Posts in category: Sales Incentives

Introduction 

Profitability is certainly one of your main worries if you manage a physical store or restaurant.  The retention and morale of their staff, however, is one of the crucial variables that most operato overlook. Employees that are happy at work, feel valued and appreciated, and believe in the product they are selling are more likely to promote it with more passion and authenticity, eventually boosting your business’ profitability and client loyalty.

Introducing a sales incentive program is one of the finest ways to motivate staff to positively promote products, boosting team morale and increasing earnings at the same time. As you begin a sales incentive program, here are 5 things you need to look out for:

1. Define Clear and Measurable Objectives 

A sales incentive program must to be simple to comprehend and execute. If there are too many “if this, then that” conditions, employees may become confused and upset rather than focusing on the simple “sell this, get that” principle that will only allow them to move closer to an easily reachable objective. You can effectively design the program to meet these objectives by defining specific goals, such as boosting sales income, growing market share, or promoting particular product lines.

When their sales targets are tied to a concrete number they can remember rather than an arbitrary percentage, people are more likely to succeed. Set a target like “sell 50 appetizers in a single weekend” instead of “sell 30% more than last week,” for instance.

2. Establish A Common Goal

People seek to cooperate in order to accomplish a shared objective. It fosters a sense of belonging, camaraderie, devotion to the company, and dedication to a common success vision. Employees may have individual sales targets, but if they are all working for the same business objective, they are more likely to support one another and foster a healthy work environment rather than be competitive and individualistic, which may frustrate underachievers.

Instead of having team members compete with one another for the “top spot,” let them individually set and accomplish their own personal goals while also establishing a collective goal.

3. Tailor Incentives to Motivate and Engage 

When it comes to sales incentives, there is no one size fits all. Understanding the motivations of the members of your sales team is essential because everyone has different personal motives. Surveys, focus groups, and one-on-one interviews can all yield insightful information on the preferences and goals of your sales staff.

The employee incentives should be beneficial to the team, but they shouldn’t consume the entire additional revenue that your company will generate from the sales incentive pushes. Setting up tiers in your rewards system is one potential fix. Think of providing a variety of prizes that may be tailored to individual tastes, such as cash bonuses, gift cards, vacation incentives, or even non-financial benefits like flexible work schedules or more training opportunities.

You can promote engagement, motivation, and foster a great sales culture inside your firm by personalizing incentives to individual preferences.

4. Ensure Transparency and Fairness 

Any successful sales incentive program must be transparent and equitable. It is critical that your sales team understands the program’s rules, eligibility requirements, and reward systems. Employees may become cynical and demotivated as a result of a lack of openness, resulting in a drop in performance and involvement.

Furthermore, strive for fairness in software design. Maintain reasonable and attainable goals and targets to avoid circumstances in which some team members may feel disadvantaged. Review and evaluate the program on a regular basis to discover any unexpected biases or unintended outcomes, and make any required revisions to ensure fairness throughout the duration of the incentive program.

5. Focus On All Employees

Employee incentive programs should aim to improve the performance of all employees, not simply your best performers. Top performers frequently have an internal desire that drives them to give their all every day, whether or not there is a monetary reward. Incentivizing the person who may not feel very motivated on most days to put in the extra effort will help them see that they can achieve something greater, and the reward they receive for achieving an attainable goal will further motivate them to feel confident in their sales long after the incentive has ended.

You can construct participant classes in which people compete against their colleagues who have the same talents and abilities (this is useful for role-specific and split sales incentives). Or by establishing an eligibility process that prevents someone who consistently dominates from competing for the same rewards.

Way Forward

Launching a new sales incentive program can be a game-changer for your organization, driving sales growth and boosting employee morale. One incentive program reduces your workload as an owner or manager, and minor rules or restrictions can be assigned to particular offices or teams as needed. However, too many different programs with varied requirements might be confusing or overwhelming, forcing people to throw up their hands, put their heads down, and continue doing what they were doing before so they don’t have to think too hard.

Keep it simple and straightforward to attain, while guaranteeing that small teams and the entire company can collaborate to meet the new standard and boost revenue. Maintain flexibility and solicit plenty of input from your staff both before and after the reward program. 

So, get ready to launch your new sales incentive program and watch your sales soar to new heights!

Introduction: 

In the dynamic landscape of multi-brand retail, staying ahead demands a motivated and engaged workforce. However, the complexities of managing incentives can often become a stumbling block. This blog delves into the transformative potential of My Incentives, an advanced automated incentive management solution.  

