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Manufacturer Incentives For Sales Force
July 25, 2008

All of the sales associates love when a manufacturer runs a "spiff" or other sales incentive.  Sometimes a manufacturer will offer a cash-spiff reward per product sold.  Other times, a manufacturer will offer a reward for meeting a predetermined sales goal.  

A manufacturer approached us today and asked if we could accommodate such a program in order to help them reclaim the portion of the market they've lost to some competing brands.  As it stands, we sell about the same amount of three separate companies on this one particular product.  This is a high-volume product with a lot of dollars at stake.  Several years ago, there was no competition and this brand had all of the sales to themselves.  Now they want to set a goal and treat our sales associates to a night on the town if the goal is met while, in-turn, reclaiming their throne.

Will it work?  Yes, of course it will.  Our sales will improve with this company.  Our sales in this area (between all three companies) may see a slight increase overall.  The real benefit, though, will be the additional opportunity for our sales force to work together toward a common goal.  The unity created by this type of incentive is something that cannot be achieved by cash-spiffs.  The camaraderie and morale boost will be the real winning aspect for us.  

The only downside to this is that I happen to personally feel that this is not the brand for every customer.  I will not recommend a product to a customer just because they are offering me some sort of incentive.  It is more important to me to recommend the right product to each customer than it is to sell a certain line or to kiss a certain butt.  I have my integrity to maintain and will continue to assess each customer's needs on an individual basis.  I pray that each of our associates will continue to do the same.

Posted by Kelly Nelson on July 25, 2008 | Comments (0)