By Dana Phillips.

While training and mentoring are your bread-and-butter for team development, sometimes you want to add an extra taste bonus. That’s where your promotional incentives come in. What makes a good incentive?

  1. Have fun. Don’t be afraid to make it a little “out there.” One of our clients wanted his team to “Go Bananas” for recruiting.  He photoshopped his picture with a large Curious George.  Then he did the same at a grocery store produce section.  He mailed all the recruiters a personalized signed banana (or if you are afraid of the mailing bananas, send a picture). In two weeks, his team of 100 added 23 new members.
  2. Know your audience.  If you have lots of moms with young kids, they will have different likes than couples who work the business together.  Pick incentives that match their interests.
  3. Check your return on investment.  Figure out the incremental profit you will reap if you have everyone meet the challenge.  Then look at 20% achieving the challenge. Keep your costs under 1% of net profit. For example, don’t put a trip to Hawaii unless you can cover the cost of the promotion on what you would earn from one person winning. If you have a drawing for the trip, add all of the people who you think would make it.
  4. Promote your promotion. Find a way to keep people posted.  One leader was promoting a free pizza for the whole family. She sent an email out every Monday with the names of her team and their progress.  P I meant they had completed two parts of the contest. P I Z when they had three, etc.

What is the most fun incentive you have won? What is the most fun incentive you have offered your team? You might want to think about boosting activity or recruiting in a quick promotion right now.

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