Saturday, April 07, 2007

Marketing Performance and Sales Incentives Should Relate

It may be just as important for marketing programs to provide measurable incentives to sales teams and employees as is it is to have measurable metrics for consumer response to promotional programs. Does the sales team know what is expected for effective implementation of a program or how proper product placement at retail will be evaluated? Is the compensation system set up to reward the proper behavior? The sales team will respond when they understand the objectives in a clearly communicated manner, and understand WIIFM (what's in it for me). They will respond more rapidly and effectively when there is a clear line of site between their day to day performance metrics and the promotion objectives.

The obejctives and metrics for the implementation team, usually a sales team, must be clear and measurable. Even better if the incentive compensation, either cash or non-cash, is immediate. By immediate, this means that the award for the behavior is linked as closely in time to the performance. Think about it, wouldn't you like to be paid for a job well done as soon after the task is performed as possible, rather than waiting for a possible year end bonus?

Marketers sometime fail to integrate their metrics with the internal processes of the organization, especially the selling systems and procedures. By coordinating with the internal processes the marketing team can generate greater overall support, be viewed as team players, and more readily achieve their business objectives.

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