sales team meets their quota, or goes above and beyond what’s expected and gets no compensation – what will be the incentive for them to continue that positive behaviour?
The right sales incentive will have your team more than happy to continue pushing their quotas and targets; making it a worthwhile investment.
How To Find The Right Sales Incentives
Something we highly recommend as a part of your sales interviews and sales meetings, is to learn about what drives your salespeople.
Although they may be a collective when working within the business – it’s also important to remember they’re all individuals with specific individual motivations.
A lot of people may think that cash should be the first choice as a sales incentive.
This may be valuable for some team members, but not necessarily valuable for others.
Learn about your salespeople; why they’re doing what they do, what their goals and personal targets are, and why they’re working in sales in the first place.
By learning this, you’ll have a clearer idea of what kind of sales incentives to offer your team.
Related article: 8 x Sales Meeting Topics To Share With Your Team
Sales Incentives – 10 x To Reward Your Sales Team
Below are ten sales incentives worth exploring to reward your sales team for exceeding their average requirements.
We’ve also drafted some reasoning as to why they may be a valuable sales incentive.
#1 – Money
The first sales incentive for exceeding sales performance on our list, is the most obvious and widely used – being money.
Money is simple and has value because it can be used at their discretion.
They’ll have options in regard to what they want to do with it, making it highly valuable to a lot of your sales team.
The only issue with money, is two things.
First, how much can you give to show appreciation for their efforts? Money is easy come easy go, so the amount you give may not be valuable for some people.
Secondly, you may not be in a position to afford a lot of money as a business.
If this is the case, read on to learn about the other potential sales incentive options.
#2 – Gift Cards As Sales Incentives
Gift cards as sales incentives can be an excellent way to reward your team and show your appreciation.
Although it may look similar to money; the positive thing about gift cards is that you can personalise them to the specific interests of the salesperson.
For example – if a team member plays a specific sport, a gift card to an online store for that sport would be seen as more valuable than simply money.
It shows you’ve thought about them prior to rewarding them – which can be just as valuable as the reward itself.
#3 – A Sporting Event
Tickets to a sporting event can be a great sales incentive, because it can be used to reward someone individually or for the whole sales team.
The sports event would obviously depend on your budget allocation, but the event can also be a great opportunity for team members to bond outside of the office in a fun environment.
#4 – Sales Training & Personal Development
One of the best sales incentives you can give your salespeople, is to show them that you care and are serious about their personal development.
Salespeople who hit their targets and demonstrate going above and beyond, show the behaviours of someone who would want to enhance themselves and go further.
Training can be an excellent sales incentive, because it shows that you care about their future – and it gifts them something they could use time and time again.
To learn more about online sales training for your sales team, check out the linked page directly below.
Online sales training: The 5% Sales Blueprint
#5 – Items For The Office
This can be a valuable sales incentive, however it’s important to ensure that you use this if it’s a team reward.
As mentioned earlier, when giving out sales incentives, try to personalise them to the individual.
However, for the team – items to enhance their experience at work could be great.
A high end coffee maker, better outgoing call technology, even items to add extra comfort into their space.
This shouldn’t be confused with giving them what they need to do their jobs; but should be an opportunity to further complement their experience at work.
#6 – A Massage Day
This sales incentive can work for the whole sales team, or for an individual.
It’s an excellent way to show gratitude, because it’s something everyone would work towards as everyone can benefit.
Fortunately – it’s not necessarily too expensive either, meaning it can perhaps be a monthly reward if everyone hits their goals.
A word of warning though – always ensure you check with your sales team first, as you don’t want to reward people if they physically are unable to receive massages (due to previous injury, cultural differences etc).
#7 – Lunch With Mentors As Sales Incentives
Depending on your company size; is there someone within your business that your sales team would aspire to have lunch with, and pick their brain?
This sales incentive works well if you have serious executives that are usually out of reach and have knowledge or network connections that can enhance their careers.
The incentive can work for types that are career driven, but so much for people who are rather introverted and just want to get the job done.
#8 – Experiences As A Sales Incentive
Experiences can be some of the best sales incentives you can give your salespeople, because unlike gifts most of the time – it’ll be something they’ll remember.
When looking for experiences for your staff, you can always choose things that meet your budget, and also be something they’d be interested in.
Some examples of websites that specialise in selling experiences are:
#9 – A Gym Membership
Fitness and gym memberships also work well as sales incentives, because fitness can lift their mood, confidence, and has clear health benefits.
This will perhaps work best as an option, rather than a mandatory gift or reward.
#10 – A Night Out With The Team
This one is usually easy; however you want to be a bit cautious with this one too.
It’s great to have your sales team head out and let their hair out; however just ensure that your team is supervised, and that things don’t get too messy.
Although it’s a great bonding experience and one that most people would appreciate, depending on your country laws – it may still be considered a work event and outing; so work laws may apply.
Consider this before rewarding your team with these kinds of sales incentives.
Final Thoughts On Sales Incentives
Sales incentives are an excellent way to reward your salespeople, because it gives them a good reason as to why they should hit their targets.
If they hit their targets and there’s no appreciate or reward – how could you expect them to continue their positive behaviour?
Explore which of these ten can work for you, and celebrate with your team.
Want To Close Sales Easier?
Are you committed to closing sales a lot easier, and consistently?
If so, you should check out our self-paced and affordable online sales training program; The 5% Sales Blueprint.
It’ll give you everything you need to close sales consistently.
To learn more, simply click on the link below for more information.
Our Online Sales Training Program – The 5% Sales Blueprint.
