Topping off cash compensation with spiffs is a great way to get extra efforts from salespeople. Major manufacturers and retail chains offer a variety of pleasing prizes.

Consumer electronics continue to be favorites among highly competitive reps. Sony has some of the best consumer electronics, including cameras and camcorders, computer games, and a variety of other equipment.

For example, Sony’s Playstation 3 computer entertainment system gives you full high-definition, 1080-pixel resolution and Blu-ray Disc playback capability. You get the hot MotorStorm game free with Playstation 3, plus five Blu-ray Disc movies. The system offers blistering speed, eye-popping graphics, and more than seven channels of surround sound, all for $600.

A little more relaxing fun can be had with digital cameras and recording devices. Canon’s digital cameras and camcorders continue to evolve, adding memory and features. The new Canon HG10 Camcorder delivers high-definition technology with effortless ease, recording videos directly onto a hard disk. Superb technology puts great images and advanced features at your fingertips, making it easy to carry the compact HG10 everywhere you go, so you can take the videos that will mean the most in future years.

If you don’t know what kind of electronic gizmos your winners want, you might talk to Circuit City. The firm offers a very wide choice of all the gadgets that can be obtained from electronics manufacturers, and it has a very wide menu of options available in every type of consumer product. There are home theater systems that might be just right for annual sales contests, personal computers for beating quarterly quota, software for a quick response to a new product launch, and lots of other prizes, like digital cameras, camcorders, and movies.

Sharper Image has a smaller selection than many retailers, but they only offer the best equipment. Sharper Image can supply your top reps with the latest portable DVD players to take on those long road trips, the best in high-resolution color LCDs with stereo speakers when they head home, and even noise-cancellation headphones for their long journeys on the nation’s airlines. Oh, and Sharper Image also has the best in CD stereos, AM and FM radio, and even binoculars.

Gift certificates from Best Buy give sales winners access to the latest cell phones; desktop, laptop, and notebook computers; video games; digital cameras; and high-definition TV sets.

You can give reps a nice assortment of small prizes by checking out Blockbuster’s collection. The national chain is continually adding to its immense selection of old favorites and the latest hits. Blockbuster recently acquired Movielink, America’s largest movie download service. Blockbuster now has access to Movielink’s huge library of downloadable movies, plus a wide array of television shows. Movielink will let your winners download entertainment as both rentals and purchases. They will soon be able to see all the shows produced by MGM, Paramount, Universal, and Warner Brothers.
Flexibility is a great prize to offer winners, especially when you have a large, widely dispersed sales force that is difficult for top managers to know well. Consolidated Group Incorporated (CGI) offers gift cards to all its customers for a wide range of the products and services needed to make incentive programs successful.

CGI has become a leader in providing both gift cards and gift certificates and supplying turnkey programs. CGI lets each customer make its incentives as distinctive as necessary, in program roll-out, tracking, customization of reward cards, online redemptions and ordering, plus order status and tracking, custom fulfillment, and direct shipping. If you don’t know exactly what your winners want, but know you want an effective, economical incentive in place, CGI can be a very useful place to call.

GiftCertificates.com could be another great source of prize-giving flexibility, with its wide choices of branded merchandise and travel. The firm’s certificates can be redeemed online for each brand’s own gift cards and then spent online or in the store of the chosen retailer. There are famous restaurants, department stores, clothing shops, and brand names like T.J. Maxx, Ruby Tuesday, Staples, Linens ’n Things, and Lands’ End to choose from.

If you need some help deciding on the best incentive program to run, want some smart suggestions on prizes, and then help in managing the program, SalesDriver could be just the right place to start. The Carlson Marketing unit helps companies hit their incentive goals, and it even offers pay-for-performance terms that emphasize program results. SalesDriver will help you define your incentive objectives, work with resellers and channel partners to make it work, and collect the results in real-time so you can constantly improve the program.

Another source of great expertise on incentives is the Performance Systems Group, which specializes in putting the best technologies behind incentives. PSG will design your program, roll it out, run it, and report on results. It can manage any kind of noncash incentive, including travel, stored-value cards, and specific merchandise. PSG will also customize its systems so you will receive valuable information about program participants and products that you can use to make your next incentive even more effective. And who knows the prize preferences of sales winners better than the people whose card makes hundreds of billions of dollars of consumer purchases? American Express has its own special unit, American Express Incentive Services, which brings all that shopping wisdom to bear for managers of corporate incentive programs. And AEIS offers its own prepaid card redeemable wherever you want it to be, either everywhere or just at selected locations. AEIS will help you administer the incentive program using ASPIRE, a Web-based software application that comprehensively manages rewards.

