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This post is a no gift card zone. We're profiling 4 epic sales incentives to start thinking about adopting to celebrate your top performers for end-of-year 2015 and 2016.
You're a busy sales leader with neither the time, nor the inclination, to put heady thought into optimizing your sales incentives. It's okay. We get it. And today, we're here to help solve that problem for you.
As denoted in USA Today, Forbes, Inc and elsewhere, today's sales leaders needs unique, powerful and creative new performance incentives to inspire their teams. To that end, here are 4 epic sales incentives managers should consider adopting in 2016.
4 Epic Sales Incentives for 2016
We don't know your budget, so we're offering a broad swath of sales incentives that range in price from $60 to, well, however much you're willing to pay LeBron James to come speak to your top performers.
As a final note, the sources listed for each sales incentive are legitimate. You won't get burned, though we would recommend shying away from giving your top performer a night out with, say, Shia LaBeouf.
1) Book a Celebrity Appearance via Thuzio.
Price: Varies.
Want a top performer to love you forever and swear his or her undying loyalty to your organization? Get them a face-to-face meeting with Taylor Swift, Michael Jordan or (personal favorite) Vince McMahon.
If you're like most organizations, of course, your sales incentives budget likely isn't built to accommodate the price tags with those big names. The good news is that there are over 27,000 total celebrities to choose from, at varying pricing levels, so chances are you'll be able to find someone who fits the bill at a reasonable cost.
Thuzio requires a subscription to get exact pricing on bookings, so get the wheels in motion for this sales incentive in advance.
2) Create a highlight video via Fiverr.
Price: $120.
Fan of documentaries? Those of us who love ESPN's "30 for 30" series know that the best way to relive your glory years is via a professionally-produced documentary that captures the pinnacle of your professional achievements.
Here's how to create one as a sales incentive.
Run an epic sales contest. Intermittently take footage of the leaderboards, big closes, office celebrations and so forth. Once a winner emerges, videotape brief interviews with his or her colleagues reflecting on the road to glory that just occurred.
Then, sign up for a Fiverr account. Pony $120 bucks to verified Fiverr vendor Birdiesawyer, send over the relevant materials, and voila, you'll quickly receive a professionally cut 5-minute video promo that lets your victor's shining moment live on into eternity (in the cloud).
God willing, it will end up like the opening 5 minutes of "The U," though a cross between Season 3 of "The Office" and "Spinal Tap" would prove just as epic.
3) Spotify + Netflix + HBO Go + Chromecast + Sonos.
Total Price: ~$650. Minus Sonos: $300.
Congratulations, you're providing your top sales performers with the ultimate starting lineup of Millennial home entertainment.
The first three products are sold on a monthly subscription basis: we recommend covering a year of each if you can. To up the ante, add Chromecast and/or Sonos to the mix. Because as much as Millennials love the great outdoors, mother nature is no match for a Saturday House of Cards marathon.
4) Hang a Championship Banner via Banners.com.
Total Price: $60.
We literally did this. For another company, granted, but our sales team was legitimately pissed they never had an opportunity to have their names hanging from the rafter of Ambition HQ.
I'm stunned more sales teams don't do this, frankly. It's the ultimate bragging rights. TV Leaderboards are all the rage, and for good reason, but you can't be a 6'x6' NCAA-worthy banner glorifying your triumph.
The glare you see in this picture is God smiling down on ClearSlide because he could actually see the banner from the heavens.
Adopt this very effective, very affordable sales incentive in 2016.
Sales Incentives Goals: Motivation, Loyalty, Culture
Money may be the root of all evil, but not when it applies to sales incentives. It goes without saying that all of the above sales incentives are best optimized as quarterly, motivational shock troops and culture builders, not the foundation of your team compensation.
With that disclaimer of that way, though, we advise trying out at least one of the above sales incentives in 2016. Before you make your selection, we also recommend soliciting feedback from your team on the types of sales incentives they would most prefer.
Companies like Ambition and BlueBoard can equip managers with powerful new solutions that didn't exist 5 years ago. By leveraging compelling, unique and diverse sales incentives, be it for contest winners, top performers, or career landmarks, sales leaders can stop fretting over employee motivation, retention, and culture, and transform them into key advantages for their sales organization going forward.
Further Reading
- Harvard Business Review: The Sales Director Who Turned Work into a Fantasy Sport
- The Enterprise Guide to Sales Motivation
- The Sales Influencer Series Presents: John Barrows
The Sales Incentive, Tracking & Recognition Platform
Ambition is a sales management platform that syncs every sales organization department, data source, and performance metric on one easy system.
Ambition clarifies and publicizes real-time performance analytics for your entire sales organization. Using a drag-and-drop interface, non-technical sales leaders can build custom scorecards, contests, reports, and TVs.
Ambition is endorsed by Harvard Business Review, AA-ISP (the Global Inside Sales Organization), and USA Today as a proven solution for managing millennial sales teams. Hear from our customers below.
Watch Testimonials:
- FiveStars: Adam Wall. Sr. Manager of Sales Operations .
- Filemaker: Brad Freitag. Vice-President of Worldwide Sales.
- Outreach: Mark Kosoglow. Vice-President of Sales.
- Cell Marque: Lauren Hopson. Director of Sales & Marketing.
- Access America Transport: Ted Alling. Chief Executive Officer.
Watch Product Walkthroughs:
- ChowNow. Led by Vice-President of Sales, Drew Woodcock.
- Outreach. Led by Sales Development Manager, Alex Lynn.
- AMX Logistics. Led by Executive Vice-President ,Jared Moore.
Read Case Studies:
- Clayton Homes: HBR finds triple-digit growth in 3 sales efficiency metrics.
- Coyote Logistics: Monthly revenue per broker grew $525 in 6 months.
- Peek: Monthly sales activity volume grew 142% in 6 months.
- Vorsight: Monthly sales conversations grew 300% in 6 months.
Contact us to learn how Ambition can impact your sales organization today.
