Noncash Incentives Vital Components at Top Organizations

Cash is king when it comes to compensation, but it’s not the only game in town. New research shows that for business-to-business sales professionals, non-cash incentives are critical in motivating and rewarding sales behaviors. A new research report by Aberdeen Group, distributed by the Incentive Research Foundation (IRF), Incenting Success: Best-in-Class Sales Management, explores how a “total rewards” model can help inspire peak sales performance. Looking at the motivational strategies of Best-in-Class companies (the top 20%) vs. the industry average (the middle 50%) and so-called “laggard” firms (the bottom 30%), researchers found:

• Best-in-Class companies are 31% more likely to consider noncash incentives a sales performance management “must-have”
• 76% of Best-in-Class companies use public recognition to motivate performance vs. a 62% industry average and just 55% of laggard firms
• Best-in-Class firms are focusing less on cash as a sales motivator than they were a year ago (76% today vs. 98%), meaning non-cash compensation’s share in the total rewards mix is increasing.

To learn more about these and other findings, or to download a copy of Incenting Success: Best-in-Class Sales Management, go to The Incentive Research Foundation's site.