Competition based on clear and fair rules

Many salespeople love competition. Rivalry motivates them – they strive to improve and achieve better results. How can you use this to your advantage in your business strategy? By encouraging competition under clear and fair rules. And in the end? Offer a reward that makes the effort worthwhile – such as an overseas trip for the employees who win the contest.

Safe investment

Incentive travel can be a compelling way to conclude a sales competition. It’s a powerful tool to show appreciation for employees’ efforts and prove that striving for top performance truly pays off. We reward our salespeople with a beautiful, exotic trip. The cost of such a reward should be factored into the goal itself — this way, we can be sure our employees have earned it. It’s only a small portion of the budget, yet it can significantly boost overall team performance.

A reward trip is a planned and budgeted investment. Sales competitions are usually designed to run throughout the entire year, with the results announced alongside the closing of annual budgets. Then, within a few months of revealing the winners, the trip takes place — and the top performers receive their prize. The emotions generated by both the competition and the experience of the trip — before, during, and after — continue to fuel the company’s success all year long.

Motivational communication

How to support achieving the goal? An attractive reward is very important, but I’ll talk about that in a moment. Equally crucial, in my opinion, is continuously motivating employees to take action. Planning the work and setting a clear target, building anticipation, and creating excitement. Don’t reveal all the cards right away! Gradually add fuel to the fire. We can start by sharing small hints – will it be warm or cold there? Which continent will the winners travel to? What will be the main theme?

I often advise my clients on how to manage communication in reward competitions. I always emphasize one key point: let people fight until the very end. If someone is among the lowest performers at the beginning, don’t disqualify them. I’ve witnessed multiple times how someone from the bottom of the ranking rose to the top within a month. It often turned out that they were working on one, but very large contract.

A Reward Worthy of the Achievement

In incentive travel, the appeal of the proposed trip is crucial. It has to be something “wow” – I’m talking about both the destination and the planned activities. Often, an exciting experience for a salesperson is a trip with their top client. This gives them the chance not only to enjoy the reward but also to strengthen a valuable business relationship. A great honor can also be traveling with a board member or having the opportunity to bring a companion. It all depends on the purpose of the trip and the company culture.

During such a reward trip, the salesperson is the star, a true hero. And that’s exactly how we treat the participants. They worked hard to achieve their results – earning recognition from their boss, clients, and family. An interesting example comes from reward contests in the insurance industry.

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There, I often see three categories of trips:

• For newly appointed agents who have met their first business goals – European trips (e.g., Mediterranean Basin, Crete, Cyprus),

• For the most successful agents – exotic trips (e.g., Bali, Mauritius, South Africa),
• For top career achievers – exclusive trips with the company president for up to 20 people (exotic, high-standard travel including five-star boutique hotels, meetings with local dignitaries)

When opting for incentive travel and reward trips, it’s important to set a clear path for employees to follow. To be effective, these types of trips should become part of the organization’s ecosystem. Year after year, they will contribute to the sales teams’ success. Employees will meet the company’s business goals, and the company will fulfill employees’ dreams. It’s a win-win relationship.

Author: Krzysztof Pobożniak, CEO of Haxel