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Reward Strategies and How to Track Performance For Top Salespeople

Reward Strategies and How to Track Performance For Top Salespeople

Explore a number of ways you can reward your salespeople, as well as how to proactively measure their work.

As any salesperson can attest, few sales are as easy as meeting a lead and then convincing them to make a purchase. It can be an arduous process, which is why motivation and reward strategies are important for sales teams of all sizes. Recognition for their achievements can be as simple as a front-door parking spot or a Salesperson of the Month Award.

Sales departments can also reward the entire team with workplace fun. Leaving work early, happy hours, and gadgets and games are all options for keeping morale high. You can also offer rewards that advance individuals’ careers, such as lunches with executives and one-on-one time with senior leaders. After all, 90 per cent of employees that have a high level of well-being at their job experience greater job satisfaction.

In order to properly gauge how your sales team is performing, sales managers can use different measures for tracking performance. Outcome measures mean that salespeople are held accountable for results, not behaviour. Input measures, on the other hand, measure actions in individual stages of the sales process. In the infographic below, you’ll find a number of ways you can reward your salespeople, as well as how to proactively measure their work.

    Rewards Strategies For Top Salespeople and How to Track Performance

    Motivators for Your Sales Team

  • There are many types of incentive based motivators. It’s important to offer a variety in order to inspire the different personality types in your sales department
    • Recognize their achievements
      • Appreciate your sales reps’ hard work and dedication with a front door parking spot
      • Positive reinforcement fuels confidence and self-esteem with a salesperson of the month award
    • Feeling appreciated with a new office will encourage your reps to work harder to receive continued approval
  • Workplace fun
    • Rewards to inspire fun in your workplace
      • Leaving work early
      • Attending a happy hour
      • All-expenses paid trip
      • Gadgets/Games
        • Ping pong table
        • Massage chairs
        • Beanbag chairs
        • Stand-up desk converters
        • Art to decorate their office
  • Career advancement
    • Rewards to help employees develop skills to move to the next level
      • Lunch with a C-level executive
      • One-on-one time with a senior leader so they can:
        • Share their thoughts
        • Get an inside look into company strategy
        • Have the opportunity to impress or relate on a mentorship level
  • Benefits
  • 90% of employees that have a high level of well-being at their job experience greater job satisfaction
  • Workplace benefits include:
    • Paid vacations
    • Child care
    • Free education
    • Paternity and maternity leave
    • Medical, dental, and vision insurance
  • 401k and Retirement Planning
  • Pension plans are becoming nonexistent
  • A 401k offers workers financial security
  • Motivate your sales team to invest in their future with a 401k match
  • Commuting Discounts
    • Employees spend an average of $2,600 and 200 hours each year commuting to work
    • The average workday commute is 45 minutes
    • There are many expenses that can go into commuting to work
      • Train pass
      • Bus pass
      • Gas
      • Paying tolls
      • Parking garage fees
      • Taking a ferry
  • Paid volunteer time
    • Many employees want to give back to the community
    • Offer volunteer days or volunteer events throughout the year
      • For best results, volunteer days should be paid

    Methods for Tracking Performance

  • Outcome measures: Salespeople are held accountable for results, not behaviour.
    • Orders:
      • Number of orders
      • Average size of orders
      • Number of cancelled calls
    • Number of accounts that are:
      • Active
      • New
      • Lost
      • Overdue
      • Prospective
    • Other metrics:
      • Sales volume
      • Volume growth
      • Sales share by customer type
      • Sales share by territory
      • Customer retention
      • Customer satisfaction
      • Number of repeat orders
      • Order size growth
      • Selling costs to sales
      • Sales over quota
  • Input measures: Salespeople are measured by their actions in individual stages of the process.
    • Calls:
      • Total number of calls
      • Number of planned calls
      • Number of unplanned calls
    • Time and time utilization:
      • Days worked
      • Calls per day
      • Selling time vs. non-selling time
    • Non-selling activities:
      • Letters written to prospects
      • Number of formal proposals developed
      • Advertising displays set up
      • Number of meetings with distributors/dealers
      • Number of training sessions for distributors/dealers/customers
      • Number of service calls made
  • Monitor your sales analytics with a CRM that boasts tools like the Sales Wave in Sales Cloud
    • Gain pipeline visibility
    • Track team performance
    • Uncover opportunities to grow the business
    • Use Accelerator Templates to deliver vivid sales dashboards to every sales manager on any device

Conclusion

Every salesperson is unique. What may motivate one may not work for another, so it’s important to test different rewards and talk to your team about what would encourage them the most.

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