Modern Selling

Craig Thomas - Active Consultancy Ltd

If the ambition is “inspiring people & performance”, the most common mistake in planning and executing incentive programmes is to look at the programme as a “do this and get that” proposition.

To create a successful incentive one must think of an incentive programme as a form of target marketing and take time to consider the specific objectives, the target audience and communication etc. to create a strategic plan.

In short you should aim to produce a written marketing plan that considers and addresses the following 10 essential elements which will not only define the specific objectives and the proposed strategy to deliver those objectives but also outline how to measure the results.

Note: The 10 key elements outlined below cover the basic elements of incentive programme design no matter what the audience i.e. sales incentives, channel incentives or employee motivation programmes and should be viewed as key tasks, rather than sequential tasks.

THE 10 ESSENTIAL STEPS ARE:-

"Big Hairy Goals" - Not good.

• Programme Purpose - Why is the programme being conducted? The programme's purpose and objectives are often confused or seen as interchangeable. The purpose is the reason the organisation is operating the programme e.g. to improve performance, increase teamwork, focus on short-term objectives, etc.
• Programme Objectives and Goals - What precisely are you trying to accomplish (increase sales, increase call rates)? Goals should be very clear and not open to misinterpretation i.e. increase sales units by 10 percent over previous period, or achieve 110% of target for the quarter; and most importantly they should be feasible. You cannot measure results without clear objectives, and you probably won't maximise participation if you set “big, hairy goals” that no one believes in - but you.

Step 2: Audience Identification

You cannot develop a strategy to change performance in people without understanding your audience. So who specifically are you targeting? What are their demographics and circumstances? What is their current level of motivation, capability, buy-in, emotion, etc.?

Step 3: Fact-finding / Research

You need to research and take into account what's going on - on the ground. There is no point putting an incentive in place if no one understands the product or if there are other factors stopping them participating or achieving. What currently stands in the way of achieving goals: market conditions, training levels, emotional state, management problems? Your programme will have to address these obstacles or it likely will fail, no matter how desirable the rewards, and the best way to find out is to survey the people involved.

Fact Finding & Research - Essential

What are the specific goals; what do people have to do; how will they be measured; how will the improved performance be measured? All of these factors can help determine the incentive structure that will work best for you: points programmes, escalators or stretch-targets, honours / performance clubs , close-ended or fixed reward structures, self targeting schemes, sweepstakes, or scratch cards, all or nothing targets.

Step 5: Communication and Training

There are generally 5 key stages of to the communication plan for any incentive; prelaunch, launch, programme sustainment, reporting and post programme review, each of which has a job to do in communicating the scheme. They also all have their own role to play in delivering the Tell, Sell, Educate, Motivate and Report messages for the scheme. Creating a communication plan that really delivers requires careful planning
and consideration.

Step 6: Rewards and Recognition

If you are thinking of offering cash as the reward think again most participants in any incentive scheme will work harder for non-cash rewards. The most popular and effective of which are; travel, vouchers, gifts and merchandise, experiences & UK breaks and hospitality. Generally a combination of these provides the best solution. Active’s White Paper which explains in more detail why cash is not an effective motivator is
available on our website

Cash not the best

Working out the R.O.I for any programme can both help in determining budgets (how to set the targets, how much to spend on set-up, how much you should offer as the reward) and also provide a sound commercial case for running the incentive. Active can provide advice re calculating the R.O.I on a scheme please call for details

Step 8: Programme Measures

How will the success of the overall programme be measured and judged i.e. whilst you may set a target of achieving 110%of target for each individual (which is how they will be judged) ,what will be viewed as a success for the organisation (everyone achieving 110% (unlikely) or an overall increase in sales. Your programme may also have non-financial goals i.e. opening more new accounts) which should be taken into account.

Travel Voucher Gift Experience combos

This element of incentive programme design ironically can create some of the biggest challenges. In short you need to decide on how to collect and share the data you need to track performance, ideally without creating an administrative burden.

Step 10. Analysis and Feedback

Programmes often have both quantitative and qualitative measures of success. Quantitative measures are reflected in the (objective) business results; qualitative measures come from subjective data, such as results from employee or customer surveys.During the Analysis and Feedback phase, you want to compare your programme results against your marketing / incentive plan and attempt to isolate any outside factors that could have affected performance. Review actual results, and whatever qualitative information you gleaned, in order to prepare both a Performance report and a Recommendations report for future programmes.

Further Help & Advice

For a copy of our incentive planning document which provides further detail and advice on each of the steps outlined above. Or if you require help and advice regarding planning, creating or structuring incentive programmes please call 0844 372 7505 and speak to one of our incentive consultants.

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