Automated Incentive Calculation: 

At the core of a successful retail operation lies a well-designed incentive structure. Here’s how My Incentives can revolutionize this critical aspect: 

Efficiency in calculating incentives is a game-changer. Traditional methods, often reliant on spreadsheets, can lead to delays, errors, and inefficiencies. My Incentives streamlines the process with automated incentive calculations.  

It provides real-time calculations based on synchronized data, allowing sales teams, HR departments, analytics teams, and IT personnel to reclaim valuable time once spent on tedious manual calculations. With My Incentives, what used to take up to 10 days can now be accomplished in as little as 10 seconds. 

With My Incentives, accuracy is assured, leading to precise and transparent rewards. No more concerns about overcompensation or shortchanging employees—just fair and accurate payouts every time. 

Beyond accurate calculations, My Incentives empowers your strategy team in unforeseen ways. Performing scenario analysis on different incentive plans becomes a breeze. This capability lets your team experiment with various strategies and see their direct impact on payouts.  

Furthermore, the ability to adjust formulas for seasonal promotions ensures your incentives stay aligned with your business’s evolving needs. 

 Empowering Employee Sales Performance: 

Motivated employees are the driving force behind any successful retail enterprise. Here’s how “My Incentives” can create a dynamic and motivated sales team: 

Motivation isn’t one-size-fits-all. Every member of your sales team has unique strengths and preferences. That’s where personalized motivation strategies from My Incentives come into play. With automated incentives, your sales team receives real-time AI-powered nudges personalized to their individual performance and goals. This proactive approach keeps your team engaged, focused, and motivated to achieve their targets. 

Additionally, the impact of My Incentives extends to your HR efforts. Employee recruitment is a time-consuming process, and the turnover rate in the retail industry can be high. However, My Incentives has been shown to significantly reduce attrition rates among new hires. By streamlining the rewards and recognition process, employees feel valued and are more likely to remain committed to your brand. 

Effortless Automated Payouts: 

Timely and hassle-free payouts are essential to maintaining employee morale. Here’s how “My Incentives” can transform this crucial process: 

Furthermore, diverse payout options cater to the preferences of your employees. People have different financial goals and preferences when it comes to rewards. My Incentives allows employees to choose from a variety of payout methods, be it cash, gift cards, or other forms of compensation. This flexibility adds a personal touch to rewards, enhancing their overall impact.  

Conclusion:  

Remember, the future of retail belongs to those who are ready to adapt, innovate, and empower their teams through cutting-edge solutions. Ready to elevate your multi-brand retail game with “My Incentives”? Contact us today to explore how My Incentives can transform your retail strategy. 

Loyalty programs and cards have been around for ages. They are not a new phenomenon. Companies have taken the aid of various types of loyalty programs to keep the target market involved and engaged with their brands. The target audience could be customers or employees or channel partners.  

Where did it all begin though? Which great minds concluded that rewarding a group of people for their loyalty could yield better profits, productivity, and performance? 

Let’s discover all of these in this article today. 

Purpose of Loyalty Programs 

The objective of the program is to incentivize certain groups of people who are loyal patrons of the brand. For example, they could be customers who frequently buy products and services from the brand or channel partners who sell the brand’s products and services more than they sell the competitors. 

The right program has the potential to boost engagement, improve sales and revenues, enhance satisfaction levels, and create a strong brand identity. 

When Did It All Start? 

Loyalty means being faithful and is one of the innate values of human beings. Therefore, the concept of rewarding someone faithful is not a novel idea.  

For commercial entities, the journey started somewhere in the 18th century.  

Here’s a brief trail of the journey. 

1793 – This was the year when loyalty cards were officially rolled out. Several retailers in the US gifted their customers copper coins for every purchase they made. These coins could be collected by customers and redeemed during their next purchase. 

1872 – This was when the Grand Union Tea Company launched its customer loyalty cards in the form of tickets. Customers needed four tickets to get 1 pound of tea.  

1896 – After several transformations of the copper coin and various retailers adopting the concept across the seven seas, the coins were replaced by stamps towards the end of the 19th century. UK was one of the first to imbibe this when S&H Company, a departmental store, introduced the green shield stamps. For every purchase, customers were awarded these stamps at the checkout counter. To add to it, customers were given a stamp book to collect and store the stamps. 

1929 – Betty Crocker did something different this year. They started printing the cutouts of the loyalty cards or coupons on the packaging. Then, the customer was required to cut out the coupons, collate them, and redeem them in exchange for rewards. Soon after, many other brands started copying the concept, which became quite popular.  

