January 4th, 2012
There is no better gift than sharing of one’s self with others. When we do so, we are spending time giving and investing in the relationship. We all need each other in this world and there is nothing more fulfilling than sharing yourself with others. Each hour we spend with someone else is an opportunity for enrichment. No social media connection comes close to looking into someone’s eyes, feeling their hand in yours when you shake it and sharing good conversation.
We all know that our clients are important to our business and we should always make a point to invest time with each of them. Some of us will drop everything when Mrs. Big Client calls however the reality is that Mr. Middle of the Road Client calls it is just as important. We have all envyed the incentive of the VIP treatment being offered to high rollers in Las Vegas with fancy roped off areas and servers all conveniently around. Your mid range clients are more plentiful and pay the bills each month. They are the type of clients that would be be thrilled to receive an incentive for an order and when they do, they will tell the world about it. So often just an email is received or nothing at all for doing business with most companies. A simple exchange of money for services.
Small incentives are money in your investment bank for you in good times and not so good times. We should never forget to thank our customers no matter what the economy. Appreciation is an act of kindness and respect, something that has dramatically faded during the past decade.
When we are appreciated it is powerful. For example, I was warmly greeted by a lovely French Canadian Receptionist who presented me with a small menu and asked me if I wanted something from it as I waited for a representative. I was so surprised that I had to ask her to repeat what she asked me. As I looked at the menu, I noticed there were various soft drinks, teas, coffees, waters and small snacks listed on it. I could not help but feel special and that I was embarking on a relationship where I was truly going to be appreciated before the relationship had even begun. I decided to order a flavored tea and sat back in a big leather chair looking around the room admiring the unique artwork and furniture. That day I could have waited an hour for the representative to come in, I was welcome, taken care of and comfortable.
Only 1 1/2 months after my first appointment, I received a small gift of chocolate fortune cookies in a decorative box with a Christmas Card, another pleasant surprise. Even if I am approached by a competitor offering a lower price for the same services, I am not going anywhere. I am not this company’s biggest client nor their oldest client, I am just a client doing business with them and they apparently appreciate it. Good old fashion respect and service.
An incentive is more than motivating, it is something that builds relationships and helps you build your referral business. I will refer this business each and every time I have the opportunity to do so.
Tags: incentive, incentive programs, incentives, motivate
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January 3rd, 2012
If you are not a believer in networking in the social media world, you best jump into the pool of belief now. Six degrees of separation has been reduced to 1 ot 2 degrees thanks to social media. Yes, we all sacrifice a bit of privacy but the valuable incentive is that we are meeting other people’s people to help us grow our business or to land a job.
Making a connection is not what it is all about, it is a good start. How do you go from “Hey, want to connect” to “Hey, can you help me find a job or help me get an appointment with Bob in Marketing for a sales presentation?” One must treat the 1 or 2 degree person as a preferred client. The relationship you have with that first level contact will definitely determine the connection opportunities that may be offered to you. As we all know, a warm introduction is at the top of the list of every salesman’s wish list.
Tips to Enrich Your Relationship with Your 1st. or 2nd. Degree People
1) Make a live connection by picking up the phone to call to your contacts at least once a month to chat about their kids, current events, a new movie, schedule coffee or lunch together.
2) Share beneficial articles via email when you come across one that may be beneficial to your contact.
3) Sincerely ask your warm contact if you can do something for them to help them with their business. When someone comes to the door and offers to help you, chances are you will be more open to take the time to listen to what they have to say.
4) Offer information about training that you found to be helpful.
5) Make introductions happen between your other friends, your 1st and 2nd degree connections.
6) Be your friend’s promotional agent, let them know you are supportive and are truly interested in their career. Talk about your friend’s business with others when they are present so they know that you really are trying to help them.
7) Provide your connections with an incentive. When a valuable lead or connection has been offered to you, immediately thank them with a small gift card.
8) Motivate your friends by sending thank you cards for their little acts of kindness. Thank goodness good Karma also goes around, not just the bad stuff.
9) Ask your friends what motivates them and what incentives that they may use to reward others who help them out.
10) Keep your promises, do what you say you are going to do when you say you are going to do it.
We all have good intentions and feel that nice little warm feeling when we help others be successful. Our incentive should be to enrich the lives of others.
