In most card games the Ace is the strongest most powerful card in the deck, there are only 4 out of the 52 cards in a deck. But in the sales game it’s not only about your Aces.

Bad Incentive Programs Focus

Too many incentive reward programs are focused on rewarding the Ace in your team or if the others are lucky, the top 3 or four people in the organisation. In a recent conversation with a number of sales organisations this has become even more noticeable during the tougher times that we have all faced during the Pandemic. Budget cuts have made this problem even more common.

A colleague of mine shared a story about a company who had given a single winner a new car as a reward. This inevitably turned into a disaster as the car was vandalised by fellow co-workers.

In consultation with the company this anger was reflected in an internal climate surveys. The company was advised to make a radical change to the way motivation programs were structured, now and in the long run.

Of course top performers and Ace sales people should score, but true power and results comes when the community of performers believes that they can achieve. That they are inspired all the way through the campaign period, and there are rewards for achieving their goals and targets.

A Good Incentive Program

Mistakes are made not only for believing that a grand prize is enough to motivate everyone, but because the basic principles that a good incentive program should have are forgotten.

In an Incentive Reward Program, there should be:

• Clear and fair rules.
• Demanding but achievable goals.
• Chance should not be involved in any main award.
• Participants should compete on level playing fields by grouping performance levels.
• Distribute your budget beyond solely your rewards and provide for consistent communication and program management.
• DO NOT believe that a program can be successful with a winner takes all mindset.