The Motivation Conversation

Sales Motivation- Pulling the Correct Strings

Thinking of ways to increase corporate productivity and performance in today's economic climate we put together an animation on sales motivation and how to pull the correct strings:

Anatomy of a Successful Incentive Travel Program

Groucho Marx once said "Talk, talk, talk.....when do we eat? Finally, there is an independent study that proves the efficacy of incentives that you can sink your teeth into.  The Incentive Research Foundation's "Anatomy of a Successful Travel Program" demonstrates the end-to-end financial, employee retention and economy boosting benefits of a well conceived incentive program.  It's a tasty treat in a world of sour skeptics.

Employers Can You Hear Me?

Communication begins with active listening.  When employees feel heard, it increases their stake in your business and enhances their core values about why they are working there. The translation is they are happier and better performing employees.

Most employees do not respond well to just a one-sided stream of information raining down from above.  Giving them a forum for feedback creates an atmosphere that encourages an entrepreneurial and empowering spirit. You might be thinking that in this current business /economic climate you don’t have the time for listening or else you think that all you’ll hear would be complaints.

Try looking at it this way,  if you put a kettle on the stove and stand there the water will heat up to the perfect temperature you’d like for a cup of tea however, if you walk out of the kitchen and leave the kettle on its own the water temperature becomes scalding and boils over.  Complaints boil over from lack of attention.

Another important way to recognize your employees is with rewards for performance.  By listening to them you’ll learn about their focus and interests thereby, tailoring the right rewards program that will engage, motivate, and retain them.

Remember too that your employees are on the front line of your operations and their feedback and experience is very useful for learning about your customers and targeting your business to them. Your employees are your in-house market research department.  Utilize their intelligence, skills, and experience to encourage new ideas and solutions, because ultimately for business success and satisfaction, it should be everybody’s business!

The Faith of Brand

We all want to feel like we belong to give us grounding in this intensely moving world. According the latest neuromarketing research outlined in Martin Lindstrom’s book, “Buy-ology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy”, the same regions of our brains light up when strong feelings about religious faith are reinforced as when we are confronted with familiar strong brands.

He is not suggesting that making your brand buy of Coke or Hefty Bags is the equivalent of a religious experience however, he notes that when we sense that there are too many options and lack of control, we retreat to comfort of something we know and can count on. The rituals of religious practice provide this as does a known brand. Both cut down the cultural clutter to something manageable and can be counted on.

Those of us who work in the motivation, engagement and incentive industries know that a key to success is a well perceived brand as that is what keeps our audience engaged and successful. Through the power of brand comes the desire of recognition within it and it is from this place that rewards should be focused. Recent research by the Incentive Research Foundation, Human Capital Institute and Forum for People Performance Management and Measurement is capturing metrics that demonstrate the power of a culture of recognition.

When a culture of recognition becomes the brand, we allow our audience to feel in control and reinforce the comfort of belonging.

Does Size Matter in Your Reward Programs?

Can the element of surprise motivate individuals more than the size of the reward?  We recently came across this article in Fortune Magazine that suggests that the surprise element can act as a type of dopamine that is activated by unexpected positive results.

For employee recognition programs even top performers who are used to high-end rewards can appreciate a small one if it is unexpected.  The frequency with which you reward is also important to consistently reinforce behavior and increase employee engagement.

So for managers thinking of what is the best way to reward their employees it is not the size of the reward that matters it is the frequency and element of surprise that triggers those motivational juices.