SALES CONTESTS
Sales Contests
Increasing Revenues and Profits
I
’ve been selling for six decades and
this much I know: Sales people love
competing and companies can tie
sales-incentive prizes to desired
revenue and margin goals. Let me
say that another way. Done with thought,
sales contests are not expenses but
rather investments. Before digging into
the contests directly, let’s step back and
look at compensation for salespeople.
All too often, companies will tweak one
or two components of the overall “comp”
plan, which is not the best approach. Here
are the component parts of a comp plan:
salary and benefits, reimbursement of out-
of-pocket expenses, target incentive pay,
over-target incentive pay, contests and
recognition. When looking at restructuring
your salesperson compensation plan, we
recommend each component be reviewed
and cobbled together in a comprehensive
approach which reinforces the overall
desired goal. This article will address the
contest component.
“All in all, recognizing successful
salespeople may be the single most critical
way to boost sales results,” says Nancy
Grden-Ellison. Here are five benefits a
company derives from sales contests: a)
Growth of revenues from both existing
customers and new customers; b) Profits,
derived from encouraging the desired mix
and margins; c) Customer satisfaction; d)
Attracting and retaining sales talent; and
e) Improving sales productivity.
Here are some Reward
guidelines to be considered:
Program
a) Match the reward to the person
b) Match the reward to the achievement
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c) Be timely
e) Design the contests to be both creative
and fun.
d) Short lifespan/change frequently
e) Variety in both time and content
f) Make it public
Recognition and rewards provide an
effective low- to no-cost way of generating
high levels of performance in both good
times and tight times. Let’s look at some
basics in constructing sales contests.
“ALL IN ALL, RECOGNIZING
SUCCESSFUL SALESPEOPLE
MAY BE THE SINGLE MOST
CRITICAL WAY TO BOOST
SALES RESULTS.”
a) I like saying it this way: Daily, weekly,
monthly, quarterly, and annual contests,
each as an overlay on one another. This
keeps more and more of the salespeople
“in the game” and provides an air of
excitement and enthusiasm throughout the
team. Passion sells!
b) Structured properly, most, if not all,
of the contest payouts can be directly
tied to sales and margin results. When
the salespeople perform and de