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A sales team is the heart of a company, and rewarding excellent work with sales incentives will only boost productivity. Now, with digital transformation on the rise and everything moving online, digitizing the rewards and incentives of your sales team might be the next logical step - especially since it allows your employees to reap the benefits of their hard work immediately! So, if you’re ready to find out more about digital sales incentives and rewards programs, here’s everything you need to know.
What are Sales Incentives and Rewards?
Sales incentives are organizational investment and a valuable motivational tool for your sales team. They reward your team for exceptional efforts - demonstrating appreciation for their productivity. Rewards and incentives can come in many different forms to suit the preferences of your employees. For example, they can include things like:
- Merchandise
- Cash equivalents
- Gift cards
- Experiential rewards and more.
Each of these will have a different level of success depending on your employees. Digital incentives, however, are particularly versatile as employers can better personalize them to suit their employees. They can include things like downloads (music, movies, and eBooks), subscriptions, free access to high-value content, eGift cards, and digital awards.
By finding the right incentives to suit your employees, you can boost your sales team’s motivation. And, just like that, you’ve increased productivity within your workplace!
Sales Incentives and Rewards Vs Sales Commissions
It’s important here to distinguish between incentives or rewards, and sales commission. When an employee makes a sale, they might receive a bonus (usually in cash). This is a sales commission. Essentially, it’s part of an existing compensation plan that creates a sense of routine expectation.
On the other hand, sales incentives are earned rewards. They encourage positive behavior while remaining separate from said behavior. This is because it’s an extra item offered on top of the guaranteed salary or commission.
David Gordon, President of Channel Marketing Group says these rewards “improve sales focus, sales team motivation, and targeted goal achievement”.
In other words, they possess a value that extends beyond their monetary worth. They reward employees for their efforts and successes, which becomes a driving force of motivation. An increasing number of companies are starting to use digital rewards as a way to drive productivity. Besides getting your employees fired up, these digital incentives have several other benefits. They can provide a competitive advantage over rivals and serve as effective recruitment tools. After all, who doesn't want to join a company that will reward them for hard work?
How to Digitize Sales Incentives and Rewards?
Before digitizing your incentives, it’s important to understand the appreciation and value that employees place on digital rewards. Every company is different. So, it might be worthwhile to do a quick survey amongst your employees to find out what form of incentive they’d actually prefer. It’s also a good idea to think about basing the size of these rewards on the magnitude of the achievement. That way, you can encourage high productivity!
Take advantage of the upcoming holidays as well - like Valentine's or Mother’s Day. These special offers will let your employees know you value their work-life balance. Personalized rewards are also a sure-fire way to make them feel appreciated. If your sales rep is a huge fan of the theatre, related incentives (like tickets to a show) will have an even greater impact on their productivity.
Creating A Digital Sales Incentives Program
If you think digital rewards are right for your team, then there are a couple of things to consider. After finding out what your employees would like to receive, you can then get a better idea on how to digitize your sales incentives program.
To begin moving your rewards scheme onto a digital platform, you need to identify which is most suited to your sales team preferences. It’s very important to implement a program that’s easy for everyone to use. If your employees struggle to redeem their rewards or track their progress, they probably won’t be as motivated to work towards their milestones.
Our Incentive Gamification Software Compass makes managing your digital incentives a breeze. You can easily track progress and, with gamification, your sales team can enjoy a little competition as they reach their goals. This offers game mechanics, leaderboards, and even contests to drive productivity!
Have a look at how Compass works. See the platform in action. Book a demo now!
Gamification has also been tried and tested by Salesforce, who reported that 90.4% of companies that implemented a gamification program for their sales team had successful results. Having dedicated sales incentives software also makes it easy to give out the rewards. You can even automate this process to take all the admin off your shoulders!
Finally, one of the most important steps in digitizing your sales incentives is listening to employee feedback. Do they enjoy them? Are you seeing a resulting increase in productivity or sales?
Benefits Of Digitizing Sales Incentives And Rewards
"An incentive is a bullet, a key: an often tiny object with astonishing power to change a situation" - Steven Levitt (American economist and co-author of Freakonomics)
1. They Are In Demand By Employees
As we move toward a more digital world, some employees are starting to prefer digitized sales incentives and rewards over tangible ones. This is because of the instant gratification they provide as well as their versatility. For example, employees can choose what to spend an Amazon gift card on rather than having to physically go to a store if they receive a physical gift card.
2. They Satisfy The Need For Speed
Digital incentives are ready-made for a modern company. A KPMG study on CEOs in 2016 emphasized the impact that the digital economy is having on the way organizations are developing, changing, and repositioning for growth. So, businesses looking to extend their reach and bring about immediate action should definitely utilize them.
Fast action equals fast results - particularly since so many employees seek out immediate gratification for their work. Employees can easily redeem their rewards online, for example via email or by being downloaded into a mobile wallet. Incentives software can also automate payouts so that your employees never have to wait around for their rewards.
3. The Encourage Some Friendly Competition With Gamification
Gamification is also very effective as not everyone is motivated by money. But, with gamification, employees can still gain a sense of personal achievement. This helps to set clear and transparent goals, as well as demonstrate how they can improve.
Using a employee gamification software, like Compass, you can easily incorporate gamification features into your digital incentives program. After all, who doesn’t enjoy a challenge? Your sales team will naturally want to work harder to outperform each other and constantly strive to reach the next milestone or level. Whether they like it or not, competition can give your employees that extra push to up their game.
Like the famous Drew Carey once said: “Some people don't like competition because it makes them work harder, better.” We couldn’t have said it better ourselves!
4. They Drive Sales And Increase Customer Acquisition
Rewarding your employees with sales team incentives will have a positive feedback effect. Your employees see their hard work being acknowledged and appreciated. In turn, they will increase their productivity and efforts with the aim of receiving further rewards. For example, A sales motivation study claims that various forms of compensation have a 50% higher impact on sales than any changes in advertising investments.
A smart, motivated sales team will be more likely to seek out new and innovative ways to attract and retain customers, particularly if they’re rewarded for doing so. So, as they work harder, your business will see increased reach and more sales.
5. They Contribute Toward Success
“Simply having rules does not change the things that people want to do. You have to change incentives.” - Jimmy Wales (American internet entrepreneur)
You can’t just tell people to work harder. You have to give them a reason to want to work! So, businesses looking for innovative ways to incent their employees should strongly consider digital incentives. Not only are they versatile, but they can be very effective and are starting to become more popular.
Digital incentives and rewards also allow businesses to connect with their remote employees or those working from home. With a digitized program, employers and employees alike can track progress online. This makes it easy to recognize achievements and give out rewards.
So, with this type of digital incentive program in place, your employees are bound to feel more motivated to work harder and reach their goals.
In A Nutshell
Putting thought into the type of sales incentives you reward your team with is crucial for boosting sales productivity. As the whole world begins to move online, digitizing your sales incentives and rewards is important (and clearly preferred by employees).
Luckily, there is a whole variety of digital incentives to choose from! From free downloads to eGift cards, you can choose the right incentives for your sales team and give them the boost they need. By doing so, your team will work harder and your business will thrive!
Turn your sales programs into games; with your own game-rules, challenges, and incentives. Try Compass, the Holistic Incentive Gamification Platform now. Want to know more? Book a demo now!
