Productivity has become a major buzzword in the business world, and for good reason. Organizations with less engaged and productive teams have up to 16% lower profitability than others—which is why your team is such a critical resource to cultivate.
But how do you increase your team’s motivation, productivity, and profits? Your first line of motivation, of course, is your employee commission structure. This keeps your employees on target while allowing you to track performance.
However, there are a ton of additional ways to improve sales and workplace productivity through strategic incentives. Here are 10 great sales incentives to keep your team productive, motivated, and engaged.
1. Fun Prizes
If you’re trying to incentivize your team, there’s no better way than the tried-and-true tactic of offering prizes for more sales. You can always start with a cash gift or a gift card, especially if you have a team with a huge range of interests. However, consider the types of options below to accommodate more specific preferences while adding a dose of personality and fun to the challenge:
Experiential Incentives
Offering the gift of an experience is a great way to make your team sit up and pay attention. Experiences can have a lasting effect over a physical gift, and they can fit a wide range of interests.
Try offering tickets to the movies, to a popular sporting event, to a museum, or to an upcoming concert, for example. Fine dining, spa days, and golf excursions can be great as well.
You can also offer creative and practical office experiences, like lunch with a supervisor or the company CEO, or a membership at a nearby gym. Don’t forget about the practical gift of a preferred parking space!
Physical Prizes
Finding the right physical prizes can be tricky, but the right rewards can pay off for your team—literally. Consider options that your team is interested in but may not necessarily buy for themselves on a budget.
Technology prizes like smartwatches or noise-canceling headphones are always a big hit. Products they can use in the office, like a standing desk or mini-fridge, can be a great way to add a little pep to their step in the long-term.
Don’t forget about subscriptions as physical prizes as well. From wine club memberships to foodie subscription boxes, these fun rewards can keep the winner engaged and entertained for a long period of time.
2. Professional Development
If you have the type of team that’s in the sales game for the long haul, they’ll instantly see the value in the reward of professional development. Ongoing education can be a big draw for any employees wanting to advance their careers and further their knowledge. An additional bonus for you, of course, is that the reward invests in the future performance of your team!
These types of rewards can include language courses, seminars for advanced selling techniques, tickets to industry conventions, public speaking lessons, and more. If you already invest in your workers through options like this, consider sending them to larger, high-profile learning events out of state for more exclusive access to industry updates and news.
3. Employee Gamification
Want to create a workplace your team loves to step into? Consider making their experience more enjoyable—and motivating—through employee gamification.
Gamification taps into our need for rewards, praise, and gratification, taking incentives to the next level.
This strategy will take much more time and planning on the front end than you’ll need for throwing cash gifts or physical prizes at your team. However, there’s a huge range of benefits from gamification, from better habit-setting to increased productivity. In addition, once the system is set in place, you’ll have a better way to offer ongoing incentives in the long-term.
To begin creating your strategy, start small. For example, you may want to create an onboarding process that uses gamification to train new employees. With leaderboards, missions, and badges, you can shape your starting curriculum to be more like an addictive game than a bland textbook course.
For the next steps, consider creating game-based learning strategies for overall performance. Do a little research to decide what kind of system and engagement you want to create, using success stories as inspiration.
From there, it’s all about customizing your gamification to your team!
4. Host Sales Competitions
There’s nothing like a little competitive spirit to get your team motivated, especially when you pair it with options above like gamification or prizes.
Sales competitions allow your team to prove their mettle and show off their sales chops, whether you want them to compete in groups or individually. Add a leaderboard to show who’s at the top, and you may find them jostling each other for that position!
Depending on your needs, you can try a variety of competitive options. A quick version may ask your team to hit a certain target by a specific date, but you might also want to change this up with other fun strategies.
A sales raffle, for example, allows an employee to collect a raffle ticket for a prize with every sale they make. You might want to try pair-selling by matching high- and low-performers for more of a challenge, or introduce a few “most wanted” clients to divide up for your competition.
Boost Performance With These Sales Incentives
When it comes to sales incentives, it’s all about finding the perfect match for your team. Don’t be afraid to play around with different strategies to see what best motivates your employees, or to jump between reward systems during different times of the year. With a little forethought, you’ll find it easier than ever to boost productivity and engagement in the long-term!
Want more ideas to help you make the most of your business? Check out our other guides!
The post Sales Incentives: 4 Tips & Tricks to Boost Your Employees' Productivity first appeared on Don Diva Magazine.