Much like a marriage, a sales incentive program can grow stale. Repeat winners may feel like a neglected spouse as they watch management just going through the motions year after year, running the same tired program. They sarcastically think to themselves, "Oh, another tchotchke for my anniversary. How very thoughtful."

It's true, lavishing them with gifts just doesn't get the rise out of them that it used to back in the beginning, when everything was fresh and new. And another cushy trip to a beach far, far away may not rekindle the spark that they once had.

Sure, they may enjoy the attention and they may say they're happy when they earn an award. But the truth is, they've seen it all before. That's why a sales incentive program needs to be spiced up every now and again—to remind them why they fell in love with your company in the first place.

After all, we wouldn't want these repeat qualifiers, many of whom generate a good deal of the company's revenue, getting the seven-year itch. Next thing you know they'll get a wandering eye and start scanning the classifieds. All of the warning signs will be there. They'll start dressing better. They'll get themselves in shape. They'll update their resume.

To help planners in need, Incentive contacted 11 experts and asked them how to again generate some heat in the relationship with top performers. Here's their advice:









Appeal to their vanity. When's the last time you brought the camera out and took a picture of them to show that you cared?

"Once, one of my top sales agents had a deal that I felt was impossible to close. It was a former Fortune 500 corporate CEO who was buying a loosely run, multimillion-dollar catering hall. I told the agent that if he got it done, we would commission a portrait of him and hang it in the sales meeting room. The end of the story is me hammering the nail into the wall and hanging the portrait of him. The picture has the caption 'They said it couldn't be done.'"—Andrew Cagnetta, CEO, Transworld Business Brokers, LLC, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.









Go seventies. Don't keep the relationship so structured, so inflexible. Bring others into the relationship. Share the love.

"You can change a close-ended rules structure, where x-number of people win, and shift it to an open-ended structure. Those programs tend to spark new life and a whole new sense of excitement. People always want to win and stay on top. Once other folks get into the mix, [top performers] get excited about the new competition. One client [in the financial services] field did this and had tremendous success. The middle-tier folks created $14 million in incremental profit for the company. The top performers are used to winning, and people are used to them winning. If the rules stay the same, the entire program stays the same."—Stephanie McAllister, director, brand marketing, Maritz, St. Louis









Don't tell them you know what they want. What makes you think you know them so well? Give them their freedom.

"Free time is [a big motivator]. In the past we planned all of the events. Now [winners] are given brochures and literature for different tour sites and a destination management company will arrange for them to try different things. In Arizona it could be jeep rides in the desert and hot-air ballooning, or they could just sit in their villa. There are different things for different people. You never know what will turn them on. The DMC is on site to handle questions. We're there to help them make their decisions. Free time means more to them than anything else."—Rashmi Hudson, executive vice president, sales promotions and communications, Aflac, Columbus, Ga.









Appeal to their hearts. There's a lot more to your people than just their material side.

"Include a charitable element that allows participants to give back to the local com-munity and better understand the destination they're visiting.

"This provides a rewarding experience on top of the reward. For example, qualifiers at a resort location might race against each other in teams to build the most bicycles and then donate them to a local orphanage."—Ira Almeas, principal, Impact Incentives – Meetings, Inc., East Hanover, N.J.









Change with them. Maybe they're not the same person they were a decade ago when you met them.

"We have one client we've been working with for 10 years, and we've seen a change in what motivates their workforce as their employees have moved from having little responsibility in their mid-20s, to their mid-30s, where most have children and have been married a couple of years. We try to match activities to those needs. People in their 20s can go out and party all night. However people in their 30s may want to sit in a blues club and smoke a cigar."—Arnold Light, president, The Light Group, White Plains, N.Y.









Preempt their desire. Go out and find their dream gift before they do.

"The best route to take is to build relationships with key suppliers. This way you're getting to know what participants want before they know they want it. I went to the Consumer Electronics Show and saw the big trends, like Voice over IP, where you can make calls over a broadband connection and satellite radio. The typical participant in a sales incentive is highly mobile, so these items will be highly desirable. At the PGA Show you can see the new drivers. With housewares, the colors change on appliances. A few years ago everything was stainless steel. Being out there understanding the trends is very important. Use relationships to get that product early on in the cycle. Or with luggage, post-9/11, suitcase manufacturers have made the pockets see-through to make it easier to get through security. It's not a big deal to someone who travels once or twice a year, but for a salesperson who travels twice a week it's helpful. Or a special shopper service, a high-touch concierge service, is really well suited to those participants who may have been in the program year after year. They may have everything they want. They've got the digital cameras and iPods. We can go out and shop for them. They can say, 'I want this type of grill' or 'golf club.'"—Farhad Coovadia, senior product manager, Carlson Marketing Group, Minneapolis





Play to their passions, their loves, their desires. If you know they love movies and music, cater to that in ways they've never experienced before.

