Recycling the same old sales incentives isn’t much fun for your team. And more importantly, it doesn’t offer optimal motivation. In fact, unexpected rewards trigger dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with feelings of pleasure that also helps with memory formation, or learning. In other words, surprising your team will motivate them.
We all know it takes work to come up with new incentive ideas that fit within budget, so easier said than done, right?
Not necessarily. We’ve compiled some resources to make this easier on you, starting with the 15 ideas below. Many came straight from our team or customers, who use these seemingly simple ideas — mainly as sales contest prizes — to support the type of stellar culture that breeds optimal sales performance. And then we have 102 more ideas in our latest sales incentive eBook.
But that’s for later. For now, let’s get into these…
15 Inexpensive Sales Incentive Ideas:
- An at-work delivery of milk and cookies
- An exercise ball to replace a desk chair
- The opportunity to switch desks with anyone in the office for a day (hello, window view)
- Takeout from any local restaurant delivered right to the winner’s desk for lunch
- Fresh breakfast on the winner’s desk and ready to eat at the start of the workday
- If it’s spring or summer, an outdoor work station for a day, equipped with a table and chair, extension cord and wifi code
- One different piece of dessert delivered every afternoon for one week
- A superhero figurine (Macho Man works for us)
- A promise that someone in leadership will sing one song over a channel that everyone can hear, such as a conference call or Google Hangout
- A promise that the entire executive team will wear the jerseys of – or if they’re feeling adventurous, paint their faces the colors of – a sports team they dislike for one afternoon
- A conference table turned candy buffet for one afternoon
- A pack of classic board games – such as Jenga, Trouble, Battleship and Candy Land – that employees can take short breaks to play at work over the course of a week
- A coupon to block off a meeting room for one 30-minute nap
- A toy basketball hoop to hang in the office
- The chance to take a 2-hour break from work and watch any movie (which management will bring in, along with some popcorn)
What do you think? Have any to add? We’d love to see your feedback and ideas in the “Comments” section below.
Don’t forget to check out our free eBook:
Thanks! Great ideas…simple and to the point! No filler talk!!! 🙂 🙂 Thank you for providing useful information without tons of useless info. I also like how you have links to other sites that are very helpful too. Much appreciated!!!
Thanks Kathy! If you try out any of these incentives, be sure to tell us how it goes!
[…] the first month of working for The Lakeside Group, I received a thank-you card and a box of chocolate-covered strawberries, thanking me for joining The Lakeside team. It was a great feeling that they went out of their way […]
Wow, thanks Mike. I love these ideas. I’m just a crew leader but I’ll see if we can implement some similar things. Sounds like u have a really fun work environment. Don’t forsake it. : )
Great ideas, will be looking to implement some of these within our team.
Thanks
[…] tactics don’t need to be financial. In a recent survey, the majority of employees stated that a day off or the ability to work from home a few hours a […]
Thanks! I’ll include a couple of your ideas in our weekly contests. I’ve been running weekly contests for nearly 3 years to increase sales. Here’s a couple of fun ones. “Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend” Each time Sales Reps sold an item they received $$ and a faux diamond found at a crafts store. Although the diamonds were not real it was still a lot of fun.
The contest called, “Do You Recognize Me?” provided $$ and clues for every sale. The Sales Rep. who could recognize the historic person, from the clues, won an even larger $$ prize.
Doug – Love the creativity in these ideas!
[…] hard within your business. However, sometimes it’s a good idea to take things a step further and offer extra incentives. You could start an employee of the month scheme to encourage people to push themselves. Of course, […]
[…] 1. Lunch with the bossThis serves as another low budget sales incentive, but will definitely motivate reps, thanks to the recognition it offers. Have your president, CEO or another executive who might not get much face time with your team take them to lunch.2. Wall of FameThis is another easy recognition-based sales incentive. Pick a high traffic area in the office and display sales reps’ pictures, along with a note on why they made it up there. But be careful not to overdo it with pictures. Leave the wall for unique accomplishments. 3. A night on the townHave a limo pick your sales rep up and one person they choose to accompany them from the office after work. Buy dinner for them at a nice restaurant, and then cap the night off with concert/event tickets.4. Champion swagLet your reps pick out some champion swag for their desk. Have an assortment of signs, coffee mugs and other tchotchkes with champion quotes. These types of sales incentives are great for culture and peer-to-peer recognition — when a team member comes up to a desk and sees a sales incentive, especially when it’s new, they’re likely to call it out. 5. Experiential gift certificatesGift certificates don’t have to start and end at Starbucks gift cards. Amp up your motivation game with a gift card to a summer concert series or even to a non-profit your team supports. (Check out Tango Card for that.)6. Lazy dayThis one speaks for itself. The winner gets a day off to kick back and relax. That day off feels even better when you’ve earned it.7. Golf outingAn all-expense weekend trip to a golf resort is the perfect sales incentive to let a rep unwind and be ready to work when Monday hits. If they don’t golf, try including lessons, or substitute that whole idea for a spa experience.Sales incentives have potential to be your bread and butter when it comes to motivating your sales reps. Keep them fresh and engaging, and you’ll see what I mean. (Want more fun ideas? Check out 15 inexpensive sales incentives your team will love.) […]
[…] Have the sales rep and CSM ring the proverbial gong together. Share the success. Grab a cup of coffee — anything that lets both team members know they are valued in the customer acquisition process. (Get ideas on inexpensive ways to recognize performance.) […]
[…] be paying out in sales incentives this year for successful reps. We’ve already shared some inexpensive sales ideas, but we wanted to give you some fresh ideas to start off […]
[…] shared a ton of inexpensive sales ideas before, but we recently received a request for sales incentives specifically for remote […]
[…] shared a ton of inexpensive sales incentive ideas before, but we recently received a request for sales incentives specifically for remote […]
[…] Have the sales rep and CSM ring the proverbial gong together. Share the success. Grab a cup of coffee — anything that lets both team members know they are valued in the customer acquisition process. (Get ideas on inexpensive ways to recognize performance.) […]
[…] Incentives are a tried and true method of providing a short burst of motivation for your employees. If you’re working on a certain project or looking to build a competitive edge to your team, rewards always help. But you can use cheap rewards in just about any case. They don’t even have to be purely competitive. Reward your employees for their work with little, cheap treats and it will add a sense of fun to the work environment. […]
[…] incentives for your […]
[…] Check out some mini incentive ideas here […]
[…] should burn a hole in your budget to lure people with expensive incentives. There are hundreds of inexpensive sales incentive ideas that any sales management team can use to motivate […]
[…] a contest or quick spiff to unite the team around the metric. Offer an inexpensive incentive to the rep who contributes the most. Recognition, alone, can be a great […]