Feature: Promoting sales with motivation

Most of what you will read in this magazine is aimed at people running consumer promotions or what is traditionally thought of as Sales Promotion. Motivation however is a very different activity and is seldom directed at the consumer but aimed at employees.

Earlier this year the ISP embarked on a repositioning of the organisation. This started with a new logo and a new strapline…“when promoting sales is your business”. By motivating staff (in particular sales staff) it is hard to see that it does not “promote sales”. A survey conducted by Incentive Direct earlier this year stated that 36% of respondents cited increased sales performance as the primary reason for using an employee motivation scheme, and 35% cited increased staff commitment and loyalty. An additional 26% stated that increasing employees’ happiness with their jobs was the main factor in implementing such a scheme.

What is staff motivation?

Like many things in the evolving dictionary of marketing, there are often three or four definitions for one activity and many of those cross over. Here are some basic definitions taken from the course notes of the ISP Motivation Diploma that help to clarify what forms motivation can take:

Incentive/incentive program

An incentive is what you offer at the outset of a programme to encourage the participants to compete in the scheme. It could be cash, vouchers, merchandise items, travel etc.

Performance improvement programme/standards programme

Some US agencies use the term ‘performance improvement programme’ to mean any type of motivation scheme, whether it is to promote sales growth or encourage processes improvement. Most people prefer the terms ‘sales incentive’ to mean a sales-related programme but ‘performance improvement’ if the scheme includes achieving tasks other than sales.

Reward

Often used as interchangeable with ‘incentive’ but more accurately, a reward is the incentive item that is given away at the end of the programme. Participants start the programme aiming for the incentive. When they win it, it becomes the reward.

Catalogue

The catalogue is a general description of the range of incentives being offered in the programme. It could be the printed brochure or the online presentation that shows what the participants can win/qualify for.

Close and open-ended

If the participants have to compete for a fixed number of qualifying places such as being ranked in the top 10, they are in a close-ended scheme. If they have to compete against their own performance, such as a personal target, they are in an open-ended scheme.

Club concept

Sometimes known as an honours club, a club concept combines the recognition elements of a programme with the reward, usually with graded levels of membership.

Recognition scheme

Often linked to club concepts, recognition schemes ‘recognise’ the achievement of desired performance levels through such items as certificates, plaques, trophies, jewellery, desktop items and privileges. For staff schemes recognition items may be fairly low key and cost very little. For sales schemes the items may be quite expensive, for example gold cufflinks.

Frequent buyer programme

This is normally a volume-driven incentive for distributors along the lines of ‘the more you purchase, the more rewards you get’. The highest purchasing distributors may also qualify for an incentive travel event by virtue of their purchasing volume but most manufacturers tend to monitor sales-out performance as well so that distributors are not simply building up stock in order to win prizes.

Human audit

All programmes require some element of research before the scheme starts so that the solution is relevant to the problem. Research into the participants is sometimes known as the human audit and may be quite simple, such as an e-mail, or quite detailed, such as a complex series of individual and group discussions resulting in a balanced analysis of the issues to be addressed.

Getting the reward right

There are many mechanics that can be used in motivation but Alexandre Meerson, Incentive and Motivation Director at Sodexho believes that it is the reward that has to be right first of all. He explains “When it comes to implementing a staff motivation scheme, the choice facing companies is staggering. There are dozens of agencies and suppliers, all offering a variety of products, programmes, and events. Where do you begin? Firstly you must not lose sight of your business objectives. Knowing why you want to incentivise your staff and what you expect from it is half the battle. But then, how do you make the right choice of supplier? The answer lies in getting the reward right first - once employers have established what their employees really want, only then can they address the question of which motivation specialist would be best suited for the job.”

With a larger sales force with many different personalities the reward has to appeal to everybody, this is why vouchers are so popular when it comes to rewarding staff. Clare Rutherford of House of Fraser Business Incentives believes that you have to know your employees and their needs first “We recommend profiling the target audience to ensure they receive relevant and attractive motivational incentives. And make sure that you have good communication processes in place to convey every detail and to avoid misunderstandings from the start”. Rutherford adds, “It’s this huge variety and choice that ensures the continued popularity of vouchers. The range with which to motivate staff is large, and knowing which gift voucher to choose can be difficult. Long-term motivation depends on a number of factors, and companies need to make a careful decision on the type of incentive on offer.”

Mary Lowten, HR Manager Recruitment & Information, Hertfordshire County Council have used John Lewis gift vouchers as a staff incentive “John Lewis are ethical employers, provide good customer care and have an excellent product range. Their vouchers continue to be competitive and good value for the Council's long service awards. The £50 vouchers are a tangible way of saying 'thank you' to loyal employees. The vouchers are great for a diverse workforce as people can spend them on whatever they wish.”

Getting the message right

A basic voucher scheme can be very effective if communicated well. Young’s Seafood HR and finance teams in each of the four sites in Grimsby, one in Hull and four in Scotland, sell Kingfisher Gift Vouchers on specified dates, to the employee base. They benefit to the tune of £10 in every £100. The HR team worked hard to communicate the new Kingfisher voucher offer to staff, kicking off with a four week teaser campaign designed to negate the effects of ‘what’s the catch?’. As Lorna Rainer, HR Advisor pointed out, “we all suffer from a little cynicism when presented with an offer that seems too good to be true. Through the use of posters, leaflets and face-to-face contact, the team successfully communicated key messages relating to how the voucher scheme would work, where the vouchers could be spent, and the benefits.” The scheme has proved to be incredibly popular. Lorna continues: “In the first month alone we sold £20,000 worth of gift vouchers and that level of demand has proved consistent throughout – supported by competitions over Christmas and summer periods designed to both give employees the chance to win gift vouchers, and to increase incentive to purchase.”