1972 – United Airlines introduced the world’s first Frequent Flier Program, which Western Direct Marketing had created. 

1981 – American Airlines introduced its top-rated Frequent Flier Program called AAdvantage.  

The 2000s and later – In the 21st century, with the emergence of e-commerce and other technological innovations, plastic loyalty cards got replaced with apps and online platforms. 

Alongside the evolution of B2C or customer loyalty programs, the significance of channel loyalty programs or B2B programs was also realized by brands, probably in the 2000s. And thus was born another form of loyalty cards that focused on rewarding channel partners for their consistent efforts in selling and promoting a brand’s products and services vis-a-vis that of the competition.  

Evolution of Loyalty Programs 

Evidently, rewarding loyalty started with coins. It then went on to take the form of printed cut-outs on the packaging, stamps, coupons, plastic cards, points, apps, and so on. While the traditional loyalty programs were point-centric, today’s brands use top-end technologies like AI and a range of touchpoints to gain data and insights to improve the efficacy of their loyalty programs. 

For example, for customer loyalty, marketers can track every touchpoint of an individual customer, from when the customer views a product to completing the checkout or abandoning the cart. Interpreting these touchpoints help them understand their customers and their intentions better. Consequently, personalized incentives are given to keep the customers enticed and encourage them to keep coming back. 

So, from physical cards, the transition to modern loyalty programs is an interesting journey. At present times, loyalty programs are mostly in the form of apps or online platforms that embed gamification as an exciting way to take loyalty notches higher. Typically, participants, whether customers or channel partners or their sales representatives, present game-like situations and challenges. Each time they win, something awaits them, like badges, personal scores, leaderboards, or in-app currencies. 

For example, Starbucks rewards customers with stars every time they purchase or interact with the app. They can collect the stars, unlock levels, and get new benefits.  

Why Do Loyalty Programs Work? 

In a study by the Chief Marketing Officer Council, about 61% of marketers believe customers participating in loyalty programs are the most profitable. In comparison, 65% view loyalty programs as an investment and an essential part of their marketing mix.  

Today is the age of targeted retention. It is a time when brands want to engage with potential and existing customers and channel partners and then reward them for retaining them. For example, another travel industry study showed that almost 74% of customers based their purchasing decisions on rewards and loyalty points.   

There are hundreds of examples of successful loyalty programs. For example, Tanishq’s Anuttara, a point-based program, has members informed first about new and latest offers. Similarly, JetPrivilege, Jet Airways’ tiered frequent flyer program, has five tiers, and members have exclusive opportunities to get premium check-ins, lounge access, baggage allowances, and more. Or MacDonald’s Breakfast Club is an app-based loyalty program with multiple freebies for members. 

It is no surprise that the global Loyalty Program industry was valued at $181 billion in 2019. And the forecast is that it will grow at a CAGR between 5% and 6% till 2026.  

Loyalty programs work, bottom line. Why?  

• The programs are based on a simple concept – shop more, earn more, or sell more, earn more. When the program is effective, your brands get repeat sales, which is the goal of all commercial businesses. 
• These programs help earn better profits. For example, in the customer loyalty niche, it’s called CLV, or customer lifetime value. It is the net profit that each customer generates during their association with the company. The CLV has the chances of increasing based on the correct usage of the data generated during various touchpoints and personalizing rewards accordingly. 
• Loyalty programs work because they make your customers and partners feel valued. Rewards & recognition have a unique effect on the human mind. It is a form of appreciation; every individual rewarded for interacting with a brand feels special. This further strengthens the belief and bond they have for the brand. 
• It helps create a positive image for the brand. Happy customers and partners refer your brand to others in their peer group. It is the form of advertising that comes free with your loyalty program. Hence, there is a need to nurture loyalty programs with care and focus. It is like investing in a real-time relationship – worth every last penny, time, and effort. 

Loyalty programs work because it helps you retain resources, be it customers, employees, or channel partners. When done right, these programs have the potential to get you back lost customers and partners back. But loyalty programs should be relevant and offer value to the people concerned. It cannot exist in a vacuum. Ensure that your loyalty program is a holistic package, be it customer loyalty or channel partner loyalty. 

Retail 4.0, or the new realm of retail, entails customer engagement across omnichannel. The objective is to offer customers immersive experiences. One question worth considering at this juncture is – who will deliver these immersive experiences to the customer?  

