In the last article I talked about how to get more money from your current customers. I talked about bundling, cross-selling, and up-selling. Although I did not use those terms, the processes were discussed. In this article I am going to talk about how to motivate your employees to sell more. Promotional sales for employees are not new. Many industries use them for their professional sales staff. Things like exceed your quote this year and we’ll send you on a cruise or you’ll receive a $500 savings bond. But what can you do if your sales force is just a couple of insiders? How can you motivate them to sell more?
The key to motivation is to keep it current. Set the time frame to something with a short deadline. Working with your staff toward a single goal that can take a year to achieve will rarely work. But having them work toward a weekly or biweekly goal keeps it fresh in their minds and that keeps them motivated toward the goal. But weekly or biweekly gifts are expensive, right? That’s the beauty of motivation. It doesn’t have to be expensive, just something you’re willing to put in a little extra effort to achieve.
Let’s say you have a doctor’s office. You want to increase your customer referrals. Each staff member receives a set of reference cards with her name printed on them and a space for the customer to put her name as well. You do a contest. For the employee with the most referrals over the next 4 weeks, you’ll give them a dinner and a show. He will also pull a client’s name out of all referrals and provide them with a free dinner and show ticket as well. Now you have motivated the employee to make sure that the customers are aware of the promotion and also motivate the customers.
Other ways to motivate the employee is with embroidered clothing. Starbucks does this. Have you ever noticed that some Starbucks employees have their names embroidered on their aprons, while others don’t? Or have you been to Cracker Barrel and noticed that the staff have different numbers of stars on their aprons? This custom clothing is a reward for employees for reaching certain goals. You can offer shirts or jackets embroidered with the employee’s name when they reach certain goals or milestones. This also helps reduce turnover and builds pride within the organization.
Goals are best set when they are personal to the employee. The best way to do this is with your input. Everyone is different. Motivation is different for each of us. Some like more money, some like a trophy, some like a simple thank you, some free time. To really motivate your employees, figure out what motivates them, and then sit down and come up with a goal and reward system that is geared toward the company goal and your own personal rewards.
Plaques, trophies, engraved pens and pencils, jackets, custom aprons, embroidered shirts, and hundreds of other items can be used to motivate your employees to sell more, provide better customer service, generate referrals, and generally build your business. .