Foods That Fuel Success

Noncash incentives can make a huge difference in a sales team’s overall performance. The type of incentive should vary, according to its purpose and the appetite of the team.

Did we say appetite? Some of the finest incentives appeal to the oldest and most common human need: the lust for tasty food. Unlike plaques, gizmos and gear, food satisfies pretty much everyone. A rep’s family and neighbors also can enjoy a great meal along with the winner. In fact, entire sales teams can feast on special goodies at the office or at special company events.

Tasty food also works at the other end of the sales chain – for customers. Especially at holiday time, unusually fine food often makes the perfect gift for a loyal customer. Here too, the sales nourishment can be spread around a client’s job site or taken home by the top decision makers.

The whole purpose of any incentive or corporate gift is to give the recipients something they will love but would not ordinarily buy for themselves. That means the most sizzling steaks, the most legendary lobsters, the finest sauces and cookies or the most sinfully succulent fudges. Some special firms are eager to help you say, “Thanks,” “Great work,” or, “Happy holidays,” in some memorable ways.

For example, are you having trouble retaining your best sales and support people? It can cost up to $25,000 to replace even line workers in a sales organization, and finding a top account executive costs much more, notes Montgomery Inn’s co-owner Evan Andrews. To help boost employee retention, Montgomery Inn has launched a special incentive program that is designed to let your whole team know how much they mean to you.

Montgomery Inn specializes in shipping its world-famous spareribs and barbecue sauces around the nation for corporate gifts. Andrews’ company has long offered special incentive packages with other Cincinnati-based food manufacturers. For some reason, lost to history, Cincinnati seems to make the kinds of foods – from pizza and chili all the way to ice cream – that people around the United States love.

All over the country, they love Montgomery Inn, too. “Bill Cosby calls all the time and places all his own orders directly,” Andrews notes. “Oh, and two nights ago, Jessica Simpson opened her refrigerator and took out some Montgomery ribs.”

Inspired, perhaps by Jessica Simpson, Andrews has put together a package with a local bakery to give special birthday presents to highly valued employees. “We are targeting companies with 200 to 500 employees,” he says. “What is more unique or personal for a salesperson than his or her birthday?”

This one should be easy to administer. Most companies already have on their human resource databases the birthdays of employees. Now they can tell Montgomery when to send the present. For $50, each salesperson will receive a special birthday kit, complete with cake, ice cream, scoopers, plates and party hats. Overnight air delivery to their doorsteps will ensure that the birthday kits are on their doorsteps when the weary reps get home that night.

Montgomery can customize the birthday package with a letter from the CEO or with more food, such as ribs or pizza. Most important, from its traditional incentive business, Montgomery has acquired expertise in fulfilling deliveries that require careful packaging, such as the kind that is necessary to get cake and ice cream intact to recipients. “You can’t just stick a cake in a box and assume it will get there okay,” Andrews notes. You also can’t assume valuable employees will stay with you forever if you forget to say, “Thank you,” on their special days.

There are some fine foods available from Omaha Steaks that suit a wide range of people. Winning reps can entertain family and guests with Omaha’s special packages of filet mignon steaks. A steady favorite is the larger boneless strip steak, which comes in packages of six 8-ounce or four 10-ounce strips. You can order top-sirloin steaks by the dozen or half-dozen. Most of these selections regularly sell for under $100, and special discounts are frequently available.

For larger groups, Omaha can put together even bigger meat prizes called Combos. The Blockbuster Combo consists of eight steaks, four pork chops, a dozen gourmet franks and burgers, plus plenty of potatoes au gratin on the side. There is a slightly smaller and less expensive Best Seller Combo that mixes filets, boneless, sirloin and rib eye steaks.

It’s not just steaks at Omaha. The famous food maker also sells the best in hamburgers, veal, pork and lamb, as well as pasta and poultry. You can get desserts, sauces, cookbooks and even treats for your pet from Omaha. For less than $5, you can tell a rep that you haven’t forgotten his favorite hound by sending a box of delicious steak treats. Cut from genuine round steak and sprinkled with natural preservatives, these pet treats are 97 percent lean, so the dog will likely be eating healthier than his master.

With so many fine choices available from Omaha, it may be wise to give out gift certificates or Omaha’s new E-Certificate. Both come in denominations of $25, $50 and $100. Paper certificates arrive within three to seven days and carry a personal greeting and your company name. You can also send personalized greeting cards for such special days as Valentine’s Day, anniversaries or birthdays, or you can simply send a thank-you gift. If your incentive program is large enough, you will get your own customized redemption center on the Web, making it easy for contestants to collect rewards and survey all their potential prizes over the Internet. Omaha is so confident your winner will like these prizes, it will replace any unsatisfactory gift with another item or cash.

Some food vendors have become famous for one luscious specialty. Virginia Diner is a famous restaurant in downstate Virginia that has hosted many of America’s most famous politicians – everyone from senators to governors to presidents – during its 75 years in operation.

The ovens of Virginia Diner also produce a glorious line of corporate gifts, according to Sales Director Scott Stephens. “We sell peanuts and everything related to nuts,” Stephens explains.

Virginia Diner sends most of its nuts across the nation during the holiday season, but the gifts are also popular for special occasions throughout the year. All gift packages can be customized with company logos and executive messages, and they cost an average of $10.

The modest price allows many firms to give the nuts frequently, for many purposes. Some of Virginia Diner’s clients place regular orders during the year, for either their own employees or for loyal customers. “One car dealership orders them so that whenever they sell a high-end car, they can send a gift with the salesman’s business card,” Stephens explains.

