Sales force incentives are a vital part of business and one of the best reasons is that they work. This is one of the few motivators that can rev up a sales force for pennies on the dollar. However it has to be well designed and executed to reap the full benefits and get the most out of your sales force.

The reasons sales force incentives are so effective, is that they appeal to the basic instinct of a true sales person. The need to compete, to be recognized for doing well and essentially having their ego stroked and last but not least the ability to acquire more stuff for doing what they love to do. A good sales force incentive program can almost always assure a business owner that they will get results, but there are several rules of engagement that they have to keep in mind. The sales force incentive requires a concise goal. This may be as basic as increasing sales, but there are other objectives that can be added to a sales force incentive. These range from generating new accounts to launching new products or even expanding your sales territory. The sales force incentives goals will greatly depend on where that particular business sees they are lagging behind the competition, or that there is an untapped market they need to explore.

The next thing a sales force incentive needs to accomplish is a clearly defined list or statement of accomplishments. In other words your sales force needs to know precisely what the amount of increase in numbers that are expected. Is it X number of dollars, or X number of new accounts? The comparisons can be from previous years or from the competition, however the current business climate and the potential of your sales team need to be taken into account. The sales force incentive can be trick in that, make it too unattainable and you end up demotivating the team , make it too easy and you will not make the returns needed to justify the money spent on sales force incentive.

The next important part of an effective sales force incentive is the budget. The budget should not exceed 10% of the projected sales increase, and should not be less that about 1.5-2%. This budget includes not just the sales force incentive but the promotion such as awards luncheon and also the administration of this program in the form of over time and the like. Also be prepared to be flexible in case it is very successful you might want to continue it or if it is not working, revamp it.

Picking the right sales force incentive is also crucial to its success. Cash usually works because most people like cash, and there is no cost to storing it. The down side is people tend to forget after it is put into an account or mutual fund, and it always a clear show of how much the company spent on the sales force incentive. Take a team on a vacation and you can also gain the benefit of building the team spirit while rewarding them. Not everyone will agree though that travel is a good sales force incentive since some people prefer to take vacations to get away from the people they work with. Merchandise is also good as long as the quality of the products match the sales force. Also the merchandise will be around for a long while to remind the team or individual of their accomplishments.

The main thing is to keep the sales force incentive duration short. People are better motivated in the short term. Quicker rewards will help reinforce the behavior desired by the company initiating the sales force incentive.

Your company’s sales team is arguably the most exposed and hardworking group in your workforce, and that’s just one reason why they need to be given the RIGHT incentives REGULARLY. And so yes, not just any incentive will do. What works for one company may not work for yours so it’s important that you take the time to know your sales team well and determine as well just what you’re capable of giving them.

Factors to Consider When Determining What Sales Incentives to Give

AGE – People’s likes and dislikes as well as their goals tend to differ as they age, and thus, it’s important to give sales incentives that will suit your sales team’s age range. If, however, they’re composed of different generations, then you need to choose something that will be ubiquitously desirable.

GENDER – Gender-specific sales incentives are tricky because you could be sued for discrimination, but they’re arguably more effective as well since you’re giving your sales team – man or woman – what they really desire. One way of solving the discrimination problem is by giving them the option to choose.

BUDGET – Naturally, giving away sales incentives shouldn’t bankrupt you. Evaluate your finances then determine just how much you’re able to spend. Having a budget will also challenge your mind and imagination to think out of the box and be resourceful.

Tips on How to Create Effective Programs for Sales Incentives

Sales Incentives Have Two Faces – And they’re called cash and non-cash incentives. It’s important that you offer both. Like it or not, people are generally easier to motivate if you’re offering both money and recognition in exchange of showing better job performance.

Motivation Comes from Within – Before creating any sales incentive program, you must also understand that no matter how hard you work on setting goals and determining prizes for employees, there won’t be any changes made if the employees themselves aren’t ready, willing, and able to change. Thus, be ready to be confronted once in a while with a few bad apples here and there. And when you do, don’t blame yourself: it’s those people – and not your program – that’s at fault.

