Sales & Marketing Management - March/April 2008 - (Page 38)

TECHNOLOGY TRAINING INCENTIVES TRAVEL/MEETINGS “When business is good and sales are pouring in, that’s when you really want your teams to stretch for more. If they can hit their quotas without much difficulty, you need to find something else that will push them to the next level.” directly in a traditional consulting format, or they can use software to manage the program themselves. AEIS and other companies offer both options; our software allows users to set up a plan, establish budgets for individuals, teams and geographic units, and generate a variety of reports on the results. It’s not enough to know how the plan works as a whole; sales leaders need to know how every individual is responding for it to be truly effective. S&MM: What other advantages does a company get if it That’s the most common question, but another big market change is that companies increasingly want to extend their incentive plans beyond the sales teams. We are now spending a lot of time working with companies on their wellness programs to help workers stay healthy. The same concepts apply: You want to promote a certain type of behavior and are willing to reward the employees to adopt it. Health and wellness are a big future growth area for companies like AEIS, and we’re often coordinating incentive plans across entire companies, not just in the sales department. S&MM: How does the economy affect the use of incen- opts to manage its incentive plan via the Web? JM: One of the great things about a properly designed incentive plan is that it can reward anyone, at any time. When it comes to longer-range goals such as annual rewards, certain people fall out of the running long before it’s over. Once it’s clear that they can’t win that all-expenses-paid trip to the beach, what keeps them going? With a Webbased plan, not only can sales leaders see how each individual person PERCENTAGE OF is performing, the peoCORPORATE ple can check their DIRECTORS WHO own accounts. Perhaps SAY CEO PAY IS “ABOUT RIGHT,” a junior salesperson SAVE FOR ISOcan’t generate enough LATED CASES. revenue to win the annual trip, but if he just sells X more units, SOURCE: WATSON WYATT/NATIONAL BUSINESS GROUP ON HEALTH SURVEY he can reach the next level and win a reward for that achievement. That keeps everyone’s head in the game, because in a welldesigned plan, some kind of reward is almost always within reach if the people produce just a little bit more. [THE PULSE] 51.8 tive plans? We appear to be headed for a bit of a recession; does that impact the way they are utilized? JM: When you’re on the border of a recessionary economy, that’s when incentives are their most powerful. Many companies have to go through corporate downsizing during difficult times, and that has a terrible effect on employee morale and motivation. When significant downsizing occurs, these employees are probably not focused on specific initiatives; they’re probably wondering if they’re next to go. Using a targeted incentive plan gets everyone’s mind off of those distractions and proves to them that if they continue to perform well, they’ll be rewarded. S&MM: What happens if the economy is good? Are incentive plans less effective? JM: They aren’t less effective in a growing market it’s just that they should be developed to do different things. When business is good and sales are pouring in, that’s when you really want your teams to stretch for more. If they can hit their quotas without much difficulty, you need to find something else that will push them to the next level. So in that sense, the overall economy definitely affects the way incentive plans are utilized. But regardless of whether you want your team to reach for the stars or just hold their ground until the tough times are over, well-structured incentive plans are always going to be a valuable tool for today’s sales manager. www.salesandmarketing.com www.salesandmarketingmanagement.com S&MM: What are the most common issues that compa- nies ask you to help them with? JM: Salespeople today are busier than they’ve ever been before. Executives often say, ‘I need my team to hone in on a particular product, at a certain market rate, for a specific period of time. How do I do that?’ 38 SALES &MARKETING MANAGEMENT MARCH/APRIL 2008 http://www.salesandmarketingmanagement.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Sales & Marketing Management - March/April 2008

Sales & Marketing Management - March/April 2008 Contents Editor's Letter Brian Tracy University Sales Marketing Management Cover Story: Lessons From the Master Maximum Mobility Training Technology Incentives/Motivation Travel/Meetings Book Excerpt - Value Merchants The Way I See It - End the Discounting Habit

Sales & Marketing Management - March/April 2008

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