Incentive Program Approval

How to get your incentive program approved

OK, so maybe you’re not the head of your company. You’re a middle manager who runs a department, or a sales manager in charge of a group of account executives and you have an idea for a dynamite incentive that will blow the doors off your budget for the year. You’ll need to make a compelling incentive proposal to your superior. You’ll need to show that you’ve thought the whole plan through.

Or maybe you’re a front line employee who would like an incentive program because it will give you a raise in income and energize your co-workers.

Or maybe you’re looking for a particular high-end piece of merchandise that you normally couldn’t afford. No matter who you are, it’s important for you to not be intimidated.

Chances are your company is looking for ways to increase its business. And if you are looking for a way to increase your income, it’s a perfect marriage. This blog will allow you to ask for an incentive for yourself confidently. See, it’s not just a question of asking for an incentive. It’s a question of justifying it from a financial perspective.

When you’re brainstorming your incentive program, ask the following questions:

How will this benefit the company financially?

How will this benefit the company in other ways?

How much will this cost the company?

Make sure you have all your ducks in a row, because you may be asked a lot of questions, especially if your business currently doesn’t do a lot of incentives.

If you don’t get an answer right away, don’t give up on it. Wait a day or two and follow up with your boss. Break the ice by asking if he had any other questions, and ask point blank when you can roll it out. This will create a sense of urgency with him or her, and should generate some type of yes or no answer at that moment. If it doesn’t, keep after them, just try not to be a pest about it.

Remember: ultimately the incentive is supposed to help your standing at work, not hurt it. If you get a “no” answer on your plan, make sure you go away from the meeting with a clear definition from your boss of where to go next. Was there a glitch in the plan? Is the award to generous or the budget unmanageable? It’s quite possible that your boss is seeing something either with the business or the plan that you can’t. The most important thing is to not get discouraged.

If you get some direction on where to proceed after the meeting, head in that direction 100%, and don’t look back. If your answer is “yes,” move on it. Don’t let the plan sit idle. Show your boss and co-workers that you’re a person of action. The worst thing you can do with a solid plan is to not act on it, especially if it’s been approved. If you need help rolling it out or administering it, ask. Just don’t procrastinate. You got the answer you were looking for, now go for it!

Additionally, find out in advance if your workplace has a No Incentive policy in place before proceeding. If that’s the case, speak to someone about the exact details of the policy. It’s crucial that you go through the proper protocol when requesting an incentive at your place of business.

I wrote the book on incentives. Go to http://www.incentivetoolkit.com to order.

Employee Feedback

Listening to what your employees have to say about the company is vital to your company’s growth, both internally and externally. Sometimes it’s a challenge to generate this kind of constructive feedback on a consistent basis. It may be time to sweeten the pot. Here are a couple suggestions:-

-Conduct a monthly contest for the suggestion that is the most revenue generating or most cost saving for the company. Give prizes to the most creative suggestions in one or both of these categories. Try to put the suggestion into place as soon as possible, but don’t commit yourself to an actual timetable, and don’t guarantee that the suggestion will definitely be implemented. After all, things may happen that could hinder the idea’s progress, and tying yourself down to a plan that became unworkable will compromise future suggestions by your staff.

-Try the old standby: the suggestion box. Make it anonymous, and see what responses you get. Employees who are cloaked in anonymity will naturally be more candid, and it could lead to a suggestion you never would have thought of otherwise, or to a problem that you didn’t know existed.

-Ask. Solicit advice from employees in an impromptu format, like at the water cooler or in the parking lot. Most employees would be flattered to be asked for their advice. Oh, and make sure you listen closely to what they say, and thank them for their opinions, no matter what they may be.

I wrote the book on incentives. Check it out at http://www.incentivetoolkit.com

Retention Incentives

There is a big challenge hanging over any incentive that deals with customer retention. It’s the elephant in the room that no one wants to discuss, but everyone knows it’s there. Trust.

Since incentives based on retention are inherently difficult to track effectively, do you trust your people enough to know they will play by the rules? You need your employees to save customers and to garner repeat business. But how do you know that the customer wouldn’t have come back, or not cancelled their service (whatever service that may be), regardless of what that employee may have said or done? If you’re willing to make that leap of faith, then retention incentives can be very effective.

Let’s say you’re a bank manager and you want to run an incentive with your tellers to keep customers from canceling their account in favor of your competition.

The most effective way to run an incentive like this is to have your employees buy in to the company’s overall customer net growth goals. Base the incentive around that goal for the month. This way the employee takes ownership of the goal and becomes deeply involved in what the company (in this case, the bank) wants to accomplish. Don’t give away sensitive information to the employee obviously, but customize a goal for them that will help you achieve your goals, and make sure it encompasses the retention you need.

When employees have ownership of their employers’ goals, they become more enthusiastic by nature. And if they end up with a perk at the end of the month, all the better.

I wrote the book on incentives. Go to http://www.incentivetoolkit.com to learn more.

Andy