I have always liked a well-thought-out business incentive and a nice car.

These feelings were undoubtedly fuelled by a former employer who bought a couple of Lotus Esprits Turbos – purely as an incentive for the sales team!

The salesperson who brought in the most revenue in the month got one of these cars for the following month, as did the salesperson who brought in the most new customers in the month.

Following my transition from being a trainee accountant to the sales team I was lucky enough to enjoy the use of these cars on a number of occasions and what a treat it was. I wanted one every month, it certainly drove (no pun intended)  the desired performance from the sales team. 

We often talk about incentive schemes with our Pabasso clients. Every incentive should be designed to drive the desired behaviour and be time limited e.g this bonus/incentive scheme runs for the next 12 months – vital to avoid the law of unintended consequences. 

The objective of this particular scheme was to maximise revenue whilst also building the customer base – and it worked. A simple, if not inexpensive incentive program.

So when I built my first business I knew full well the value salespeople got from enjoying a prestige car, but I wasn’t in a position to fork out for a couple of top-of-the-range sports cars!

However,  I drove Porsche 911s in those days so I did have something in my armoury I could use to incentivise the team.

I made my Porsche 911 available for a long weekend every month to the salesperson of the month. Sure I was without my lovely car for 1 weekend each month but the joy (and trepidation) of seeing our salesperson of the month drive off in my car overcame the anguish, and boy did it drive competition towards the month end.

Additional cost to the company – a great big ZERO, value as an incentive to the sales team – INCALCUABLE.

If you are a business leader with a prestige car are you bold enough and selfless enough to use your cherished pride and joy in this way?

Salesperson or employee of the month?

If you are a high performer are you bold enough to suggest this to your boss? 

Keep me posted