Sales incentive ideas to motivate your team
Last updated: December 13, 2023
A well-designed sales incentive program is an initiative that can support more closed deals and revenue. Taking a strategic approach to incentives shows employees that your company values their hard work. This fuels motivation and can help your entire organization reach its goals faster.
In this article, we’ll explore the benefits of sales incentives and share how to design an effective program. Plus, we’ll give you examples of incentives that get results. Read on to learn how to reward your team and set up your company for sustainable growth with the help of incentives.
Benefits of sales incentives for your business
What can you expect when you start implementing incentives in your organization? Before diving into specific incentives, let’s look at why building an incentive program pays off.
Increased productivity
Incentives act as a motivator to make more calls, send emails, book demos, and get deals completed. This productivity fuels pipeline growth and closed revenue. Research shows that 90% of top-performing companies use incentive programs to reward their sales associates.
Higher levels of engagement
Sales incentives make employees feel valued and recognized. It allows them to see first-hand that their contributions matter. This drives higher engagement across your sales team because recognition is a key driver of engagement. In fact, 82% of employees agree that recognition for their contributions improves engagement, according to a survey from Nectar.
Increased motivation
Motivation is crucial in sales, which can be a tough role with high pressure and rejection. Sales incentives give reps added motivation to power through challenges—and that makes them more resilient, even when deals fall through or quotas are tough to meet. Almost 84% of employees agree that recognition affects their motivation to be successful at work.
How to choose the right incentives for sales
Now that we’ve covered the benefits, let’s explore the steps for designing an incentive program that works for your organization and supports your sales goals.
1. Find out what inspires your team
Don’t assume that you know what rewards your team will value most. Every employee is motivated differently. Send out a short survey asking about their preferences. Getting input ensures that the incentives don’t fall flat.
2. Set achievable goals
Make sure goals are challenging but attainable. Also consider rewarding progress against goals, not just final achievements. This keeps reps motivated, even when they’re having difficulty hitting their targets.
While 55% of average companies use goal-based programs for their team, nearly 70% of top-performing companies do, according to recent data from the Incentive Research Foundation.
3. Determine metrics and requirements
Clearly lay out what metrics your employees must meet in order to earn the incentives in your program. Your sales team needs to know what’s expected from them to make progress. Otherwise, they may not be as motivated to work toward the incentives you offer.
4. Combine monetary and non-monetary rewards
When you’re sorting through the types of incentives to offer, remember that there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. Provide a mix of rewards to make your program more effective and reach employees who are motivated differently.
Research shows that 93% of executives at top-performing companies go beyond being willing to leverage incentive programs to remain competitive; they strongly support non-cash rewards and recognition.
Types of sales incentives your organization can offer
How can you structure your incentive program to make it work for your company? Let's explore some of the most popular and effective options.
Presales incentives
Sales cycles are longer than they were in years past. According to Ebsta’s 2023 B2B Sales Benchmark Report, the average sales cycle takes 61-90 days for medium deals and 150-180 days for larger deals. You can incentivize presales teams based on bookings generated or customer contacts made to keep them motivated throughout different stages of the sales cycle. This can increase their chances of winning more deals.
Split incentives
These incentives reward individual and team achievements. If, for example, you have 2 team members from different regions working on the same deal, they can work toward an incentive together and your organization can divide the incentive based on the work each employee contributed.
Omnichannel incentives
Sales strategies have expanded beyond traditional methods to span multiple channels (for instance, in-person and digital). It’s important to make sure the incentive program you implement reflects that. Omnichannel incentives reward everyone who contributed to winning the deal, no matter how they did it. This way, no matter when or where a sales team member enters the deal, they’re always recognized for their contributions.
Analytics-based incentives
One of the best ways to see progress toward a goal is by looking at data. Incentives can be tied to metrics like call time per rep, social selling engagement, and email response rates. This brings positive attention to crucial activities. What you measure grows, and by tying incentives to metrics, organizations can motivate reps to improve in areas that directly affect the business.
Role-specific incentives
This incentive type shows that you understand unique challenges and opportunities for different members of the sales team. It also helps ensure that rewards resonate with the specific needs of each person. For example, sales leadership could have incentives around team quotas or profitability goals, while account executives could have incentives based on their interactions and relationship-building activities with customers or clients.
Samsung increased Galaxy mobile device sales by 20% after giving customers $100 worth of Uber Eats credit.
10 sales incentive ideas to inspire you
Now that we’ve taken a closer look at the concept, let's move from incentive types to specific ideas you can implement. Try these 10 sales rewards to motivate your team.
1. Entertainment
Fun experiences can produce positive emotions that your team will remember. Reward top performers with concert, sports, or theater tickets. This can help them create a positive work-life balance.
2. Tangible prizes
Physical rewards aren’t as common in our increasingly digital area, but they’re still appreciated. Try giving team members useful items or gift cards to their favorite locations. Creating this connection between work and reward can help employees reach new levels of motivation.
3. Professional development
Empower team members to gain more knowledge by giving them access to relevant online courses, language lessons, or conferences. Supporting their professional growth makes it possible for them to expand their knowledge and gain in-demand skills.
4. Wellness
Consider offering rewards such as health coaching sessions where they can get advice on nutrition, exercise, and stress management. Mindfulness apps can offer guided meditations and breathing exercises to help reduce anxiety and enhance focus. Spa services, like massages or facials, can provide much-needed relaxation.
5. Monetary options
Money is a simple and effective motivator. You can offer commission bumps, bonuses, or equity when appropriate. Tailor these incentives to the employee’s role and performance metrics, as well as your company’s financial structure to keep everything fair.
6. Travel experiences
Encouraging your team members to explore the world or immerse themselves in unique adventures can boost morale and create unforgettable memories. Whether it’s an airline ticket to a destination they’ve always wanted to visit, a relaxing stay at a luxury hotel, or a tour of a foreign city, these experience-based incentives can make a memorable impact.
8. Team events
When teams hit goals together, they should be rewarded together. This could include activities like escape rooms and relaxed evenings at a local brewery. These outings reward employees while promoting camaraderie and strengthening team dynamics.
9. Subscription boxes
Gifts that keep on giving can often be more impactful than one-off rewards. Subscription boxes are an innovative way to offer consistent surprises to your employees. From books to craft supplies to tech gadgets, subscription services can be tailored to align with an individual’s passions and interests.
10. Donations
You can even expand your sales incentives beyond options that directly benefit your employees. To show your employees that you care about the causes they support, donate time or money to their favorite charity.
There are many options to choose from, and there’s no one right answer for an incentive program. The key is to figure out what will motivate your team the most.
It’s your turn to incentivize your sales team with Uber for Business
Uber for Business offers an easy way to reward and motivate sales teams. Our web-based platform makes it simple to distribute and manage incentives like gift cards and vouchers.
Vouchers: Show your team you appreciate them by paying fully or partially for rides with Uber and orders with Uber Eats. You can easily create and manage voucher campaigns in just a few steps, and you only pay when the recipient redeems their offer.
By rewarding results and behaviors that drive success, you can create positive cycles that lead to more closed deals. Your sales team will feel valued and recognized for their achievements. Whether you offer trips, gift cards, or public kudos, choose incentives tailored to your team to boost growth for your business.
Gift cards in US dollars are issued by The Bancorp Bank, N.A.
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