MICE (Meeting, Incentive, Convetion, Exhibition)

There is a process for developing sales commissions with respect to overall sales compensation that can be followed. The principles are quite easy. The variables include the amount of base salary that you pay to an individual (if any), and the percentage of total compensation that base salary represents in relationship to the incentive program itself. Some companies pay zero base salary and a straight commission on all sales, and allow their sales people to have a draw against that commission for a certain period of time (we don’t recommend this – it tends to degrade the perception of the position to potential candidates, and put your company at the bottom of the food chain as a potential employer). Other companies pay a very high base salary and a low percentage of total compensation as incentive. Many companies also target a base versus incentive at about a 50/50 split.

Which program your company is going to choose is largely dependant upon a couple of factors. First of all, what are the technical and domain requirements of the sales representative that you’re looking to hire? If there is a very high level of technical understanding and advanced training required in order to put a sales representative on the street, you’re going to want to pay a higher base salary in order to attract that kind of individual to your company. Where there is very low level of technical or advanced training competencies amongst sales representative, typically that is where you can afford to pay a lower base package and put more of the compensation at risk. So, base compensation is usually a function of experience. It’s also a function of the competitive landscape in the particular industry that you’re in for hiring good sales representatives.

Cube Management helps companies accelerate their sales, by providing the Sales & Marketing talent they need to grow their business. Cube is a leading recruiting and consulting partner to mid-market and emerging growth companies in the technology, manufacturing, healthcare and business service sectors. We work across the spectrum of Sales, Marketing and Business Development, providing holistic solutions that drive revenue and profit success. Cube Management combines Strategy, Process and People, to produce great results. Download the Cube Management Recruiting Guide and the Cube Management Inside Sales Guide.

If your team is growing but not staying motivated, one of the best ways to kick them into gear is to offer an incentive.

By offering an incentive you are not only helping your team stay motivated, but in return helping your own business. Working towards a tangible goal can be a very powerful thing!

Here are some ideas for goals you can set for your team:

- Top monthly sales

- Top quarterly sales

- Most recruits in one month

- Reaching a set sales goal in a month

- Reaching personal goals

- Advancing in company ranking

Incentives come in many forms. While many would appreciate a company discount, others may like different types of gifts. After all, being in the company they are already getting products at a discount, right?

Gifts do not always have to be expensive, but should reflect the goal you have set for them. If the prize is offered monthly, the gift should be small. If it’s a larger, long term goal, something a tad more expensive would be better. Remember though, it’s the thought that counts and what appears to be expensive doesn’t have to BE expensive.

Some ideas for incentives include:

- Candles

- Gift Certificates

- Jewelry

- Products from your other businesses

- Personalized Products

Needing incentives for your team?
DirectSalesHelpers.com offers personalized candles at their website.

About the Authors: Kara Kelso & Anita DeFrank are two busy wahms, and the owners of Direct Sales Helpers. For free direct sales tips, visit:

http://www.DirectSalesHelpers.com/newsletter.html

Lost & Found for the 21st Century

Here in the 21st century our lives have become more and more reliant on mobile items. As we go through our days, keeping a mental log of everything we have and where we have it becomes more and more difficult. It is inevitable that some things get lost. In fact as stated in a recent research “Around 62,000 mobile phones were left in London taxis during the last six months. That’s an average three phones per taxi, according to a survey of licensed London cabbies by the Taxi Newspaper and Pointsec Mobile Technologies. Absent minded and drunken travellers also forgot 4,000 laptops and 5,000 PDA’s when exiting cabs”.

A new service on the UK market now gives companies a great added incentive to their memberships and offers to gain, and retain new and existing customers. Want it Bak is a lost and found service with a proven concept around the world. Their system provides companies of all types the chance to have that one incentive over their competitors that could make or break a sale.

Their system can protect anything you can imagine, mobile phones, keys, cameras, PDA’s, laptops, binoculars, backpacks, passports, briefcases, wallets and purses, golf clubs, power tools, textbooks, credit cards, cheque books… you get the picture. How many of your customers own one or more of those items? Answer: All of them.

How does Want it Bak work? Simple. Your customers adhere a range of security tags each with their own unique id number to their items. They register them with Want it Bak and that’s it. If they ever lose the item and someone finds it they contact Want it Bak directly using their website or their 0800 number and they arrange a courier to pick it up and return it to the owner for a small admin charge.

How much time and money have you spent to gain that customer? The brilliant thing about Want it Bak is that it actually not only works as a great sales incentive but also gives you an 80% chance of retaining that hard earned customer. All those thousands of pounds do not have to go to waste simply because they have lost your branded merchandise.

