Incentive Gifts Unwrapped

Think of them as glue. A special kind of glue that you can’t see or touch. A glue that can cement important relationships, both within your sales force and between your company and its best customers. Think of incentive gifts. The best way to keep your customers and your best sales reps sticking around. To pick the ones that will perform the best, take a look at what’s popular with consumers and then check out the corporate gifts and incentives departments of those companies.

But first things first. Set your budget. Then choose the kinds of gifts you think are right for the recipients. Very often, these will come in a few basic types.

Looking Good

Gap offers some of the most stylish clothing, accessories, and personal products for the whole family. Redemption is easy, with Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, and Forth & Towne stores now totaling 3,000 outlets across North America, Great Britain, France, and Japan.

And Gap is also involved elsewhere in the world.  Many sales reps these days like to know their efforts are helping someone else, even in reward programs. Gap participates in a special program in which any product marked “RED” sends a portion of the sales price to The Global Fund, which provides health assistance to women and children in Africa.

The RED program covers a wide range of Gap offerings, including a women’s dress from Gap’s recent collaboration with internationally famous designer Roland Mouret. This exclusive collection is sold only in seven select Gap stores in New York City. The limited-edition collection follows Gap’s casual, easy-to-wear tradition and is priced reasonably, from $88 to $108.

For flexibility of choice, Gap gift cards are available in amounts of $25, $50, and $100 and can be redeemed at stores or online, at gap.com, bananarepublic.com, or oldnavy.com. You have to order a minimum of 25 gift cards per denomination, but you can start earning discounts with a total cumulative value above $5,000.

The purchasers at T. J. Maxx find the exciting fashions that can entice a wide variety of winners by shopping all over the world for fashion, working with thousands of designers and brand names in nearly a hundred countries, from New York, Paris, and Milan to the furthest parts of the globe.

And, especially enticing for a savvy sales rep, the deals can be incredible. The company often finds expensive clothes in surplus supply, snaps them up, and offers them with big discounts off their usual retail prices.

For the greatest flexibility in selection, TJX Gift Certificates are redeemable at more than 1,700 stores in the U.S., including T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, and HomeGoods. The certificates are especially designed to work as sales incentives, build customer loyalty, motivate reps to get more training, or reward distributors for selling your products aggressively. Discounts off face value – which can increase the discounts winners already get when they purchase at T.J.’s low, low prices – are available on large orders.
Eddie Bauer is famous for its sturdy outdoor clothing. But the firm also offers lines of equipment that could be especially attractive to the road warriors and frequent flyers on a national or global sales force, everything from backpacks, handbags, and wallets to emergency kits, umbrellas, watches, and sunglasses.

For example, the Eddie Bauer Expedition Messenger Bag, with compartments for all the necessities, could be perfect for either work or play and costs just $50.

Then there is Bauer’s Laptop Briefcase, at $68, just right for a laptop with up to a 17-inch screen. Made out of 100 percent nylon, this briefcase has an organizer panel in front, an outer pocket, a special cell-phone pocket, a key fob, an expanding panel for two extra inches of room, and adjustable, padded shoulder straps.

For short cross-town jaunts, a busy rep might appreciate Bauer’s insulated lunch sack, with monogram, of course, at $25. For the long-haul, cross-continent or cross-ocean trips, something a bit more spacious is needed. How about Eddie Bauer’s Traveler Rolling Garment Bag, with wrinkle-free hanging storage for suits? Made of durable, high-density nylon, the bag has many organizer pockets including a waterproof compartment and removable corner pockets. There are a telescopic locking handle and corner-mounted wheels, plus a leather identification tag in case the airline makes one of its occasional mistakes, all for just under $150.

To give winners their own choices, Bauer offers gift cards from $10 all the way up to $500. Standard shipping and personalization are free. Discounts are available for large orders.

Getting the Right Pictures

Digital cameras and camcorders are among the most popular consumer purchases, and that is a pretty good sign these items will be popular with sales winners as well. Canon is leading the charge in offering ever better, ever more modestly priced tools to capture those wonderful family moments, on holidays, on vacation, or at your kids’ first soccer game.

For example, Canon’s new ZR entry level camcorders combine ease-of-use, style, and a 35-power optical zoom, comfortably priced from $279 to $329.

The ZR850, ZR830, and ZR800 all feature Canon’s longest optical zoom, so you don’t have to be close up to capture the action or the smile on the face of your favorite players and partiers. Yet the ZRs are designed for people who may be using their first camcorder. There is a “joystick” on the main panel that makes it easy to record, play back, and navigate the menu. An “easy mode” automatically optimizes most of the camcorder’s settings. The “preset scene modes” option lets you easily shoot common scenes, like sunsets, fireworks, or a wonderful day at the beach.