Tags: blood donor incentives, corporate incentives, customer incentives, gift cards, incentive, incentive programs, incentives, motivate
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November 9th, 2011
This article has been excerpted from The Power of Loyalty by Roger L. Brooks, available from Entrepreneur Press.
Reward your customers — they’ll reward you with repeat business
The best way to motivate customer behavior is to provide an incentive or reward for that motivation. Rewarding your customers for a specific purchasing behavior is not much different than training your puppy. With enough repetition and positive reinforcement, your pup can be motivated to act upon instruction. That’s because the pup knows if he listens to your command, he’ll receive his reward.
Human nature isn’t much different. People can be motivated to take specific actions that accomplish their buying goals while also accomplishing your goals to increase their spending, frequency of visits or combination purchases (or comparative goals relevant to your line of business).
The question then is how do you motivate behavior? Below are five ideas that will get you thinking.
- Offer soft benefits that provide value such as special access limited only to members.
- Offer relevant promotions through various lines of communication, for example: e-mail, SMS text, receipt messages, statement inserts, RSS feeds, Twitter, Facebook, etc.
- Up-sell complimentary products or services at the associate level.
- Offer sweepstakes, random rewards or special offers for a limited time frame, keep your strategy fresh and exciting:
- Strategically place messages (via signage, web banners, etc.) that will trigger motivating actions.
Motivate, But Don’t Mislead
Once you decide how you’ll motivate, always do so in an honorable way. Your customers won’t want to be misled into thinking they are receiving something greater in value that what they’ll actually receive as the reward.
Abraham Lincoln put it best when he said, “You may fool all the people some of the time, you can even fool some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all the time.”
Of course, the statement was made some 150 years ago and the President was referring to politicians attempting to fool their constituents; however, the quote resonates with me every time I see a program that offers empty loyalty. Such programs offer an elaborate program on the outside when, indeed, it’s only a facade to increase business. In time, savvy customers will see through the facade. Your promotional strategy to motivate behavior must be phony proof. Once your customers lift the hood and kick the tires, the promotions must stand on their own and offer real value, not empty promises.
Remember, whatever you do, don’t try to fool the customer! Loyal customers will catch on if the loyalty program does not have true value. This can also backfire and cause disloyalty amongst your customers and defeat the entire purpose of implementing your strategy in the first place.
There are two reasons why your rewards offerings should be upstanding:
- Loyal customers have earned the right to receive a valid reward. If they weren’t enrolled in your program, they may have taken their business elsewhere.
- Customers can see through transparent rewards.
If you want to be in the loyalty game, you have to offer attractive redemption items that are achievable for your customers to earn. If customers are willing to change their purchasing behavior and provide you with their loyalty, they will expect the same in return from you in the form of a relevant reward.
It’s the Little Things That Matter Most
If you put on your consumer hat, you’ll understand that it’s the little things that matter most. One component you should incorporate is providing feel-good loyalty. Feel-good loyalty is just what it sounds like, providing something that the customer will feel good about. Offering feel-good-loyalty incentives should be part of your overall strategy and will require some clever and creative thinking. Some companies offer free Wi-Fi, others offer free shipping. Whatever you decide, brainstorm hard, even hold an employee contest. but find your niche and add feel-good loyalty to the mix.
Photofiddle.com is an internet company that offers a service to turn your photographs into art. Simply upload a photo and you can instantly transform that image into pop art, impasto, a black and white sketch and even more. Once you create your personal masterpiece you then have many options for the type of surface the image is printed on (glossy photo paper, canvas, etc.). Finally, you can choose from a number of print sizes and framing choices.
Although Photofiddle doesn’t have a recognizable rewards program they do provide various levels of feel-good loyalty. Upon opening your order, customers see each piece is carefully packaged and accompanied with a pair of white cotton gloves. The label attached to the gloves reads, “All fine artwork should be handled with care. Please use white cotton gloves. Oils from your hands and fingers can leave finger prints. Jewelry on your fingers and wrist can leave markings.”
That’s a personal touch and that’s feel-good-loyalty. It’s doing the little things that matter most with customers. It’s thinking outside the box so that your brand motivates your customers and resonates in their mind. Providing the white cotton gloves with each order sends both a literal message and subliminal message. It reinforces the need to treat your artwork with care and that they treat all of their customers with care.
Roger L. Brooks is a respected loyalty strategist with more than 15 years of experience in developing, supporting, and implementing customer loyalty and rewards programs.
