Points can make the perfect incentive award

The demographic of ‘sales representative’ is not similar. It would definitely make things easier if it were. If this was the case, one would know what award would be significantly convincing when designing a sales incentive program to generate the results you desire.

If everyone who sells for you shared the same likes, interests and goals, you would be right in offering a weekend trip to Goa. Are you sure that all your sales reps love to spend a weekend at a beach in Goa? Of course not!

You can only motivate every member of your sales team by offering something different. In the corporate world, you might put in enough efforts and think to go out and hand-pick the perfect award that would suit each of the team members, and also be proud of the fact that you were being so thoughtful and concerned.

But notice that you would also be wasting your time.

Francis Flynn and Francesca Gino, researchers at Stanford University, found out that recipients are unaware of the amount of time, thought and effort someone puts into selecting a gift. And hence, it doesn’t appear to them as particularly attentive that you chose a specific item. Instead, your idea of the perfect gift may appear as being totally wrong.

The reason is that each individual has a different source of reference to what a ‘perfect gift’ is to them, say thebehavioural economists.

A wedding gift registry serves as a great example. The researchers define, that couples have created their own frame of reference for what is important to them through the registry explaining you what the couple actually wants. If you buy something else that is not mentioned in the list, it then means that you are saying “No, you want something else, because I know more about you than you know about yourself.”

It was discovered by the Stanford researchers that when the couples were asked about the wedding gifts they had received, they conveyed liking the ones from the registry more than the unsolicited ones. In another study, when people were offered credit to buy gifts for each other on amazon.com, the gifts chosen from the recipient’s wish list were more treasured than the surprises. Hence, it is noted that people like to receive what they want and not what you think they want.

An effective way would be utilising points redeemable for a broad collection of merchandise, travel and entertainment awards. The reasons are:

1. Permit your sales team with the power to create their ‘award registry’.
2. Offer participants the ability to get what they desire.
3. Release yourself from the accountability of trying to “guess” what will motivate every individual.
4. Display that you respect the individuality of everyone who works for you.
5. Establish your thoughtfulness.
6. Your appreciation for your sales team efforts in a way that is meaningful for them is expressed.

Providing sales team the perfect incentive award can be as simple as using points for achieving goals. Points make things easy for you and your sales representatives.