Posted by Michael Hurwitz on Tue, Aug 17, 2010 @ 02:24 PM
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:
Posted by Jeff Broudy on Thu, Sep 24, 2009 @ 05:13 PM
This month as we prepared to launch a sales motivation animation on our blog, we had many discussions about why people have been so down and what could be the antidote to their dissatisfaction.
So we asked ourselves, who are the most satisfied? It turns out, according to the Pew Research Center, business owners, retired Americans, students, and the professional class of educated professionals. Surprisingly, income was not the determining factor among this middle class universe. It appears that optimism and control are the keys to personal satisfaction.
A look at the Pew Social Trends site revealed two fascinating studies about human satisfaction.
“America’s Four Middle Classes” defies most social stereotypes of the Middle Class. The Top of the Class leads in income, education and optimism. The Struggling Middle has a lower income than those in who describe themselves on the lowest part of the economic ladder where the American Dream is more dream than reality. The Satisfied Middle is disproportionately young and old, has everything but money, and has a sunny outlook. And then there’s the Anxious Middle with the same economic, social and educational benchmarks as the Top of the Class, yet their outlook is bleak as they feel a lack of control. The variable that affects these groups to feel better about themselves is the ability to have control in their lives.
Another study about the self-employed, “Take this Job and Love It”, revealed that intangible psychological benefits were greater satisfaction drivers than those employed by others. Many behaviors contribute to this psychological lift, but the over arching factor is a belief they can exercise control over their lives.
Optimism. Looking at what can be done, instead of what can’t be done. Pulling your own strings defines satisfaction, and it’s in our control. We are in the incentive industry, so we know that only when a program is achievable and desirable will the audience be satisfied.
Posted by Jason McCallum on Wed, Sep 23, 2009 @ 08:38 AM
I just came across this recent study by Oxford Economics on the ROI of Business Travel. For the purposes of this study business travel includes sales trips, meetings, conventions, and incentive trips.
How many of you in the past year have experienced a cancelation of a key meeting or incentive trip whether it was in your own company or a client of yours? According to the Oxford Economics study the average business would forfeit 15% of its profits in the first year of eliminating meetings and incentives and recovery from that loss would take up to three years.
That is a significant profit loss. Is that percentage profit loss something your company or your clients can afford? Meetings and incentives can be essential to a company's profits and also enhance morale, job performance, and customer engagement. They recently became an easy cut in the short term to manage costs but are continually proven to be a solid long term investment.