A common request from sales managers is about more ways to motivate reps – particularly top producers.
I couldn’t resist sharing this out of the box incentive idea from a fellow Linkedin member.
Mark A. Smith Vice President of Sales at Joist shared this idea (in his own words):
“Perhaps the favorite sales rep perk I’ve introduced was what I called “Real PTO.”
I had noticed our top reps – and so many others – were failing to take proper time away from sales, in fear of losing commissions, status, etc.
As we know, that is neither good for the employee or the company.
So, we instituted Real PTO.
In summary, any time a rep (with at least 6 mos tenure) took a vacation of at least 5 days, we not only gave them their standard PTO but also credited to them the exact number of sales they would have made over the course of those days.
We based the average off the previous 3 completed months.
So, the rep would not only get to take a well-deserved break, but also have no fear of missing commissions, quotas, losing status, etc.
Of course, as a company, we got the benefit of happy, rested employees.
We also saw the employees work extra hard in the 90 days prior in order to pad their averages.
And, we saw absolutely no reduction in productivity in the months they took their vacations.
Implement “Real PTO” today and watch profits soar. Feel free to share with HR or your sales directors ….. hopefully they won’t hate me. ;)”
This is an exceptionally interesting motivator… and it says a lot about the culture of the company and their employees.
Even if it’s too far out of the box for you, there are ways to modify it.