Tags: awards, corporate incentives, customer incentives, employee incentive programs, incentive, motivate, motivational, reward, reward programs, rewards
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November 6th, 2011
It is no surprise that when the going gets tough, the tough must get going with the incentive being survival. Just about every company around the globe is finding new ways to do more with less while trying not to burn out their valuable skilled workforce. A survey by Deloitte of CFOs and other executive managers working at mid-sized companies demonstrated that 70 % of the nearly 700 survey respondents said they have experienced overall improvements in productivity over the past three years, with approximately half of those reporting gains of 5% or more. Most respondents attributed gains in productivity largely due to improvements in processing and technology. Investments in technology has required some companies to cut expenses dramatically to pay for systems, training and implementation however with remarkable gain.
Although technology has greatly improved our professional and personal lives, it is still human interaction coupled with technolgy that boost a company’s effectiveness. Your employees, vendors and customers want to know that if and when technology fails that there is a skilled and caring individual on the other side to help when needed. Nothing is worse that driving off a car lot with your new car then finding out a few days later that there is a problem and no one is there expect the automated attendant that answers the telephone.
In Call Centers across the world, a systems called call presentation delivers incoming calls very efficiently to representatives without them even having to pick up the phone. The representative simply hears a beep and in a few seconds a caller is waiting on the line and their account seems to magically present itself on the Call Center Representative’s screen. Seems easy but if that employee is not trained correctly, is stressed or is disgruntled, it is a recipe for disaster.
Do you remember the scene on the “I Love Lucy” show when Lucy and Ethel were working at a candy factory when all of a sudden the conveyor belt quickly speeds up preventing the two friends from wrapping each piece of chocolate? The belt goes faster and faster sending chocolates all over the floor causing Lucy and Ethel to panic! Soon the two best friends become stressed out due to lack of training, experience and become forced to look for ways to cut corners eating many of the chocolates before more landed on the floor thinking they could save themselves from being fired. It was one of the most memorable scenes of the show and something like this is just as memorable to your customers but without the humor.
Doing more with less is sending productivity higher however at what costs? Usually the first to suffer is quality because employees become tired and frustrated if cuts result in long term sacrifice. Without an incentive to hang in, stretch and grow accustomed adjusting to new demands, employees will make more mistakes and as soon as their is an opportunity, they will leave to greener pastures. Last month, a survey found that a growing percentage of workers are unhappy on the job and are looking for new employment. No matter what the economy, quality skilled workers will always have a place to go. Turn over is just as costly now as it was 6 years ago before the Recession however it is much harder to find those who are skilled.
As Managers, one has to become more creative, foster an atmosphere that is stimulating and provide incentives to push employees to higher standards during challenging times. If you are not a people person that gets involved and greets your employees at least a few times a week, you are not investing in your future. The way you manage your department today will carry you and your company ahead of the competition as the economy begins to turn around. If employees are left to continually think about getting a new job as soon as the economy changes because you did not demonstrate appreciation for their dedication, you will be spending more hours spent on recruiting than in planning for future growth.
Tips to Help Boost Productivity:
1. Make everyone fully aware of goals and expectations each week. Don’t badger just go over expectation, recognize employees who are doing well and train those who need help.
2. Brighten up your department with motivations posters, balloons when they reach their goals and Pep Rally type meetings on Mondays.
3. De-clutter your department and ask your employees to work on doing the same with their work space.
4. Create a contest and reward employees who can an opportunities list suggesting methods to cut waste and increase productivity.
5. Deliver a “Do it right the first time” campaign that often results in less phone calls and rework saving thousands of dollars.
6. Request that employees batch small tasks together and getting them done quickly each day.
7. Revisit individual employee talents. If you have someone who is a good researcher, have them be your point of contact for those needing to do research to complet requests. If one or two of your employees have good people skills, appoint them as your rallying team so they can help you engage other employees. There’s no reason not to use your team’s natural talents to your advantage.
8. Always be ready to capture new ideas as they pop up. Don’t put it off because you may forget.
9. Communicate clearly and often keeping everyone’s eye on the ball.
10. Keep them healthy mentally and physically by bringing in oranges during flu season and have fun frequent contests to provide an incentive to reach higher p
Tags: customer incentives, gift incentives, incentive, incentives, marketing incentives, motivate, reward
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October 27th, 2011
A manager has evolved from being a time keeper and making sure things get done into a coach, counselor and driver of corporate strategies. Since managers are the closest to front line staff and have more direct customer contact they are a wonderful source of information that provides leads regarding the need for future development and can more easily influence employees during times of change.
