Incentive campaigns are part of day-to-day sales. They increase salespeople's motivation to achieve better results.
Most managers use this concept, but often incorrectly or incompletely. Part of the result is achieved, but not as it could/should be. Knowing the right reason for an incentive campaign and knowing how to manage it correctly will bring even better results.
To give you an idea of how far a poorly prepared campaign can go: last year a company invited me to give the opening speech (with a motivating talk on techniques for selling more) for a mega sales campaign they were launching. All the representatives who were going to take part in the campaign were there and the national manager was on stage, showing what the main prize would be for whoever won: an all-expenses-paid eight-day trip to Fortaleza.
Suddenly a representative stood up. It was the representative from Ceará, wanting to know what he would get, since he already lived in Fortaleza. The manager replied: "But Fulano, we know you're not going to win. Why worry about it?"
And then they invite me to give a motivational talk?!
Running an incentive campaign is not such an easy job. It requires study, analysis, care, time and dedication. After all, your reputation (in front of the sales team, customers and company partners/directors) and the company's turnover are at stake here. Do you want more reasons than these to make a campaign a success?
First set a goal
For an incentive campaign to work, it needs a very clear objective. You can choose to encourage new sales, encourage re-sales to existing customers, encourage a reduction in the default rate, improve the speed of internal processes, improve sales of a certain product, etc.
What do you expect from the team and how will you measure its results?
Secondly, you must define how you will measure your team's results. You can measure: the number of sales completed; the turnover generated; the number of new customers; the number of customers who were inactive and were recovered; the default rate; the time taken to receive the sale; the level of overachievement of a salesperson (how much they sold last month and how much they will sell this month) among many others.
You can choose just one of these options or several, creating a set of results to be achieved.
Set a time period
Salespeople can't live in a sales campaign all the time, or it will stop motivating them. A good campaign has a day and a time to start, as well as a time to end.
Be careful how long a campaign lasts. If it's too quick, salespeople may not have enough time to achieve their objectives. If it's too long, they may become discouraged along the way. Ideally, you should set this period of time according to the definition of the main objective and the goals set.
- ADVERTISING -
Define the award
This is the part that all salespeople will be most interested in: what will they get in return for the "extra" effort they will be making? You can't be too careful here: the reward must motivate - not demotivate - the salespeople.
A good way to avoid this problem is to define the reward together with your team. Talk to them openly and find out what their greatest desires are: a trip? A motorcycle? A DVD player? A digital camera? Lunch with the family in a restaurant?
Avoid giving money. Several studies have shown that cash is less motivating than other types of prize. You'll also have to tailor the prize to your budget and the campaign's objectives. For example: if the ultimate goal is to increase sales revenue, you can invest a little more because you know that the financial return is guaranteed. If the goal is to increase customer satisfaction (which doesn't necessarily bring an immediate financial return), you can think of something less costly, but which has a great impact - also use your creativity. For example, the prize could be lunch with the owner of the company, a day off, etc.
Control the campaign
There's no point in creating everything so that, on a day-to-day basis, there's no control over what results are being achieved and what kind of assistance the team needs.
Make sure you follow up every day. Don't wait 15 days to discover that the campaign isn't working. Nothing discredits a manager more than running campaigns that go nowhere.
The ideal way to control this is to make small closings, over a shorter period of time. For example, if a campaign is going to last six weeks, close it out week by week. This will keep the campaign alive and motivating so that the targets set are achieved.
Closing
At the end of the time period set for the campaign, prepare a
dignified closing. There's no point ending up meeting with the salespeople in a corner of the room. Prepare something special, evaluate the team as a whole and reward the winners on the day the campaign ends.
After the official closing with a celebration (celebrate!) prepare material to hand out to each participant, with their evaluation and individual results. Thank everyone for their participation and dedication. A good closing is the key to getting your next campaign off to a good start.
It's normal for sales to drop after an incentive campaign. But you have to be careful that they are not lower than they were before. Ideally, even with the post-campaign drop, they should still be at a higher level than they were.
Incentive campaigns are often very beneficial if done correctly. By combining them with constant training, support and strong, motivating leadership, your team will be able to achieve great results every time!
source: Raúl Candeloro - site administradores.com.br
https://www.administradores.com.br/artigos/negocios/como-fazer-uma-campanha-de-incentivo/50674/