Since phygital or Retail 4.0 is the culmination of the best of worlds of the physical store and the digital world, it combines new-age technologies and your frontline employees, who will be liable to offer customers high-end experiences. While for the technological infrastructure, you need to invest in robust and cutting-edge ecosystems; for the HR element, you must invest in your manpower. Not just getting the right talent onboard but also keeping them motivated enough to deliver top-notch experiences to your customers!  

Will your current incentive program work in the new era? Unfortunately, no. This is because it needs to be tailored to meet the needs of the latest Retail 4.0.  

You may be prepared for the challenges of Retail 4.0, but this is one aspect that you need to focus on at the earliest. You must think ‘disruptive’ to make your incentive program relevant, viable, and productive.  

Here are eight innovative recommendations to incentivize your retail employees in the phygital world.  

1. Tenure-based Incentives 

Tenure is the duration that an employee spends with a brand. One of the easiest ways to make your retail staff feel ‘belonged’ and ‘special’ is to reward them for their loyalty. For not being a part of the attrition race. These are people who have been around for years.   

The best way is to create a pathway that is milestone-based. For example, award your employees for completing a certain number of years and compound the rewards with an increasing number of years. 

2. Upskilling Incentives 

In the new-age Retail 4.0, frontline staff needs to be well-trained digitally or in handling customers. By providing them with an ecosystem where learning and development are a part of the ecosystem, you prepare them for the immediate future and their long-term career progression. Thus, upskilling is a way to keep your staff engaged meaningfully. Furthermore, they can be incentivized to demonstrate the skills they learned during such training sessions.  

3. Teamwork Incentives 

Organizations have realized that the best performances are delivered when people work together as a team. In Retail 4.0, teamwork will be the champion, so it is imperative to incentivize the team as a whole. While team incentives may be a part of your current program, remember, in the new retail era, incentives should be more about achievements than mere numbers (as in sales). Hence, your need to pre-decide non-sales targets like customer satisfaction, upselling, teamwork, etc., to incentivize. These are gain-sharing incentives. There could also be merit–based incentives wherein frontline employees are given incentives based on their efforts and not the end result. 

4. Value Add-On Incentives  

We agree that in Retail 4.0, sales cannot be the only determinant for incentives. You need to look for value-added services your employees provide to reward and motivate them. For example, incentives are given to help create a holistically happy buying journey for a customer. If the customer was delighted at every touchpoint during the purchase cycle or had moment-to-moment satisfaction, the concerned retail employees should be rewarded. Similarly, if the frontline workers are helping customers by equipping them to make better buying decisions in the integrated format, they should be incentivized. 

5. Career Progression Incentives 

Along with upskilling, think of incentivizing your hardworking and smart frontline employees through a career progression path. Not just vertical growth in the company that is more of moving up a ladder of designations, but also consider horizontal movements, from retail to purchase, inventory, or finance, depending on the individual’s choice. Keep sharing this information with your employees occasionally and announce new progressions so that employees are aware and know that their interests are important to the organization. 

6. Company Value Incentives 

Most companies have missions, visions, ethics, and values as part of their organizational evolvement process. Still, these are usually limited to becoming posters stuck to the wall or the employee handbook given to a newcomer on the date of joining. To enforce the values, you can incentivize your staff to adhere to or uphold these values. For example, if honesty is a part of the value system and a frontline employee showcases this value in their daily work life, incentivize the said employee for their behavior. This serves as a reminder to others so they can also do the same in their day-to-day functioning. 

7. Gamified Incentives 

Work can be fun, and this type of incentive helps do that. By duplicating a game-type environment at your storefront and introducing aspects like levels, leaderboards, badges, etc., you can help your employees enjoy the process of customer handling and selling. It also helps bring a fun-filled positive competitive spirit to the team. Motivate your employees to move up the levels or the tiers by creating the right incentives at each step. 

8. Negative Incentives 

If you want your retail staff to avoid certain behaviors or outcomes, introduce this incentive program. It is like setting a lower permissible limit for behaviors and activities acceptable in the workplace. It works best when combined with a positive incentive. For example, retail frontline employees can be incentivized to achieve their sales target. Still, alongside, they can be informed that the incentives will be lost if the storefront gets a certain number of escalations or customer complaints. This way, employees will go the extra mile to ensure minimal discord in customer experiences at the store. 

Conclusion  

The new Retail 4.0 comes with plentiful promises. Companies must sync multifaceted aspects of their operations to make every shopping experience truly valuable for customers. But, they need to remember that minus the retail staff, only a little can be achieved in this gamut. So, the need of the hour is to innovate novel methods of motivating and incentivizing staff.  

To know more about the incentives for Retail 4.0, download the complete guide here.