If you are a manager, you know you are not only sandwiched between executive level people with big requirments, you are also surrounded by employees who look to you for guidance, advancement opportunities, motivation and at times a friend. Being a manager on almost any playing field is one that may require you to walk gingerly through political land mines while keep things calm on the home front, your department.
Managers know that it can be a challenge to keep valuable skilled employee who are grateful but still keep an eye out for new and improved opportunities. After all, in today’s job market if you don’t see thing happening within 2 1/2 to 3 years at your company, it is time to move. The days of moving up in your own company are often limited because many executives and directors bring in their own teams for their own job security limiting advancement for mid-level managers and front line staff. Managers must keep nuturing their staff providing an environment that fosters cross-training in other departments, involvement in decisions and direction of the department and incentives to stay.
Regardless of our lovely economy, recent surveys reflect that over 80% of workers hope to change jobs in the near future. Job satisifaction is at a low. People need to feel valuable and appreciated and I don’t just mean during the holidays. One time in a job interview someone asked me “Why aren’t employees more loyal?” I almost burst out with a “Are you kidding?” Employees have felt since the 1980′s that companies are not loyal to them. Employees watched their mom and dad’s pension diminish or evaporate, we had Enron then we also began to see many mergers and buyouts. Company raises began to shrink from the once robust 10% increase down to a ceiling of 5% to 7%. Health benefits were beginning to shift into a more of a cost sharing type of thing.
As a manager, it is up to you and not just your employer to provide an valued incentive to stay interested in their job. If most people feel that their boss is doing what they can to keep the job and environment productive and interesting, they will invest added time. Also, if their manager sincerely cares about them as a human being and meets with them on a one on one basis once a month to hear about the family and the manager gives of themselves a bit, an employee will feel appreciated and enthusiasm will soar! As it has been for years, employees leave their jobs first and foremost because of their boss, the job itself and then, because of dissatisfaction with pay.
Going back in time we learn about how our roles changed over the decades contributing to our jobs today:
70′s …
Training focused primarily on discrimination, racism, and management by objectives.
80′s …
Popular training topics were behavior modeling, the first real push towards teamwork, empowerment, diversity, feedback, quality and employee incentives.
90′s …
Lots of manager training to become visionaries, learning groups, performance management, sexual harassment, re-engineering, fun incentives incorporating company executives and the evolvement of balancing work and life.
00′s …
A time when our employers want us to learn how to protect the company by attending training on topics such as employment law, computer security, workplace violence and prevention, stress management, differences between men and women managers and employee motivation to help with mergers and/or rightsizing.
Fun Ways to Provide that Added Incentive:
- Fun Fridays
- Funny Sock Fall Contest
- Outdoor Meetings under the Trees
- Host a surprise Un-Meeting
- Bring a Treat Friday
- Manic Monday Casual Day
- Scavenger Hunt Thursday
- College a Coupon for a Good Deed for a Prize
Being a manager is rewarding. The more you involve your team and keep them motivated, the better it is for you. Your team will help you meet your goals and your involvement with them will help them grow and feel valuable. Those at the executive level will quickly see that you can easily motivate your team to move ahead through change.
Here is to being a manager, enjoy!
Tags: awards, employee, employee incentive programs, employee rewards, incentive, incentives, motivate
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October 2nd, 2011
Of the ten basic motives that inspire all human action, love is probably the most powerful. More has been accomplished by people motivated by love for mothers, fathers, wives, husbands and children than any of the other motives.
It is very common to see athletes, musicians, and business people purchase beautiful houses for their parents when they make it big. I recently read about Gene Simmons, the famous bass player and singer for the band KISS, and his devotion and love for his mother, a Nazi concentration camp survivor who brought up her kids as a single mother. Famous, and not so famous, people recognize the love their parents gave them and the sacrifices they made to get them to where they are and want to ensure their parents never want for anything again.