Composition of the best shots for widescreen TVs is made easy by the ZR’s 2.7-inch Liquid Crystal Display (LCD). And a special image processor analyzes video data separately from still images so you get accurate and clear colors for both kinds of shots.

Maybe you have some reps who work from home offices. What could be a more practical way of saying thanks for the hard work than something really useful in their day-to-day lives? Canon’s Fax-JX200 combines form, function, and solid technology for less than $80. A curvy shape, high-gloss finish, quiet operation, and small footprint make the JX a nice accessory in any office, yet faxes are razor-sharp and come out in about six seconds per page. The JX holds 100 sheets of plain paper ready to receive faxes and can send 20 originals through its automatic document feeder. Users can easily blast Fax up to 70 recipients and store speed-dial codes for 69 frequent fax numbers.

Eating Well

Omaha Steaks offers a Steak Bucks program that lets reps accumulate megabucks that are each worth $10 in purchasing power. These Steak Bucks can be used not only to purchase any of the fine food items in Omaha’s catalogue, but for high-end products such as stainless steel grills, ice-cream makers, or freezers.

“We are really more about the power of a brand to create excitement and help motivate people,” explains Omaha Premium Director Bob Henthorne. “The majority of winners redeem Steak Bucks for our products, but the option is there for big winners to redeem for higher-end prizes.”

The most motivating redemption option often depends on the salesperson’s market or product. “Obviously if you are selling large yachts, it is a whole different scenario than if you are selling somewhat smaller items,” Henthorne notes. Fortunately, Omaha has plenty of experience across a wide range of sales organizations to help you choose the right option.

The most popular items from Omaha’s own catalogue continue to be filets and sirloins, but the company increasingly sells its non-beef specialties, poultry, seafood, and desserts.

“You have to be very flexible these days,” Henthorne emphasizes.
Harry & David aim not just to reward top sales reps and customers with delicious food. They want to make your company look good, both tasteful and thoughtful, in giving the reward. They see their beautifully presented food offerings as a kind of ambassador of your firm, spreading its message in the homes and offices of recipients. These are the finest in sweets and treats and are meant to be shared by family members and office colleagues.

There are gifts baskets, impressive gift towers, and luscious fresh fruits to fit any budget and convey just the right message. For example, the classic Tower of Treats costs just $45. And a nice sweet taste can be satisfied by a special collection of Favorites Pears for only $28.

Feeling a little more grateful than that? Harry & David’s scrumptiously stacked Grand Tower is available for $80, and the even more dazzling Ultimate Tower retails for just under $100. For a special occasion at a global account, you might even want to splurge on the Colossal Tower of Treats, at a very healthy $170. That is a lot of good eating and good will.

Timely Gifts

For the athletes on your salesforce, Seiko has watches with separate dials indicating hours, minutes, and split seconds. The Seiko brand is based on precision and function, just right for multitasking sales reps whose business and personal lives are equally busy.

The busier, the better with Seiko, especially if you choose one of Seiko’s kinetic watches, which are powered by the motion of the wearer’s arms. You can also choose one of Seiko’s elite collections, including the high-performance Sportura line or the Coutura line, which blends a sports and fashion style.

Values for the Home

Crate and Barrel features housing goods, furniture, and all kinds of products that change with each season. “There is always something fresh and new,” notes Director of Special Markets Pat Kelley. “But there are also the tried-and-true classic products that we have been selling for years that remain very popular.”

Classic favorites include a Crate and Barrel hand-blown glass bowl that can be used for either food service or as a decoration, fondue sets, and martini glasses. “Then there are lots of gourmet grilling accessories,” Kelly adds. “We have a very wide range of products that can suit any price points.”

Crate and Barrel offers gift cards so that winners can select their own favorites. But Kelley says that the famous brand more often is used to select specific prizes for sales winners. And often the best way to find just the right gift is to ask the people who know their customers best. “We can put together a package of items that is custom-designed for an incentive program, based on prices and themes.”

Williams-Sonoma is another famous brand from which you might want to pick a special gift or let the winner pick his or her own.

For example, you could says thanks for some extra effort to sales support staff by giving an Essential Oil Hand Soap and Hand Lotion Set, for less than $30, or a luscious package of 15 croissants for under $40. Or let them make their own treats with a decorative heart-cake pan at about $30 or a Chantal Fun Fondue Pot at just $25.

Moving up the price points, there are Cuisinarts for $40 to $50, heart cakes for $65, and a lovely Breville Panini Press for less than $100. Or winners can celebrate their victories at home with Williams-Sonoma’s fine gift sets of Riedel Cabernet at $96. You could even indicate there may be more rewarding victories ahead with a set of two Riedel Chardonnay glasses for $70 and a screw-pull trigger wine opening set for less than $100.