How to motivate people -
Sales Incentive Program
There are no rules, which dictate the
number of different groups of people who can be included in any
one incentive program. Each additional group requires its own
special treatment.
When the target
group has been selected, you must:
- Keep participation
simple
- Talk to some members of the intended
group before finalising your planning and, without
specifying your particular plans, seek their views,
their objectives, their needs and
their likely response.
Too many assumptions should not be made
without crossing checking them with the target
group.
It’s essential to research the size of
the group and this is quite simple if it is an internal
program. However, if outside your own organisation, you will
need to ensure that you have the most accurate figures
possible.
You should not proceed until you have
carefully calculated the size of your participating
audience.
The options available on how to motivate
people are almost limitless, and are as varied as the
imagination will allow.
Here’s a list of important criteria that
are equally relevant to any group you choose:
Activities should be chosen that are of
mutual advantage to both your organisation and the participant,
even if that advantage is not immediately obvious. People will
be more contented and receptive to other incentive schemes, if
they can see tangible benefits from the previous
program.
It must be made easy for people to
participate by:
- Keeping the rules
simple
- Clearly
explaining to them how they can participate and what they
must do to enter the program
-
Sending more than one message to
the target audience, to aid recall of what you are
going to do.
-
Building up anticipation by
releasing the details of incentives and the
conditions in stages, if you can’t get your groups
together in the one place, at the same time.
-
“Selling the value” of the
rewards and not taking for granted that potential
participants will readily agree with your
enthusiasm for the rewards of the plan.
-
These activities are a
necessary part of the action to get people
into the program enthusiastically, and they
must not be short-cut.
When should you commence the
incentive program?
There is no doubt that an incentive
program must be carefully timed. Unless that occurs, incentives
can work against you and ‘anytime’ can be extremely
harmful.
Many otherwise sound incentive
schemes founder only on that one aspect of timing. Timing is
the segment of the total program you have most control
over.
You need to consider the needs of
all the participants before an attempt is made to submit the
‘best’ time.
Also, you need to make sure that
your own house is in order and be certain that you can supply
your products and services at the planned time.
Too often, an incentive period is
chosen and elementary, important activities are overlooked.
Public holidays, machinery maintenance periods and staff leave
are all potential, but identifiable, interruptions to the flow
of goods and services that are the subject of your incentive
program.
The loss of credibility, caused by
these oversights, can be irretrievable, the cost in expenses
high, and both your planning and ambitions
frustrated.
Next
article:
Measure & review your Sales Incentive
Program
2011
© Copyright www.themarketingupdate.com
How to motivate people in an Incentive
Program
|