Nothing Breeds Success...Like Success

Hollywood isn't bashful these days about copying someone else's success. If a movie has what it takes to sell tickets, it's a good bet you'll see copycat concepts as quickly as they can be written, filmed and pushed to theaters. Other industries would be wise to adopt this tactic more often. There's no shame in taking note of a company's successful sales campaign and adapting it to suit their own business objectives.

With that in mind, we share these real-life stories from two companies whose about successful campaigns that used non-cash incentives to motivate the target audience.  Read more...

Need sales? They might be in the cards...

Gift cards have transformed the corporate market for rewards and recognition. Convenience, ease of use and administration, and the range of choice it provides recipients are the attributes most often mentioned by harried sales managers and incentive program administrators who use them.

It's those same positive points, however, that frequently lead to sales managers settling for less than they should from an incentive program that's fueled by gift cards. Co-branding and trophy value capabilities often get overlooked by incentive program planners who use gift cards...

What Works?  Incentive Products

The surest way to motivate someone to achieve an objective has always been to offer an incentive. Do this and get that. The best incentives are those things recipients desire, but won't buy for themselves.

Check out this collection of guilty pleasures...extravagances that combine highly-desirable brand names with top-notch features. These are the sort of powerful incentives that money alone can't match...

Five of your best investment opportunities Find more than 70 professional seminars, more than 1,000 suppliers of merchandise and travel rewards, plus more than a million people engaging ideas. The Motivation Show will inspire you to start managing the engagement of your employees and customers as a business asset. September 29 - October 1 at McCormick Place, Chicago, IL. Save $75...register today at www.motivationshow.com.

Sometimes size doesn't matter

As salespeople scramble to close large deals and hit year-end goals, smart sales managers should remind their troops about the secret of sequential requests, also known as the "foot-in-the-door" approach.

Simply stated, research has proven that small commitments often later lead to large commitments. The salesperson who secures an initial order, even if it's a small one, is more likely to get that customer to commit to buying again. It's a valuable piece of knowledge to keep in mind as salespeople plan for 2010.

"I believe in making it as easy as humanly possible to get your initial contract with big companies," states sales consultant and author Jill Konrath. "The best way to do that is to find and fill an immediate and urgent need for your prospect. It doesn't necessarily mean a huge contract."

Once you're salespeople turn a big prospect into a small customer, they can keep their eyes open for emerging needs. "You can leverage one piece of business into a highly profitable, multi-year relationship. More business will materialize if you keep your focus on helping your clients improve their operations," Konrath says.

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