Much larger gifts can emphasize a salesperson’s importance to the team. A wonderful basket of many different nuts, plus a Virginia ham, goes for up to $100. “It’s a pretty large basket and includes chocolate-covered peanut brittle,” Stephens says. “Once people try our peanut brittle, they love it. We do a lot of repeat business with that brittle.” The Diner’s nifty nuts can be ordered easily over the phone or online. “It’s a no-brainer for the holidays,” Stephens urges. “Some people don’t want alcohol, so nuts are a great alternative.”

Are you looking for some special pastry and baked goods for your sales stars? Cakes Across America is a national cake delivery service that has spent over a decade developing its National Bakery Network to get you the right cake from the best local bakeries. Its planners personally select the best baker to make, personalize, decorate and then hand-deliver your gift cake.

Cakes Across America cakes can be custom-decorated to fit any personal or corporate occasion, from corporate meetings to birthdays, anniversaries, kids’ parties or family events. Thanks to the Network, the cakes are delivered fresh; they are never shipped or mailed.

The Network can deliver much more than cakes, of course. Cakes Across America can arrange for delivery of the best in brownies, cupcakes or cookies. Cupcakes come in chocolate, yellow or mixed flavors, each with the baker’s special decorative touches. You can get the biggest and best chocolate-chip cookies or pick from your region’s own special cookie choices.

Cakes knows where the best brownies are lurking in your town – we’re talking moist, rich, chocolate brownies for the brownie gourmets on your sales force. Warm and tempting muffins can be sent for a breakfast treat at home or at the office, and nothing says, “Thanks,” as well as a flaky pie in apple, pumpkin, pecan, cherry or other favorites.

The best cakes and pastries are only a mouse-click away, on the Cakes of America Website. You order the goodies you want, tell Cakes the messages you want on them and name a time and address. They will take care of the rest. For a special touch, you can even add FrostingArt – digital images printed in the cake’s frosting. All you have to do is send Cakes your pictures, photos, logos, business cards or graphic designs.

Darden Restaurants offers incentive gift cards in any amount from $5 to $250, good for fine dining at any of 1,300 restaurants in the United States and Canada. The Darden restaurants include Olive Garden – the number one casual-dining outlet in the United States – along with Red Lobster, Bahama Breeze, Smokey Bones Barbeque & Grill and Seasons 52.

“Darden gift cards are well received by corporations and award winners because on their face they include logos for all of our restaurant chains, making it very clear to recipients that they can be redeemed at any one of those locations,” notes Darden’s Jake Guiang. “For the company, you have essentially one card that is easy to administer and eliminates the need to carry an inventory of multiple dining cards.”

The Darden cards are also “open value,” which means they may be loaded with any value within a broad range to suit the purposes and budgets of any incentive program. Winners can even reload the cards with more value at a Darden restaurant, if they are looking forward to using it again.

If familiarity and a just-around-the-corner feel are what you are looking for in incentives and recognition, you cannot do better than Starbucks, the coffee and everything-that-goes-with-it chain. For example, why not have Starbucks coffee delivered to your office?

For large offices, the Starbucks Office Beverage Service can provide brewing equipment and service for a total break-room reward. The expert staff at Starbucks will even teach your team how to brew the perfect coffee by explaining the Four Fundamentals of making coffee. Small- or medium-size offices also can enjoy Starbucks office delivery service.

If you want to give valued employees an out-of-office treat, the Starbucks Card is perfect. You can load the cards with any amount from $3 to $500. You will get your cards along with your logo and customized messages within 48 hours and can obtain attractive discounts for large orders.

Panera Bread is a little less famous than Starbucks today, but that may not last long. Panera makes fresh breads every day the way the best wine makers make wine – with love, care and superb quality. Panera is nearing 900 outlets across the United States and has some of the highest customer loyalty and customer satisfaction ratings among its competitors. Once they get a taste for it, people seem to love this bread.

Panera makes what it calls artisan breads that are individually hand shaped and hand scored. These loaves come in a variety of flavors, including mellow and sharp cheese, Greek olive and fresh herb. Panera gift cards can be ordered over the Web and come in flexible amounts and denominations.

Fine Food and Beverage

You can find pretty much any kind of fine food or beverage at the corporate gift departments of major national firms. Here are a few of the choices followed by their Website addresses.
California Wine Club,www.cawineclub.com
Godiva Chocolates, www.godiva.com
Häagen-Dazs Gift Certificates,www.haagen-dazs.com
Heartland Steaks, www.heartlandsteaks.com
Lobster Gram, www.livelob.com
Omaha Steaks, www.omahasteaks.com
Wolferman’s, www.wolfermans.com
FreshSuccess, www.freshsuccess.com
Harry & David, www.harryanddavid.com
SeaBear Smokehouse,www.seabear.com
Ghirardelli, www.ghirardelli.com
Ruth’s Chris, www.ruthschris.com
Mrs. Fields, www.mrsfields.com

Fine Nonedible gift Choices

For some nonedible – but still attractive – incentives you might check out the following:Merchandise and Apparel:
RedEnvelope, www.redenvelope.com
Restoration Hardware, www.restorationhardware.com
Williams-Sonoma, www.Williams-Sonoma.com
GAP, www.gap.com
Macy’s, www.macys.com
Target, www.target.com
Crate & Barrel, www.crateandbarrel.com
Kohl’s, www.kohls.com
L.L. Bean, www.llbean.com
Saks Fifth Avenue, www.s5a.com

Electronics:
Best Buy, www.bestbuy.com
Circuit City, www.circuitcity.com
Sharper Image, www.sharperimage.com
Crutchfield, www.crutchfield.com
Hammacher Schlemmer,www.hammacher.com