FEATURESTORY

Medtronic Knows How To Pamper Its Stars

What's My Motivation? Don't over-think the reward. Most top performers are self-driven. "When I've had the opportunity to run focus groups for high-earning salespeople, so much of what motivates them is the challenge itself and the recognition of being No. 1 when the competition is stiff," says Tim Houlihan of BI. "I remember one guy asking how high the goals in a program would be? 'How high do you think they need to be?' I asked. He said he's typically at 120 percent of quota. 'Whatever the top level is, I'm going for it.'" When he said that, I immediately knew that he is a guy who competes against himself. He just wants to be challenged. It's sad to say, but it really wasn't about the rewards at all. It was all about his intrinsic motivation. But if he could connect his own personal goal to achieve something above and beyond with a lifestyle item that he couldn't afford or wouldn't afford, it would be icing on the cake."

Count Medtronic, a world leader in medical technology, among those companies that prefer to reward top-performing, high-salaried salespeople with merchandise and travel rather than cash.

"Participants actually like it better than cash and it doesn't conflict with our compensation program," says Jane Kopp Houlihan, a sales analyst at the Minneapolis-based FORTUNE 500 Company. She is responsible for setting sales quotas, completing revenue trend analyses, and overseeing sales incentive efforts for more than 100 highly compensated sales reps.

Medtronic has used BI's AwardperQs program to motivate top performers for the past three years.  The company's compensation director told Houlihan in a note that at least 10 sales reps approached him at a recent conference to express how much they enjoyed the AwardperQs program.

Medtronic also has awarded a top salesperson a $1,500 HDTV, a $20,000 Harley Davidson bike and numerous trips. They also have held drawings for a Harley Davidson and HDTVs. "The drawings create a lot of enthusiasm and excitement, but the downside of a drawing is that someone with only one ticket can win the big prize while the hard-working rep with 30 tickets can go home with nothing."
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