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.
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)
Thanks Kathy! If you try out any of these incentives, be sure to tell us how it goes!
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
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!