In previous posts, we’ve talked a lot about compensation plans. In this one, we’ll address one component of the other side of field compensation – recognition.
Field compensation should include both money paid through your compensation plan and recognition. Incentive trips are one category of recognition for both party plan and network marketing companies.
Planning Your Trip
In designing an incentive trip for your direct selling company, consider the following:
1. Decide in advance how much you will spent on the trip. Your budget should be set based on a percentage of last year’s total annual sales volume (if you were in business last year), or using this year’s expected sales volume if your company is new.
2. Decide how many people you want to earn this trip. Also decide on the number of corporate staff members to attend. Add these numbers together.
3. Divide the total number of people into the budget to arrive at the budget per person.
4. As for destinations, it all depends on the time of year and your budget per person. Florida is expensive in January but cheaper in summer. You may need to decide between having a higher class trip to a less glamorous location, or vice versa.
5. Someone will need to manage the travel details. It can either be you, an employee at your company, or a third party travel company. Be aware that travel planning companies typically have minimum fees per trip. If your business is relatively small, this trip may cost too much to have a travel company manage the process for you.
Top 3?
Should you award the trip to the top 3 or top 10 performers, or should you set the requirements so that anyone who meets them will earn the trip?
Remember that in Top 3 incentives, there are by design exactly three winners and many losers. How would you like to be the fourth top performer? Don’t predetermine the exact number of winners. It’s better for your independent representatives to know precisely what they need to do to earn the trip.
Get Going
For help constructing your next trip incentive, give us a call at Sylvina Consulting at 503.244.8787.
Jay Leisner, the President of Sylvina Consulting, is a top compensation plan and direct selling expert, a trusted adviser to new and established network marketing and party plan companies. For more than 30 years, Jay has enjoyed assessing and improving party plan and network marketing companies across the globe.
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