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If you’re still tracking your teams’ achievements in your CRM, spreadsheets, or (gasp) on a whiteboard — don’t worry, we’re not judging.
But we’re happy to tell you that finally, there’s a better way.
Here in 2020, we’ll admit that things aren’t going...swimmingly, which is why we’re extra excited to announce the rollout of our newest, feel-good feature: Ambition Accolades — a.k.a., how sales managers can modernize their sales awards.
The vast majority of sales orgs run recognition programs for their reps — from sales clubs to milestone-related awards to more discretionary accolades, like most improved or best hustler. These kinds of programs have been around for decades, and there’s a reason for that: they truly work. Reps, and human beings for that matter, are motivated by public recognition.
Recognition not only gets reps fired up to sell; it also acts a positive feedback loop, reinforcing good behavior and demonstrating to peers the kind of work and results that get noticed and rewarded.
So, public recognition isn’t going out of style any time soon. But the means of tracking accomplishments and recognizing reps tends to be pretty old-school in many sales orgs — whether they’re juggling spreadsheets and reports, or literally keeping track of clubs and rewards by hand.
Bottom line: If your program is manual, and isn’t tied to performance data, then you’re not getting the most out of your efforts. Here are 4 reasons why going digital will make your sales awards programs more effective (and fun!) in 2020.
4 Reasons You Should Digitize Your Sales Awards
1. Remote recognition FTW
We know, we know, everyone’s tired of talking about “remote this” and “WFH that” — but the fact of the matter is, we’re in this for the long(er) haul. Sales teams should be reevaluating their Interim, band-aid solutions, as it looks like a lot of sales teams will be remote well into 2021.
Even in normal times, spreadsheets and whiteboards lack visibility and accessibility for your team — and of course, both of those things are key for public recognition. Now, for remote teams, visibility is reduced even further, unless you’ve got a way to broadcast achievements to your entire distributed team. When you go digital with your sales awards, everyone can see who’s making moves, hitting milestones and reaching their goals, so you get the fullest benefit of your recognition program.
2. Automate...everything
Manually tracking and updating who’s winning what award takes an inordinate amount of time. Sales managers, who already are spread thin, shouldn’t be spending valuable hours every week or month doing something that could be completely automated.
With a digital tool like Ambition Accolades, big milestone tracking is hands-off — so you can recognize everything from the $1 million in pipeline created to 10,000 dials made. You can also create daily, weekly or monthly recurring accolades, without having to reinvent the wheel over and over again.
3. Real-time, all the time
Another issue with manually tracking and updating your sales awards program is that there’s a delay. It can kill the energy around making that final dial or closing that big deal if you’ve got to wait hours (or days) to celebrate and get rewarded for a job well done. When you automate and digitize your accolades, you get to tap into your rep’s adrenaline rush. That kind of energy and excitement is contagious, so you can share it with your team, without the wait.
4. Social sharing perks
Digital sales awards are conducive to sharing — not just with your team, but the rest of the world. It brings a whole new meaning to the idea of public recognition. When reps have the ability to share their accomplishments on a platform like LinkedIn, they’re not only getting a (rightfully earned) ego boost, but they’re also building out their personal brand, which can go a long way in furthering their success as a salesperson.