Love for their wives has often been cited as the reason for the success of many men. Napoleon Hill wrote numerous times about the impact that the wives of the people he researched had on their success. Henry Ford and Thomas Edison had tremendously supportive wives and this propelled them to tremendous success, despite the many difficulties each of these men faced. John Wooden, the famous basketball coach, is well known for his love of his wife Nellie. Anybody studying John Wooden’s success will soon learn the importance of his wife Nellie to that success. I think of the story that Zig Ziglar tells of his friend Bernie Lofchick. Bernie became a wealthy, successful, business person because his son David was born with Cerebral Palsy. Bernie and his wife did everything they possibly could to make sure their son David had as normal a life as he could. Part of doing everything possible was earning an above average income to pay for the extensive therapy his son would need throughout his life.
The motive of love can also help people endure tough situations for long periods of time. I think about single mothers who often work tirelessly and still manage to impact their children positively to become contributing citizens of the world. I think of parents who endure jobs they do not like so that their kids will have the best life they can possibly give them. I think of people who experience physical disabilities and challenges in their lives and their spouses make adjustments to their lifestyle and dreams to lovingly care for them.
Think of the person you love the most in this world and who you would do the most for. If you were to find out that person would die in one year and suffer in the process, unless you earned say, $20,000 more in the next 12 months than you did in the previous 12 months, would you earn the additional $20,000? Would you sleep less? Would you watch television less? Would you waste less time? I believe that, if your love is strong enough, anyone could do it.
Think of the people in your life that you love the most. Think of the needs they have. Think about how you could help them with those needs, big and small. Bringing happiness, joy, and comfort to loved ones can motivate you more than anything else in life to do what you need to do.
Tags: motivate, motivate donors, motivation, motivational programs, motive
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September 28th, 2011
Being a middle manager in a big corporation can be a wonderful position but it is one that presents it unique challenges. A middle manager is usually closer to front line staff than executives however at the same time, there is great responsibility to achieve higher level goals. Often times the compensation and incentives of a middle manager does not include stock options, travel in first class or the opportunity to be readily seen in action presenting additional promotional opportunities.
What is the best way to describe a middle manager in just a few words? I would describe it as the sandwich position. The middle manager’s staff often views their boss as someone who understands the day-to-day production push and sees first hand how hard they work. They view their boss as someone who can fight for their right and provide key information back to them from the top. Top level executive management views the middle manager as a producer and someone who needs to make it happen regardless of staffing levels, the right tools and is a sponsor for the cause but not one of the elite.
More than five years ago middle managers were casualties during the need for downsizing. Vice Presidents and above were then required to manage lower level staff saving their companies money yet at times sacrificing employee development and needed coaching. This action came at a sacrifice to some companies effective growth and efficiencies.
As the Recession began to show signs of its seriousness coming down the pike at lightening speed towards us, companies began to look at mergers as a survival tool. Together companies could more readily competite in a world market that was becoming very challenging. Companies everywhere seems to be preparing for mergers and takeovers by window dressing. Window dressing is when a company hires a multitude of executives to appear stronger and more strategic therefore, becoming more attractive to suitors.
iddle managers are once again being viewed as a key role because they can manage diverse responsibilities at a closer level and act as catalyst for change. Middle managers offer an incentive to their employers by performing job functions and not just look at spreadsheets all day as many executives are required to do. These managers also discover auspicious opportunities because of how close they are to customers and employee cost saving production finds. If our economy improves, we will experience a demand for middle managers as many existing middle managers who survived downsizing and executives retire.
Being a middle manager is not easy. Employers need to recognize the demands placed on these people and demonstrate appreciation for their efforts because they are an integral part of a companies ability to more quickly positioning themselves through necessary change. One on one development is actually more important at the mid level than it is on the front lines because these people are the best suited to be future leaders and should be developed. We already know that these middle managers already posses Emotional Intelligence which we all know is paramount skill for an upper level executive.
Corporate America has moved away from the value of promoting from within. We have hired others from outside our companies looking at them as if they were more valuable with greater shine. What is valuable is right in front of our eyes! When we hire from outside the company, new hires often times bring in their own staff or other managers they know closing the door to development and promotion. We then are all faced with unhappy and unmotivated staff. Should we blame them for their sentiment? What happened to the song and dance about promotion from within that we sing loudly during the recruitment process? Is the grass really greener on the other side of the fence? Is there no value to someone that can hit the ground running and bring seeds fresh for planting?
Middle managers work hard and are often the unsung heroes. We need to provide them with incentives so that they do not just feel like an unrecognized work horse. Your managers are your spokesperson to your vendors and customers. They are your cheerleaders and messengers of the company’s vision. They translate complex directives into a possibilities motivate and provide an incentive to front line staff to execute and succeed.
