Salespeople expect to be well rewarded

No company can thrive without an effective sales team, whether they be on the floor of a retail outlet, hitting the phones or touring the country pitching for new business. So, it makes sense to ensure that good salespeople are happy at your firm.

Reward schemes for high achievers can come in many guises, but you will almost certainly need to make cash incentives part of your plan. Most organisations use the opportunity to earn commission or bonuses to motivate their sales staff and professionals expect it.

It can be difficult to design a good commission structure, as there are so many different factors to consider. Above all, it must be transparent and fair to all the employees who are part of it, otherwise it will have the opposite impact to the one you wanted.

You should also ensure it is both sufficiently demanding and rewarding to incentivise your salespeople to bring in the numbers the company needs to achieve profitability and growth. However, you must do your sums before finalising the programme and making details of it available to staff, as you need to know the firm can afford it.

Once you have developed a bonus scheme that works for your business, you need to think about what else you can do to reward top salespeople. If money is the only thing you use, there is nothing to stop your best staff being tempted by a better salary and bonus package on offer at a competitor, and taking their contacts and industry knowledge with them.

You should also have something in place that demonstrates to workers how much they are valued by the management team and that helps to build loyalty to the company. One simple way to do this is to give people who have exceeded their targets personal rewards on top of their commission, such as gift vouchers for their favourite high street store.

Another popular choice is travel vouchers that entitle your staff to money off holidays. A clever way to use these is as a prize for the top performing salesperson each month or quarter.

When considering rewards schemes based on sales figures, do not forget about your other workers, as administration staff and those who fulfil the orders also play an important role in securing repeat business from customers. If company-wide targets are achieved, an event such as a party or employee day at the races can be an effective way to show people how much the firm values them.