How much do you think it would be worth to a customer if a company paid attention to a common problem they face and offered a solution? To the customer, far more than the cost to the company. The perceived value that is gained from a company playing an active role in helping their customers is far greater than the cost. Not only do you greatly enhance your profile but you also increase the odds of retaining that customer should the lose their item from you. Again setting yourself apart from your competitors.

Think about it, you can offer it as a stand alone package or Want it Bak can even brand it up so it can be used as a corporate gift.

Chris Cameron, MD of Want it Bak has this to say “this is a fantastic way to really set yourself apart from other companies. By paying an interest in your customer’s pain, companies will gain a unique advantage over their competitors. Companies may not want to acknowledge that this problem occurs but the reality is that it does and everyone knows about it because everyone experiences it in one form or another. It is the companies that help their customers deal with this problem that will stand out from the crowd.”

One of the best things about this service is the confidential nature of it. The “Finder” never knows who the owner is and vice versa. Reassuring for owners of expensive items, they can now safely retrieve their possessions.

“It’s a great incentive for people to do the right thing”, says Rob Eberstein from Desktop Life, an advent fan of the Want it Bak system, “Most people are actually honest and the biggest barrier they have to returning items is the hassle of finding out who it belongs to, arranging delivery or pick up, getting the time to drop the item off at the local police station. Now they don’t have to do anything except ring Want it Bak or visit their website, and they get a Reward for their troubles. It’s a fantastic system and perfect gift for our customers.”

The “Finders” themselves are offered a basic reward of

The time is almost here for your child to go back to school. How can we make this year this best that it can be? In the next few paragraphs I will give you some ideas that will improve the educational experience for your child.

If this year is going to be more successful than last year, something has to change. I am going to advise you to focus on just three areas to improve your childs’ attitude and aptitude in school. These are the three areas I advise you to concentrate on: Goal setting, reading, and incentives.

Goal Setting

Before the new school year starts, you as a parent, should sit down with your child and discuss the previous years progress in school. At this time you need to positively encourage and praise the accomplishments of the previous year. I know that you are creative enough to find positive feedback. Then it is important that you discuss the importance of having a written plan for the start of a new year.

This is where you introduce the idea of goal setting. Talk about the importance of knowledge and how much power it gives us over those who are not educated. Let your child know that you think education is important. Be real and sensitive with your child as you share your own educational experiences with them.

Then the two of you need to write down at least three realistic short term and two long term goals for the up coming year. If you are like most of us you are thinking… like what. That depends on the child. If you have a child that is in the second grade and they read on the fifth grade level, then you may want to challenge your child to read books of his or her choice that are at the sixth grade reading level. However if they are already a strong reader, you may want to challenge them to spend more time reading science or social studies material. Make the goal specific. (Read magazine articles about science in the first week of school for thirty minutes every other day)

Short term goals should address the weaknesses, that you are aware of, from the previous year. If spelling was a problem then set a realistic goal to be able to spell a specific number of new words each week.

Long term goals on the other hand should deal with outcomes. They should also deal with the ability to do something rather than just having knowledge. A basketball player learns to pass, dribble and shoot. A long term goal would be the ability to actually play the game. A sixth grader needs to know about the scientific method. The long term goal would be using the scientific method to either prove or disprove a theory. Post your goals on the bulletin board or refrigerator in your house.

Reading

I can not over emphasise the importance of encouraging your child to read. You can not start too early. Every one preaches about reading to your infant and that is important. But, we must get our children to transition from being read to, to reading for either knowledge or entertainment. I include entertainment because of the importance of having good early experiences in reading. Not only will this help your children comprehend more but it will also help them write better!

Incentive

I can hear you now. “How do I get my child to actually do anything? I can’t even get him to make up his bed or empty the trash.” It is at this point that I inform you that if they are young it is easy. All you have to do is work on their value system. Continually lead by example so that your young child will know that you value education. It is amazing how much they want to be like us when they are little. Do you remember when your child had that play lawn mower and wanted to mow just like dad. Well, let me tell you. If your child does not see you reading and leading by example then it will be very difficult to convince them that they should value education.

On the other hand, if they are already in middle school, you may have to work even harder. Because now your child will not think it is important just because you say it is. It will take a very creative parent to make fun and games into learning experiences that will enhance a childs’ education. Now you have to be creative enough to make it fun. I can not over emphasise the importance of making sure that your child has a value in education. Very few people do anything if they do not believe in it.

Let’s review our keys to success, If we want this school year to be a great learning experience for our child we must put a plan in place by setting short and long term goals. If we do this we will send a great message to our child. They will know that we our willing to invest our time in helping them have a productive year. We must also make reading available and fun for them. And in order for this plan to work we must make sure they have incentives to actually do the work.

Here is to you! A toast, “May you and your children have a productive, educational, and fulfilling year.”

Bob Roach Father of one and middle school teacher of literally thousands over the past thirty years. To find out more parenting tips write me at: rproach@yahoo.com