Tags: blood donor incentives, employee incentive programs, employee rewards, incentive, incentives, motivate
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September 14th, 2011
Some time ago, someone wrote me an email and said, “I would love to know what motivates YOU!” So I took them up on it and I want to spend some time telling you how I stay motivated.
It is a valid question, this one of what motivates me. After all, each and every day I have to stay on the top of my game, whether because I am giving a speech, marketing my materials, writing to one of the subscribers I have in over 100 countries, or just trying to keep my kids energized!
As I thought about it, I realized again just how simple life can be if you put the right processes in place. I realized that staying motivated revolves around a few basic things that I do. And they are things that ANYBODY can do. So if I can stay motivated, you can too! If you want to stay motivated, try these basics that I use to keep myself motivated:
Read good books and magazines. I am an information junkie! I read all of the time. I don’t care what you say; you cannot be successful without reading! I read books, magazines, etc., all of the time. I read a breadth of information so as to develop myself on a wide variety of topics. Keep reading them on a regular basis throughout the month and not just in reading binges. Listen to good information. Get yourself into some good tapes. Listen to what others have to say. Give yourself a budget to spend on materials that will make you into a motivated animal! Above all, as you listen, apply the truths to your life in your head and they will become what you live! Maintain a positive group of friends and colleagues. I broke this rule yesterday and went to coffee with a real downer. I am still recovering from him! One of the best things you can do is to surround yourself with positive people who will build you up and encourage you to pursue your dreams. They will be honest with you, yes, but they will also challenge you to shoot for the stars!
Focus clearly on my goals. I know where I am going and what I want to accomplish. They are firmly rooted in my mind and heart. Because of this, my mind and heart are in an attitude of motivation all of the time. I want to hit my goals, and since they are present in my heart and mind, I put my energies into them.
Discipline myself to live out my priorities. Most of the time, this takes plain old hard work. We have to discipline ourselves, and as we do, we find ourselves becoming more and more motivated. If we discipline ourselves, it gives us wins and victories, which make us feel good, which motivate us for further action. If we don’t discipline ourselves, we feel defeated and we fall into a downward spiral of despair.
Are you keeping yourself motivated? You can. I know you can because I have seen these principles and actions work in my own life. Take a moment right now and see if you are living out the principles for keeping motivated:
Do you regularly read good books and magazines?
Do you regularly listen to good material?
Do you surround yourself with positive and supportive people?
Do you know and focus on your goals?
Do you discipline yourself to action even when you don’t feel like it?
Commit yourself to these and you will find that you have become a much more motivated person. This is what I do, and why I can continue to motivate others!
Upward and onward my friends!
Tags: motivate, motivate customers, motivation, motivational programs, point rewards
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September 9th, 2011
Do you walk into your office asking yourself what happened to the energy of your once vibrant sales staff? There is hope, you just have to give everyone their red balloon back. No matter what the age of the individual on your team, everyone still has a kid inside. A child lives inside of all of us whether rich or poor, educated or not, young or old. We all yearn for wonder, excitement and fulfillment, our red balloon.
When I was a little girl my grade school teacher announced that we were all going to sit Indian style on the floor and watch a French movie. We all thought, “Wow, a movie all the way from France at our school just for us!” What could it be about? As the teacher began to set things up for our movie, we were all so excited. It took her several minutes to get us situated and sitting quietly on the floor. She then told us the movie’s title ”The Red Balloon”. We all laughed with excitement because after all, what kid does not love a balloon? What a fun title I thought! It seemed so perfect to me that I quickly sat quietly with anticipation of this French movie. When the projector went on, I remember hearing the movie reel go around and around as it began to show the movie on the pull down screen in front of the chalk board. Thinking back to moment, it was really amazing how a 1/2 hour story about a red balloon befriending only one little boy could ignite a fever of excitement and motivation amongst 20 children that lasted the rest of the week.
“What is in it for me”, the question heard throughout every organization at literally every level. Whether those that do business with you are your employees, clients or donors, they all want to know the answer. Give them their choice of incentive. Either provide them year long discounts to theme parks, dinning or their choice of vacation.
