Five Simple Rules

What does it take to create an effective sales incentive contest? With so many variables, including the rules structure, participants’ profiles, contest duration, prizes, and communication strategy, it’s often difficult to come up with universal recommendations that will work for all sales contests.

That said, longtime sales professional and noted Simplenomics blogger Mike Sigers (www.simplenomics.com) has observed a few factors he suggests may help anyone designing a sales incentive program. Those factors include:

1. Timing is everything

How frequently you run sales contests, how many you’ve done lately, what time of year you run contests, etc., are important considerations. As a rule, most companies hold too few sales contests and then wait too long in between. Most incentive contests also last too long. There’s no better way to shake things up in the sales office and break people out of bad habits than by springing an unannounced sales contest on them.

2. Themes for your team

The sales contest theme that works every single time is… OK, there isn’t one. It really depends on your market and your team. But do come up with a theme and run with it. Try “The Search for Missing Sales” in which reps drum up new business out of old customers, or maybe key on the popular ABC show Lost by sending your team out to win back lapsed customers.

3. Jazz up your dog and pony show

If your sales force is like many others, you may have a multimedia presentation that is getting a little long in the tooth. Challenge your salespeople to create a new presentation that’s addictive, powerful, exciting, and informative. The winning presentation gets distributed around for the entire sales team to use.

4. Watch your follow through

Whatever you plan to do with your sales contest, be sure to follow through. Otherwise you’ll wind up with a team of de-motivated salespeople who have little faith that you’re going to do what you say. If you lack the ability to retain your focus, find the most detail-oriented member of your team and put that person in charge of barraging the rest of the salespeople with follow-up.

5. Deliver the payoff

Just as important as what prize you give your winners is how you deliver it. Making a big deal out of a winning salesperson in front of all his or her peers is 100 times more motivational than an envelope tossed onto a desk. Let your participants know that everyone else is going to gather to publicly applaud the winners. If your people know that the only acknowledgement of their efforts is going to be in an interoffice memo, you’re missing out on much of the contest’s full motivational power.