This blog focuses on understanding sales incentives for your team, the important role incentives play on team motivation and performance and the specific systems which best motivate teams (such as how gamification can act as an effective incentive).

Understanding sales incentives for teams

In short, sales incentives for teams are important goal-based reward systems designed to encourage your sales team to achieve more sales, increasing your revenue, as well as achieving some benefits themselves.

Motivating your team achieves results regarding sales performance, but also has a positive impact on workplace productivity, workplace atmosphere, employee morale and employee satisfaction. Making sure your team feels adequately rewarded and appreciated for their excellent work is impactful in a number of ways.

Our sales team motivation solutions ensure that every member of your team is accounted for, leading to a workforce which is motivated across the board, and that nobody is left behind. After all, motivating somebody who already thrives is easy, but quality sales incentives for teams also focus on the new members finding their feet, as well as the well-established workers who perhaps need a positive nudge in the right direction.

The importance of incentives when motivating teams

Incentives are very important when motivating teams because they can provide both extrinsic and intrinsic motivation when employed in different forms. Sales incentive games can serve as an excellent form of intrinsic motivation, because they combine elements of competition, collaboration and personal growth, leading to employees developing a sense of passion and fulfilment upon completing tasks.

This makes it possible to turn tasks which employees feel they have to do, into ones that they want to do, and this difference increases the quality of work as well as employee satisfaction.

Incentives can also act as positive reinforcement for best practices in your organisation. Employees receiving rewards for utilising their best skills when it comes to sales means they are more likely to internalise these techniques and continue to secure business for you. This positive cycle of reward and recognition also leads to a permanent increase in motivation for your workforce, who have been shown that you really appreciate the work they do.

The sales incentive systems that motivate teams

At BI WORLDWIDE we consider sales incentives through the lens of inspiration not compensation. While commissions and stock options can be considered sales incentives, we believe they are more closely related to salary and remuneration. These methods are typically tied to everyday business activities and are less effective at motivating incremental behaviour change.

• Sales contests – Easy to understand and execute sales contests allow representatives to engage in healthy and beneficial contests between each other, with the end goal of reaching specific targets first to receive a reward of some variety. These rewards could include financial bonuses, aspirational gifts, team outings, personal experiences, or professional development opportunities.

• Gamification – Gamification can be used to boost employee collaboration, motivate sales teams and accelerate employee development. Adding game mechanics into non-game environments has been shown to increase engagement and performance consistently.

• Travel incentives – Group travel incentives are a great way to give your team something to work towards. Promising your team members an unforgettable travelling experience as a result of excellent work us proven to be the most motivational reward option and will encourage them to realise untapped potential. As a leading incentive travel provider we can provide end-to-end support, from sales incentive design and delivery through to travel incentive management and operations.  

How incentives using gamification can motivate teams

Incentives using gamification can motivate teams by adding a unique element to recognise employees and their hard work. Competition has always been an effective tool to drive improved results, and being able to harness the competitive nature of sales professionals through gamification encourages positive work behaviour and increases learning and retention.

Another benefit of gamification is the healthy nature of competition that it encourages. More traditional incentives can be seen to promote unhealthy competition, in which employees feel the need to outdo each other to earn rewards. This is different with proper gamified techniques.

Gamification can reflect individual improvement as well as team accomplishments, meaning that sales professionals feel compelled to work as a member of a larger unit, or feel as though they can challenge themselves against themselves, with motivation to improve.

Can cash-based incentives motivate teams?

Cash based incentives are a traditional way of motivating sales teams. Cash rewards, be it through bonuses, commissions, or otherwise, are a simple and transactional way to encourage your team to secure more business for you. Directly linking improved performance to higher cash incentives allows employees to see the link and internalise an association between high quality work and rewards.

Cash incentives can be especially useful when operating on tight deadlines, but aren’t necessarily the most effective at motivating behaviour change. Our webinar titled ‘Is cash king?’ dove into the effectiveness of cash incentives when compared to many of the alternatives we offer.

Cash rewards are one way to motivate your team but to increase productivity and long term performance, non-cash rewards such as travel, experiences, aspirational merchandise and recognition rewards can be transformational, more personalised and be better placed to boost engagement and motivate enhanced results.