If there is one thing I’ve learned over the years in the incentive business, it is this – rewards matter. They matter because a big piece of the motivation puzzle is the need to emotionally engage participants, and rewards are arguably the single most important tool to capture the hearts and imaginations of salespeople at all performance levels. Rewards are a key Incentive Building Block, and it is critical that sales managers think carefully when choosing incentive program rewards.
Many studies have shown that tangible rewards and trips are better motivators than cash. A University of Chicago study found that salespeople working towards a non-cash incentive had a 38.6% performance uplift (versus no incentive), nearly double the performance of salespeople working towards a cash incentive.
According to Scott Jeffry, PhD, the reason for the extra effort has more to do with psychological theory than economic theory. Incentive program participants ask themselves “How hard will I work for this particular award?” Especially if a reward is considered a luxury or a “splurge,” salespeople will work harder to earn the item of their choice “guilt-free.” If we take that a step further, salespeople will work even harder for the right rewards.
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