Most sales reps are motivated by larger paychecks – money talks! At the same time, sales motivation truly originates from your sales commission program’s structure. When supplementing cash-based incentives, non-cash rewards can prove equally – or even more effective in terms of motivating your sales force!

Examples of non-cash rewards
Here are just a few examples of non-cash rewards you can use to motivate your team:

  • Dining: fine dining, private event, wine club, etc.
  • Events: comedy show, sporting events, etc.
  • Gadgets: latest cell phone, new watch, new laptop, etc.
  • Memberships: sailing club membership, golf club membership, etc.
  • Travel: travel voucher, weekend getaway, cruise, etc.
  • Health: massage, spa, beauty salon, etc.
  • Recognition: preferred parking, lunch with the CEO, etc.
  • Learning: cooking class, sales conference, coaching sessions, etc.
  • Points: accrue points and earn special rewards
  • Badges: display special badges on reps commission dashboard

Delivering non-cash rewards
The best way to deliver non-cash rewards is to:

  • Personalize them. Make sure that the reward makes sense to the recipient. If they don’t drink, don’t get them a wine club membership!
  • Keep them fresh. For non-cash rewards to be effective, they must feel exciting. If everybody already has had lunch with the CEO, it’s no longer a perk.
  • Prepare them. Do all the prep work ahead of time so that your reps don’t have to lift a finger – and feel truly special.
  • Customize them. Entry-level reps may appreciate cash-based rewards a lot more than non-cash awards. Make sure to design incentive plans accordingly.

Your return on investment
Besides creating more sales motivation and employee loyalty, your non-cash rewards can lead to additional (small) returns on investments in the form of:

  • Making your sales reps more efficient (ex: new cell phone)
  • Helping your sales reps connect (ex: golf membership)
  • Increasing your team’s knowledge (ex: sales conference)
  • Improving relations with other top reps (ex: private events)
  • Improving your employee’s health (ex: spa)
  • Increasing employee loyalty (ex: invite their spouse)
  • Helping with recruiting efforts by being different

Challenges with non-cash rewards
There are a few challenges associated with non-cash rewards you should be aware of:

  • Your finance team may push back as they are harder to track and audit
  • Additional work is required from your admin team to plan and deliver rewards
  • You need to keep innovating and regularly update non-cash rewards
  • The same cash reward may be valued differently by different reps
  • Cash rewards are more visible – reps may start comparing with others
  • You need to make sure your cash reward is not offensive or misunderstood

Conclusion
Make sure to use an SPM solution which lets you deliver and track non-cash rewards. With this in place, non-cash rewards give you an opportunity to make your sales environment both unique and exciting.