Incentive - May 2008 - (Page 20)

COVER STORY says MediaAscent’s Andrews. The challenge is convincing employees, who may have great relationships with their clients, but who are leery of new offerings and reluctant to change the tactics that have worked for them in the past. One approach he recommends is identifying “superstars” within the company who demonstrate these new skills, and holding them up as examples for their peers. This can be done through a series of short-term rewards that build to larger initiatives with bigger prizes, each step reinforcing the new tactics reps have learned through training. Once salespeople see their ping. You can bet the other people were looking at her and thinking, ‘I wish I had that.’ It was a big win, and it really didn’t cost us much.” The big prize at the year’s end is a trip for two to the Bahamas, which the company is promoting by placing beach chairs in various offices. Rewards should reinforce collaboration within sales teams as well as spark some healthy competition. Depending on the way the company is structured, this might mean splitting commissions between traditional and online staff or offering greater rewards to reps who collaborate with their online counterparts. Africa and Myanmar. This year the company is planning a trip for some 40 people to Egypt and Jordan. The guests will stay at five-star properties throughout their tour, which includes a stop at Petra. “[The program] has been hugely successful,” says Day. Travel works, but any reward that gets some attention will do. “With salespeople, you just try to make their job fun,” says Jackson. Awards at his company have included giving employees the chance to come in a half-hour later or having their car washed by a supervisor, as well as the usual vacations and bigscreen televisions. “Motivated people are worth their Start-up Rewards Start-up companies have a reputation for employee-centric work cultures—think of Google’s long perks list—and that may mean they are more open to reward programs than are their traditional counterparts. “Newer media organizations have the advantage of not needing to shed or restructure legacy processes and infrastructure with which more established media firms may be wrestling,” says Michelle Smith, vice president of business development for O.C. Tanner, in Salt Lake City. Gordon Borrell, whose media consulting company, Borrell Associates, in Williamsburg, Va., has worked with both old and new media sales companies and their staffs, agrees: “[Online companies] have completely open minds…. It’s so much more fun to teach these people than to teach people who have an old product line to protect.” Though they are often competing with traditional media companies for the same ad dollars, online media groups face different challenges when it comes to motivation. “They have not recognized the value of relationships with advertisers. That potentially is a pitfall and a weakness,” says incentive planner Michael Day. Building strong sales teams will prove essential as Internet-based content grows more established and more dependent on advertising revenue. San Francisco–based Sportgenic is among a new breed of start-ups, called vertical advertising networks, that connect marketers with a collection of niche Web sites. The company sells advertising for over 250 sports-related sites, from the NASCAR social networking hub InfieldParking.com to the official Web site of the Ironman Triathlon, and has grown to a staff of 35 since it was founded in 2005. CEO Robert Tas says that motivation comes naturally for a company that traffics in the obsessions of sports nuts: “I think we’re fortunate in that sports are something people are passionate about.” That doesn’t mean the job is its own reward. Managers look at individual performance and set revenue, service and market goals, but they try to align awards with employees’ interests, like paying for gym memberships and sponsoring employees who compete in races; rewards often include tickets to sporting events. Even team rewards tend to be active. “We set weekly goals that are everything from selling a full-page ad to selling an online product.” peers being rewarded, they’ll be more likely to get on the bandwagon. This combination of small and large rewards is at work at the Augusta Chronicle in Georgia. “We set weekly goals that are everything from selling a full-page ad to selling an online product,” says Jackson. “Each time you accomplish one of those goals, you get a square on a bingo card, and if your name is on the square we call, you get a prize.” He had one salesperson who won 10 prizes during one event, at around $20 per prize, “and it looked like she went shop“It doesn’t matter who handed the pen over,” says Caudill. When the account buys into a digital ad or for a combination of formats, “there is a lot of work to be done after the sale.” Which rewards work best? Unusual travel programs have been key for Michael Day’s clients. One of his long-standing partners is KGO-AM Newstalk Radio in San Francisco, which ranks consistently at the top of its markets in ratings. The company uses a tiered program that qualifies advertisers to go on soft adventure trips and has taken its clients to destinations as wide-ranging as Peru, India, –John Jackson, Augusta Chronicle weight in gold,” he says. “When you lose a salesperson, you lose revenue instantly. That relationship is very valuable. It’s a great investment.” Although, on the whole, media companies have been slow to capitalize on rewards programs, that could change if some of these early adopters show great results. “This industry is unique in that it is highly collaborative,” says Andrews. “There’s a pack mentality. Once we start getting some success, we’re going to have fast growth.” Send comments to incentivemagazine@nielsen.com 20 | Incentive | May 2008 | incentivemag.com http://InfieldParking.com http://incentivemag.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Incentive - May 2008

Incentive - May 2008 Contents Editor's Note: Turn to Incentives in Hard Times In The News: At IMRA Conference, Trade Show Talk; In Utah, Team-Building Trauma Cover Story: Can Incentives Save the Media Business? Incentive Interview: Our New Columnist, Christi L. Gibson Case Study: Architecture Firm WESKetch Builds a Recognition Plan Incentives in a Recession: Advice on Adjusting Your Plan Office Bullies: The Scourge of the Workplace Can Be Reined In Original Research: Incentive Sales IQ Report Recognition@Work: Stop Driving Your Top People Away Incentive Primer: Ways to Foster Creativity in Your Organization Travel News Puerto Rico: Shining Star's Trendy Makeover Mexico: Cancun and Cabo Still Have It Potentials Here and Now Luggage and Leather Goods Gift Cards: F&B Advertiser Index Last Word: Stanley Bing Gives Wimpy Bosses a Nuggie

Incentive - May 2008

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