For all organizations, no matter the industry, the most valuable asset is its people. Hence, it is important to ensure your staff are driven to work hard towards your company and its goals. So, how to ensure this? This is where Incentive programs come into play. Incentive programs are formalized approaches to offering recognition and motivating your sales reps to push and challenge themselves to achieve their targets or quotas.
Incentive programs are very important for all businesses. They not only motivate employees to do their work but also motivate them to stay longer in the organization. Incentives can be monetary or non-monetary. However, cash isn’t the king anymore. According to research done by Incentive Research Federation for the Incentive Marketing Association, they found that 65% of employees prefer non-monetary incentives instead of monetary rewards.
Here are the top eight enticing non-monetary incentives you can offer your sales reps:
1. Experiential Rewards
What do experiential rewards look like? In simple terms, an experiential reward is an event or experience that an employee earns. It can be anything from a spa visit to global travels! Employees consider these rewards more thoughtful instead of a cash prize for their success and hard work. If you have a considerable budget dedicated to recognizing your sales reps, experiential employee rewards are the perfect choice for you.
The key here is to give your employees what they want, indulge their passions, or help them discover a new hobby. Experiential rewards have proven to improve employee engagement and retention rates.
2. Awards
Awards are an incredibly cost-effective way to motivate your sales team. As salespeople are by nature competitive, you can start by organizing a sales contest or awarding the most improved sales rep each month or the employee with the highest productivity. You can come up with some valuable prizes for reps hitting the goals you set. Get creative here. These types of awards prove you’re paying attention and appreciate their efforts. The awards can be in the form of a gift card, events tickets, food and refreshments, or even a trophy.
3. Shoutout and Recognition
If there is no budget for prizes and awards, recognition and shoutouts can be enough on their own. Recognition is another great option for employees who have been working hard. This can consist of a mass email from you or a manager praising them, a thank you email or a handwritten note, mentioning their success at a meeting, or recognition on social media. These can be the moments they never forget. In short, shoutouts are simple, fruitful, and something everyone can rally behind.
4. Remote Working Days
Remote working days are a common yet effective way to reward your employees. On average employees are 13% more productive when working from home. If your employees have responsibilities or duties that can be managed from home, then you can let them work remotely for a day or few days, if your organization setup allows for it. Even a single day of working remotely can greatly impact an employee’s attitude, can be attributed to their happiness, and also increase productivity.
5. Extra Leave
Aside from introducing remote work days, additional leave also acts as a strong employee incentive. Because….who doesn’t love an extra day off? Apart from weekends and public holidays why not reward your reps by giving them an extra day-off or a half-day? Getting an extra leave as a reward will make your reps feel recognized for all the hard work and they will be motivated to work harder. However, you should do this depending on your business needs and if it doesn’t affect your ROI.
6. Flexible Work Hours
Flexible work hours can prove to be a tremendous non-monetary reward as employees appreciate flexible schedules the most. In recognition of hard work for your top performers, you can offer them flexibility at work. Flexible work timings allow them to enjoy more time with their families and friends and it also shows you trust them. If your sales team meets up to your expectations, then there is no reason not to let them have a flexible schedule.
7. Vacation Time and Travel Incentives
Travel Incentives are shown to be one of the most popular work perks out there. If there is something that works better than cash. It is a break! According to a study, almost 96% of the employees say they are motivated by travel incentives and vacation time. Moreover, travel incentives are more cost-effective than cash bonuses. Organizations can use this to their advantage to attract top talent or motivate laggards to work harder.
8. Take Your Team to Lunch
Taking your sales team or a couple of reps to lunch is a great way of showing that you care about them. It doesn’t have to be a fancy or expensive restaurant. Just a small lunch party can make a great non-financial incentive. This also allows for time to discuss non-professional matters and build bonds. Afterwards, you may notice your reps return to work much more refreshed and rejuvenated.
The Bottomline
There’s no limit to incentives for sales reps. If you are not savvy enough, incentivizing your sales team beyond cash bonuses and commissions can be a bit tricky. You need to shape and figure out the best non-monetary incentive plans that fit your company’s goals and employees. When your sales reps are happy and satisfied, they perform better and you achieve more growth which is a win-win for everyone.
To make your sales team more productive and motivated than before, you can start off with the suggestions listed above. How are you rewarding and retaining your top performers with non-monetary incentives? We’d love to hear your ideas in the comments below.