Those that manage sales teams have opportunities to give their teams red balloons providing them with incentives that bring out their energetic inner child. Whether their inner child responds to incentives they can share with their families, experience with their buddies or fun from a new electronic toy, their “red balloon” is one that will not soon be forgotten. Like most kids we all share fun stories about experiences or prizes we have won. An incentive is usually shared imediately with others via email, text or photographs providing you with added advertising and sales. The best advertising of all is of course, the word of mouth.
Our red balloon provides us with an incentive to reach and stretch for our goals. It may seem that it is out of reach at first but as we continue to keep the incentive in our minds eye, we find ways to make that final jump grapping the string tightly holding it with pride and joy. We have reached success and have the red balloon for all to see.
Tags: blood donor incentives, customer incentives, donor incentives, employee rewards, motivate, motivate employees, sales
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August 1st, 2011
At Starbuck’s every where you can stop by almost any time of day and see people sitting at tables engaging in the dance. No, no one is dancing on the tables. The incentive of the dance requires no music but people seem to continue to move backward and forward to a familiar tune. It is all so interesting and some times down right amusing to watch savvy Sales People lean back into their seat as they carefully listen to their client’s needs and wants. As they drink their coffee and nibble on pastries, the dance continues this time reversing physical posture. The Sales Person puts down their coffee leaning towards their prospect demonstrating great interest. They begin to describe their company’s value, product features and benefits in compelling detail. The client makes their self comfortable and sips their coffee as they listen intently for key words and phrases.
Friendly environments such as Starbuck’s provide a friendly environment requiring little commitment being a much smaller price tag of a restaurant. The incentive of meeting at a coffee shop? There are less chances of uncomfortable moments battlling spaghetti noodles or dripping soup off your chin. A friendly place where one can easily make a sales meeting a long beneficial meeting or a few short one because there was really no interest in it for the customer.
Tips to Help You Prepare for You Sales Meetings:
- Define your goals and objectives.
- Ask your prospect or customer to provide a time frame so you know in advance how much time you have and prioritize. We should all respect the time of others and nothing is worse than being cut off right before the best part of the presentation.
- Get some sleep so you are sharp and add subtle color to your wardrobe so that you are at your best and interesting.
- Be personable and do not appear hungry for the sale. Good things will come to those who are prepared.
- Be able to answer their ”What is in it for me question” with the 5 to 10 minutes.
- Bring examples of how your product or service works for a client of yours. Talk about facts and figures of how well it worked for them and what you personally did to make the transition a success.
- Stay well informed about your competitors. Be informed about their latest financial news, public R&D projects and news about new product introductions.
- Don’t give away the farm. Provide an incentive to your prospect so that you can meet again or communicate by phone. Leave only a few brochures with them so that you and not your brochure is closing the sale.
- Bring only current marketing material. I can’t tell you how many times I have sat across from people and realized that their materials were very dated.
- Use concise laptop presentations whenever possible, we are all still captivated by the Internet and all it’s power.
- Ask your prospect what they liked most about the presentation. Also, ask if they have met with another company and what they liked and did not like about their products or service.
- Encourage interest and excitement by sincerely be interested in your prospect.
- Don’t forget to sprinkle humor in your sales meeting and lighten things up.
- Stimulate and develop interest by asking open questions.
- Always be closing but be careful not to make it too obvious
Follow Up:
A call cannot be considered a follow up call until, you make contact!
Send a thank you email or good old fashioned card with only a thank you in mind for their time. This sincere act will immediately set you apart and will be appreciated.
When you make contact, ask if they have had the time to research more or revisit brochures from your meeting together. If they have, be sure to warmly compliment them. Provide them with what you understood are the company’s needs. If they have not researched or revisited brochures, ask if they would appreciate highlights sent to them on an email. Sending a follow up email will allow you to promote yourself and your product in a more direct fashion.
Offer to assist your prospect if they are needing help sell the idea or service to other decision makers.
Host an Open House at your company or if possible, conduct a virtual meeting with other key members from Customer Service, Support and Implementation. Doing so will instill trust and provide additonal confidence about sharing their interests with others in their company.
Keep things upbeat, be confident that what you are selling will impact their company and future profits.
Develop a relationship not just a sale. Good sales people remember that each individual sold or not is very important. They follow the Other People’s People (OPP) rule. The prospect’s people are your future sales and each contact with a prospect is actually selling to other people through your prospect.
Good selling starts with an incentive to do the right thing, the right way for a positive result!
Tags: blood donation incentives, customer incentives, incentive, incentive programs, motivate
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