Target has all the latest fashions in apparel, the hottest sporting equipment, toys for the kids, and cutting-edge electronics. Winners can get a choice of all these fine items with Target gift cards, which come in denominations of up to $1,000. What can they get with a Target gift card? Well, just about anything in stock. The Sony Playstation can be had in Target’s own NBA 07 PlayStation 3 Bundle, which comes with all the regular great features, plus the latest professional basketball game.

Terryberry has been helping firms say “thanks,” “well done,” or “you’re the best” to salespeople for decades. The firm’s sales trophy line includes rings, bracelets, plaques, statues, and lots else you can wear or put on a desk. Terryberry’s new Recognition Collection puts all these choices together in a beautifully presented set that includes both lifestyle and traditional awards and is conveniently grouped by price level. The Recognition Collection includes all of Terryberry’s most popular items, heirloom-quality gifts that will remain visible and in the memory of winners for the rest of their careers.

One perennial trophy for winners is a fine watch, which will stay with a sales rep throughout his or her day for years to come. Bulova has made some of the finest watches and clocks for more than a hundred years, steadily building and reinforcing its reputation for beauty and perfect function. And Bulova has lines to meet any lifestyle choice or budget, including Accutron, Bulova itself, Wittnauer and, for the more aggressive reps, even Harley Davidson. You can strap a Bulova on your wrist, or put it into your pocket, or enjoy a grand Bulova floor clock in the corner of your office.

Movado also offers the finest in timepieces, with the special distinction of the Movado dot showing the best in taste and value. Movados can suit pretty much any salesperson, with a wide selection in all three lines – classic, sport, and fashion. For an extra emblem of achievement, you can add gold or diamonds to your winner’s Movado.

Seiko’s Sportura line of watches appeals especially to young active reps, whether on a long hike, a marathon, or a bike ride.

Wide choice and solid value are a specialty at the various franchises of TJX. Gift cards can be used to buy clothes and home furnishings at its most famous chain, TJMaxx. Or your winners can visit the rest of TJX’s far-flung empire of values: Marshalls, Winners, HomeGoods, TKMaxx, AJWright, and HomeSense.

For homebody reps, who like to spend their free time building a better nest, Home Depot is a famous source for the goods and tools that do-it-yourself types love. And Home Depot has some of the best deals available on major appliances for a well-cared-for home, including lights and fans. Home Depot also offers a Garden Club that could give your top performers some much needed help with the lawn, helping them beautify the grounds of their homes with a full line of outdoor power equipment.

Or, to furnish their homes, your winners might want to sample the best from Crate & Barrel. This brand now has more than 145 stores offering hand-blown glass, hand-woven carpets, and a wide assortment of distinctive furniture. Indeed, Crate & Barrel’s purchasers circle the globe just to discover new products and find new and exciting craftsmen and artists. You might be able to surprise even a steady road warrior with some of Crate & Barrel’s discoveries.

Lowe’s Home Improvement has a full line of refrigerators, ranges, dishwashers, laundry equipment, and water heaters at 1,300 stores.

Williams-Sonoma is another great source of prizes that could adorn the home of a sales winner. Whether it is for the dining room, kitchen, den, or bedroom, Williams-Sonoma will have something especially elegant and practical to offer. And the firm’s glorious glasses, dishes, cookware, and cutlery could be a perfect gift for an award sales celebration, after which they can be given to the winner.

Pier 1 constantly changes its collection of home furnishings and decorations for family-oriented sales reps, now on display at more than 1,000 stores.

Once the dining room is fully furnished, Omaha Steaks has the finest food available to set on the table. Omaha Steaks can deliver meat, fish, or fowl. Give your winners their own choice from Omaha’s kitchens with an Omaha Steaks Gift Certificate, available in both paper and digital forms.

Regis Salon, the leader in salons and spas for both men and women, offers gift cards that can be redeemed at 6,000 North American locations and are available for $1 to $500.

Darden Restaurants specialize in fine food, casual atmosphere and reasonable prices at its Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Bahama Breeze, Smokey Bones Barbeque & Grill, and Seasons 52 restaurants.

Pizza Hut has pizza and much more, all available with Pizza Hut Cards in amounts of $10 or $20. Dominos Pizza has a special certificate good for one pizza and topping, and two cups of Coca Cola.

Bass Pro Shop can reward your winners with equipment for hooking the big fish in both ocean and rivers. Eddie Bauer provides comfortable clothing for lift, lodge, or just lounging around. L.L. Bean also has a fine outdoor selection of backpacks and luggage, snowshoes, hiking shoes, and hammocks. – Henry Canaday
Feedback: canaday@sellingpower.com