Recognising and rewarding to get more from your sales team

A sales team, for many companies, is the heart of a business. High sales keep the operation running and healthy and, the stronger the team, the stronger the company. Without the sales there’s no money coming in, no profits made, no investment and, to be frank, no business.

A strong sales team, however, isn’t just about having a team who can sell and can sell well. At its best it consists of salespeople who:

• Have the desire to work harder for your business.
• Want to perform well as a team, not just for themselves.
• Are more than willing to learn more and develop within your business.
• Embrace your company’s culture and values.
• Are committed and loyal to you and will remain with your business for the long term.

So how can you achieve all that to get more from your sales team?

This is where sales incentive schemes can play an important part in the way your business operates and how it develops. Using an incentives company, like Corporate Rewards, to implement a reward and recognition programme for your business, doesn’t just give you those desirable quick sales wins. It can provide you with the foundation to build a strong and reliable team of consistent and dedicated high sales performers.

Recognition

Most people like to be recognised – a simple thank you or pat on the back – for a job well done. When it comes to a demanding fast-paced job like selling, recognition can go a long way. Recognising not just the seller’s job at hand, but what difficult products they are selling; how many, and how quickly, for instance, can encourage a sales person to sell stronger, bigger and faster next time round.

Recognition schemes can also act as big part of a company’s culture – the idea that every hard working sales person is appreciated and valuable to your business. This can encourage them to embrace the values of your company; what it stands for, its objectives and mission, as a result.

Recognition schemes are easy to set up, as many are online, and come in different forms, including instant recognition and team recognition programmes. Instant recognition, for instance, can allow a director to instantly recognise the hard work of a sales person, by sending a personal congratulatory email to them for hitting their highest sales figure. In a similar way, team recognition can give a whole sales team praise, making them feel they’re strong as individuals, but even stronger together; they make a difference and they all matter.

Rewards

A job in sales is generally about hitting new targets, day in, day out. There is a lot of work, dedication and energy needed to continuously hit these targets, and the satisfaction of doing so can be immense for some salespeople. But, as a director or senior manager, it’s worth going one step further to push those, perhaps, struggling sales team members, by not just giving them something back, but something to aim for too.

Incentive schemes like rewards programmes, are a good way to achieve just that. Setting a prize, which your salespeople can win after meeting high sales over, say, a day, week, or month, gives them something exciting to work towards. Depending on your budget, the prize could range from the latest smart phone, or high-street shopping vouchers to dinner for two in a top restaurant, or a city weekend break. The winner could even select their prize from an online catalogue of top rewards, to keep things more personal and ensure the whole team is interested and engaged.

Receiving such an exciting prize after working hard to hit a set target can generate some much-needed excitement across you team, while making sales individuals feel appreciated. It can also push them to maintain (and even beat) their top performance to be in the chance of winning other rewards in the future. This positive attitude can filter down through the team, encouraging others to work hard and win too.

When you want your sales team to push themselves to go that further, reach that bit higher, and be that bit stronger, sales incentive schemes that reward and recognise your staff can deliver the results. Good rewards and recognition programmes not only help make your sales people better as individuals, but as a unit, while feeling important, appreciated and valued. This can encourage your salespeople, whether they’re top sellers or not, to maintain and build on their best performance, embrace your company culture, stay loyal to your business, and be consistently willing to do more.