Separate Sales Incentives for Short-Term and Long-Term Goals – You must prepare separate and appropriate sales incentives for your short-term and long-term goals. Cash and similar monetary incentives work better for short-term goals because they work like confectioneries by providing employees with a temporary boost of physical and mental energy. Stimulants for intrinsic motivation, on the other hand, will definitely work better for long-term goals because it gives your employees a reason to continue working the way you want them to.

3 S’s for Sales Incentives – When creating a sales incentive program, always make sure that it adheres to the 3 S’s rule: short, sweet, and simple. Anything complicated can discourage your sales workforce from bothering to change. And if you offer something sour instead of sweet, who’d want to work for it?

Take Advantage of Your Affiliations – If you only rely on your own resources to provide for sales incentives for your workforce, your options may be greatly limited. Thus, consider taking advantage of your affiliations. Negotiate with them for mutually beneficial contracts. Exchange favors.

Evaluate, Evaluate, Evaluate – And lastly, don’t stop monitoring the results of your sales incentive program. If you notice something that seems to have lost effectiveness, determine its causes then modify, eliminate, or replace it with something better.

The present times demand on the part of the companies, a greater approach in the satisfaction of the client; fulfilling in most of the expectations that a product or service requires. But who go ahead but they are and they will be the companies that day to day are surpassing the expectations of the client.

How are they doing it?

· Fulfilling the specifications of the product or service.

· The product or service fulfills the objectives that the client requires.

· Good availability.

· With you deliver in time.

· With deliveries in time.

· The Value added to its products or services.

· Constant feedback client - supplier.

If we want to maintain the clients present we must put attention in the previous points, which will as well bring new potential clients for its company. To value the Client, is to know its necessities and problems, thus, we can focus our resources in an excellent product or service that will manage to cover the necessities and will solve the problems, satisfying to the Client.

The client who feels that their necessities or problems are solved by a product or service, did not let consume it while she continues fulfilling the objectives; new necessities or problems on the part of the Client can arrive; that in the Client-Supplier Feedback they must be considered by the Company (Supplier) to be updating the product or service in agreed to the necessities of the Client, otherwise, entered the field a new Supplier with a product that will fill to the new expectations of the unsatisfied client and that will finish moving it.

It is of extreme importance of maintaining one narrow Client-Supplier relation to be updated to the necessity-problems of the Client, to take into account any complaint by minim that we consider it, to put under it evaluation to give solutions. Solutions are what our Clients look for, give the solution him who they need with our products and services, and better even surpass what the client hopes of us. Thus we will have a satisfied Client and that is faithful to the product or service that we offered him.

It is necessary to be meticulous in which we do, often east aspect neglects when we thought “something small, did not concern…”, single we take the place from the client. When we are going to buy a product or service, we are well meticulous in everything, since we do not want to take to house:

”a shirt with a button less”,

“a car with a small ray in the painting”,

“a footwear with a lower number than other one”,

“a package with less pounds than the stipulated thing”

And the list can be enlarge, since most of us since clients we have happened in some similar or different case, but the common one of all is “do not concentrate well on this”. As Clients we would like to know that we have in our suppliers to confidence people, who did not give defective products to us, since they have his efforts trims in making the best product or offering the best service for the satisfaction of the client. So we do this, reality for our clients, focusing all our effort in an excellent product or service that offers that confidence that makes it be safe with us.

Let us play our role of good Suppliers (services or products), and will see our portfolio of satisfied clients and growing. The great corporations have like priority the satisfaction of the client, put that goal in our organizations and will see as it grows with happening of the days.

How can the distributor take advantage of existing relationships between Inside Sales/Customer Service personnel and customers? This age-old question has caused managers to implement a variety of approaches in the attempt to tap perceived potential, but many fail and the question persists. Why?

Most firms do not have adequate measures installed to determine who does what within an Inside Sales/Customer Service group. For lack of measures, it is not possible for management to define department productivity or level of activity much less individual productivity.

1. Without consideration for the level of inbound call activity, it is common for management to want Inside Sales/Customer Service personnel to use suggestive selling techniques during inbound calls. Further, some firms also assign outbound sales call responsibility.