"Unforgettable experiences have a longer-lasting value than cash, as well as a higher perceived value, because the general public cannot put a price tag on attending the Grammy Awards, getting into the official after- party or walking the red carpet alongside favorite actors at a Hollywood movie premiere. If you really want to reward your top performers with something they will never forget during their lifetime, much less a year or two down the road, offer an unforgettable experience. Because these events have a higher perceived value than cash or merchandise, companies actually can be seen to reward salespeople more generously while they maintain the same budget that otherwise would have gone for cash and merchandise awards. That is, for the same investment, companies can get significantly more bang for their incentive buck. Think about it: One year from now, are salespeople going to remember the extra cash they received? Two years from now, how great is that plasma-screen television whose price at the local consumer electronics retailer has since plummeted? But sitting front and center at the Grammy Awards, and attending the official after-party, is something that a top performer will never forget in a lifetime."—Rick Dunaj, vice president, global incentive sales, RPMC, Calabasas, Calif.







Keep it random, not routine. This will keep employees on their toes and fully engaged in the relationship.

"You need a combination of both regular and spontaneous rewards. Putting someone's name on a plaque for achieving the top sales goal is still valuable. You want those regular things. Doing things randomly on an individual and team basis keeps employees engaged. One morning say, 'Whoever makes the most sales of x will get a two-hour paid lunch today.' It has to be spontaneous. It's kind of the Glengarry Glen Ross-type thing, but it works if you keep it random. The kinds of things you do don't have to be big. Other companies have offered a team that worked extra hours gift certificates for massages. Don't do it after every time you have a hard project, so it does not become expected. Things like this will keep them happy so they don't get disgruntled and want $10,000 more in salary to stay. Offering classes for professional development is a good idea. It tells them, we want to help you build your career. This helps them learn to love the company and want to stay. It shows you value their development."—Simon Sinek, president, Sinek Partners, New York









Pay more attention to them. You may think you're giving them enough support, but you're probably not. They need more reminders that you care.

"While top performers may tend to be recognized more than others in an organization, don't underestimate the power of doing so frequently—both privately and publicly. For top performers, incentives are very rarely about the money, because this elite group tends to make money wherever they go. Instead of cash, make sure your incentive program offers the opportunity to earn electronic points (e-points) that star employees can accumulate and then redeem for awards of their choice."—Louise Anderson, president and CEO, Anderson Performance Improvement Company, Hastings, Minn.









Let them talk to you. Open up the communications channel.

"Allow eligible sales reps to participate in the selection of their group destination so that they have a personal investment in the trip. We have created custom Web sites that map out destination options. Each representative is allowed one vote, and they can see a bar graph with real-time vote results. They can see if their destination is winning or if they need to motivate their peers to cast their vote for ABC destination. This is a great way to launch a program and get great buy-in from the sales force."—Brooke Bryand, senior events manager, The Castle Group, Inc., La Jolla, Calif.









Remember, we're individuals with individuals tastes. Don't assume that everyone will like all the same things.

"What's important to understand is that one size does not fit all, particularly when you are looking at top performers. Typically, these folks produce three to 10 times what we expect from everybody else. It's vital to focus on what's important to them. And that information can only be acquired through in-depth interviews for knowledge of the individual and his or her values.

"Tailor the program to these individuals and you will enjoy much greater success. For Jane, it may be an all-expense-paid trip for a week to the beach. For John, it's a sports car. For Jim, it's stock. You have to find out, as the incentive planner, exactly what's going to work for them. The key is not to guess. If you offer Jane a sports car as an incentive, she could care less. It depends on the individual, and it's really, really important to understand that we're all different. While it would be wonderful for an incentive program if we were all cut out with a cookie-cutter, unfortunately life doesn't work like that."—Joyce L. Gioia, president, The Herman Group, Greensboro, N.C. This page is protected by Copyright laws. Do Not Copy