Successful Sales Channel Incentives

Well documented is the fact that incentives and rewards help motivate everyone to perform better, but this is especially true for salespeople. When you have people out there that you have no direct relationship with selling your brand, you want them to be loyal to your brand and you want them to ensure that your customer’s experience is everything that it can be.

Sales channel incentives help achieve all that, but what criteria ensure success?

Establish Clear Objectives

Incentives will vary based on many factors – what is the product or service being sold, what is the state of the market at that time, are there any current trends to allow for, how complex is the sales cycle, what’s the expected drop-off rate. All these factors need to be taken into account when devising the ideal programme. Be sure to run all the numbers so that clear and measurable objectives are in place – without this any incentive plan will lose efficacy and also money.

Tailor Incentives to Maximise Motivation

While incentives may motivate everyone, the one-size-fits-all approach is definitely not the way to go. Familiarise yourself with your team and figure out what will work best for them. Consider scale – incentives should match the time and effort invested, and the various stages of the sales cycle. Achieving something small like a sales call milestone should be recognised and rewarded yes, but actually meeting the sales goal at a later stage should naturally be acknowledged in a larger way.

Be Clear & Consistent

The simplest incentive programme is often the best – it might not be the most remunerative, but if it’s easy to understand and easy to follow, it stands a far better chance of getting everyone onboard and achieving its objectives. Another factor is consistency, find out what works and for the most part keep to the plan – if incentive programmes change too often and seem disconnected it doesn’t build loyalty and salespeople will be reluctant to make a long-term commitment.

Communicate and Mark Milestones

Comprehensive communication is essential – before, during and after the programme is implemented. It shows commitment and a desire to build solid partnerships. If salespeople feel sufficient time and energy has been invested to educate them and encourage their buy-in, they’re far more likely to be predisposed to your brand. Also essential is that milestones are clearly marked along the way. Teams will want to know where they stand at any given point in the sales cycle and how they’re measuring up to their peers – healthy competition benefits all.

Have you decided how you will use incentives to drive behaviour?

We can help with solutions that will ensure your objectives are realised – contact us today.