2. The reality of many Inside Sales/Customer Service operations is: they are very busy handling inbound calls from customers. Their motivation is to handle each call as quickly as possible so they can get off the phone with the customer and take the next inbound call that is waiting for them. In a given day, one individual may handle upwards of 50-100 inbound calls and related tasks, e.g., taking and processing orders, mailing requested literature, preparing bids or quotes, expediting, providing price and delivery information, checking inventory, and so forth.

3. Although some Inside Sales/Customer Service people are better than others at using suggestive selling techniques during inbound calls from customers, this practice depends upon:

• product and applications knowledge, probing skills, knowledge of suggestive selling techniques

• having others in the department who are available to handle other inbound calls Even experienced personnel will stop this practice when incoming call levels peak. Why? Because they do not want to take the time during calls to talk with the customer, identify needs and interests, discuss options available, and make recommendations. In other words, they switch to a different mode during peak incoming call periods. Their motivation is driven by the need to handle each call as quickly as possible so they can take the next call.

One strategy used by some managers is to remove Inside Sales/Customer Service personnel from the 'order desk' so they can make outbound calls to customers assigned to them. For example, an hour a day is set-aside for several days a week for them to make these calls. However, when they return to the 'order desk,' they are faced with callback messages from customers who requested them. Although management may perceive this strategy as a method for increasing Inside Sales/Customer Service productivity, this approach must be well managed. Again, the lack of measures of this function is a direct cause of problems here.

Desired increases in productivity within the Inside Sales/Customer Service group have also prompted the installation and use of Voice Mail systems. Taken from the customer's perspective, what this often means is: the customer cannot get orders and other information requests handled at the customer's convenience. The customer has several options: 1) wait for a return call from the distributor; 2) FAX the order or request if possible; or 3) locate a different supplier who is organized for the customer's convenience.

The effect of many Voice Mail systems is to cut the distributor off from customers. In today's service economy, the practice of organizing the company for its own convenience can be the cause of lost orders and customers. Further, installing Voice Mail may preclude analysis, definition, and solutions to the real problem. A staff deployment problem may exist. Although Voice Mail appears to solve the problem by smoothing out peak incoming call times, customer inconvenience is at issue. The lack of appropriate Inside Sales/Customer Service measures is also the cause of:

• management misperceptions about the Inside Sales/Customer Service primary function. This is the distributor's front line. It is the customer's primary interface with the company. Through this job function, the distributor proves or disproves a commitment to service excellence.

• management tactics designed to increase productivity without consideration for their impact on existing customers. Any decision that cuts the distributor off from customers must be seriously evaluated.

• inappropriate compensation practices. If the distributor cannot measure individual productivity, it is not possible to recognize it much less compensate for it. If management wants to take advantage of the Inside Sales/Customer Service opportunity, the first step in this process is to evaluate what exists in that department today. Questions managers need to answer include:

1. Are existing personnel so busy handling incoming calls that the mind-set is to get off each call as fast as possible so they can take the next call? Conversely, do staff have time to sell on inbound calls? If not, what do we need to do to make time available to them?

2. Do we have the necessary base measures in the department to prove there is or is not time available to increase productivity? What measures do we need to install?

3. Have we trained our people to know:

• our products, value-added services, and what questions to ask customers to identify their needs and interests in using them?

• what promotions are available?

• what direct mail materials are available for them to mail to customers? What questions should be asked customers to determine their needs for our materials? What questions should be asked to identify if others at the customer's location need our materials besides the buyer?

4. Have we installed computer support systems that help prompt people to use suggestive selling techniques?

5. What measures do we need to install to identify individual performance and productivity so we can recognize individual contributions and reward accordingly?

Inside Sales – Customer Service is no longer just sales support and order takers of the past, Inside Sales - Customer Service has taken center stage with customers. It is the front-line to the customer, the back bone of the business, and the primary influence that proves your commitment to service excellence. Management needs to evaluate existing operations. Everything from corporate culture to attitudes, reporting relationships, support systems, recruiting specifications, to training needs are the proper focus of management attention. A new business model may be warranted to meet changing customer demands and expectations of your front-line. (Thanks go out to Peg Fischer & Associates for much of the information supplied in this article)