One of the biggest challenges that an employer faces is keeping employees motivated. This is sadly commonplace across industries and is tremendously harmful to the success of a company.

This is particularly harmful to your sales department. Do you find that your salespersons lack motivation and aren’t putting in much effort? If so, your revenue and profits can crash and never recover.

You need to incentivize your sales team. The best way to incentivize them is through sales awards.

An award tells your employee that they are on the right track. It motivates them to keep up the good work. It can also bring comfort to an insecure employee who is doubting themselves.

If you’re looking to motivate your sales team, here are some great sales award ideas:

Internal Competition

Salespersons are always looking to compete and “one-up” themselves and others. These are the types of employees who love being the Employee of the Month. This is a healthy form of internal competition. It pushes all salespersons to improve their previous sales records. It raises the standards for the sales team as a whole.

So what do you do for your sales team? You introduce a custom sales award. This sales award gets designated to the best salesperson on your team.

For example, whichever salesperson brings in the most revenue per quarter can get a custom plaque that they can proudly display at home. Salespersons value recognition, and this is a great way to incentivize them.

You can also make a duplicate plaque to display on a wall at the workplace. This way, all salespersons are reminded of their best colleagues. This incentivizes them to improve their sales record to “get on the wall one day!”

Promotions

Salespersons want to move up in their careers. Junior-level salespersons wish to rise in seniority. Many will want to become managers of sales teams. They want to get involved with training new hires as well as developing sales strategies.

One way for salespersons to get promotions is through their credentials. One of the best records for the credentials is sales awards. If a salesperson has received a sales award, this gives the impression that they are a step above their colleagues.

For example, let’s suppose your salespersons wish to rise to a managerial level. You can tell them that to get such a promotion. They must achieve at least 3 awards. These awards are received every time they reach a milestone with their sales records. This motivates them to collect as many awards as possible, thus increasing their chances of a promotion.

Increase Retention Rates

Retention rates are a challenge that many companies struggle with. You want to make sure you keep your best salespersons on your team for years to come. Hiring the best talent is one thing, but if you cannot retain talent, this will harm your company.

If you have great talent among your sales team, you know that they are a value to the marketplace. At any given time, a rival company can try to hire your best salespersons.

Often, the main reason why employees leave is that they feel underappreciated. If you have a low retention rate, this can even lower morale amongst seasoned employees.

As a result, you’ve got to make sure you increase retention rates. You want your sales team to feel appreciated for their hard work.

By giving sales awards, you show them that you are grateful for their contributions to the company. If a salesperson feels underappreciated, they can immediately change their feelings if they receive a surprise award.

Let your salespersons know beforehand that they can receive awards. This gives them the impression that your company rewards success. They will work toward getting awards and will appreciate the company when they receive one.

Fame For The Company

Of course, giving out sales awards isn’t just for the sake of the salespersons. Giving out awards is one of the best ways to get publicity for your company.

Let’s say you give out an award to your best salesperson. They will be happy to share this news with others. It puts your company in a good light. It shows the local community that your company rewards hard work and achievement. This is one of the best ways to make your company prominent in your community.

If your salespersons get interviewed in a business magazine, they might mention their sales awards. The readers of the magazine will also get a great impression of your company.

You can also consider hosting an awards event. This can be a formal banquet where you invite your staff and their guests. At this event, you can give out awards to your best salespersons.

As they get recognized in front of their peers, it’ll motivate them to continue to strive for excellence. Those that don’t receive awards will strive to work harder for the future. If you invite reporters, they can share the news about your company. Once again, this is a great opportunity for publicity.