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Most people enjoy getting extra spending money -especially around the holidays. Surveys of American workers have concluded that 95% considered a cash bonus a positive and meaningful incentive. The only problem with giving cash is that often employees simply use the money to pay bills and quickly forget the reward.

Cash or cash substitutes (such as coupons or points that can be traded for products) do, however, give the employee flexibility in deciding how to use the reward. Since it’s their choice, the likelihood of satisfaction increases tremendously. Gift certificates and gift collections have the advantage of quick fulfillment and flexible dollar amounts. They also may or may not have expiration dates and it’s very likely that they don’t have shipping costs associated with them. They can be redeemed in a wide variety of places (including the internet) for a broad range of merchandise, from gourmet food to lawn mowers.

After numerous years consulting with clients about incentive programs I have heard stories time and time again about the reward they chose themselves while working for a previous company. One story was about a step ladder they had received close to 12 years prior. All the details were easily recalled and shared -they still have the step ladder in their pantry to this day. Even today I got to hear the story of someone receiving star awards and after receiving a certain number, redeeming them for a flash light. This was after six years… Now that is an incentive that works.

Again – give cash, and although it’s appreciated it is also quickly forgotten. Give a tangible gift, especially one where the recipient gets to choose their own reward, and it’s remembered indefinitely. The choice is yours.
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About The Author:

Sally Liddicoat is a Wife, Mother, Speaker and the Founder & CEO of AttaBoy! Solutions. Her goal is to help businesses increase sales, generate ongoing referrals, strengthen relationships and create loyal customers and employees through appreciation marketing. Throughout this blog you can sign up for updates, news, special offers, discounts and more. So take a look around, leave a comment or two and enjoy.

Contact Sally

Consumer opinion is vital for any company. Whether you are launching a new service or product line, it’s important to know how your clients and prospective customers will react. However, it can be difficult to get people to spend time taking a survey. When you need the feedback and timing is of the essence, sometimes using an incentive is just the thing you need to add extra mileage to a survey campaign.

There are several way to put this type of program in place. The determining factor for which you choose should be determined by your business and how it operates. Obviously, the best would have an end result of the customer walking in to your location to claim their reward. This gives you an opportunity to “WoW” them and offer that personal interaction that is so important to have between the customer and your staff. Personal interaction plays a big part in helping to build a quality relationship. Another great way is to provide a ‘code’ that could be redeemed on your website once the survey information has been submitted. This is a great way to drive traffic and give your customer another chance to browse your offerings.

The number of ideas that could be outlined here are only limited by your creativity. Likewise, the types of rewards offered for completing the survey are unlimited. They need to be quality, yet should not be too expensive. Remember, a very successful survey with a lot of responses could get very costly very fast. However, the information you will gain is invaluable!
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About The Author:

Sally Liddicoat is a Wife, Mother, Speaker and the Founder & CEO of AttaBoy! Solutions. Her goal is to help businesses increase sales, generate ongoing referrals, strengthen relationships and create loyal customers and employees through appreciation marketing. Throughout this blog you can sign up for updates, news, special offers, discounts and more. So take a look around, leave a comment or two and enjoy.

Contact Sally

Most companies have one or more formal reward programs in place for recognizing employee performance. Although most programs typically recognize only a small number of employees, for those employees the experience is significant and motivating… and the public acknowledgment can help to shape the future aspirations of other employees as well.

One way to build anticipation and momentum in obtaining certain desired behaviors is to create an employee reward program through a contest of some sort. The desired behavior is typically described along with other requirements, and the rewards are made explicit. Keys to a successful employee contest include:

• Promoting the program and its purpose.
• Setting realistic, achievable and measurable goals.
• Limiting the contest to a short period.
• Keeping contest rules uncomplicated.
• Ensuring that prizes are desirable to employees.
• Linking rewards directly to performance.
• Giving rewards and recognition promptly.

Prizes to crown an employee reward program should meet most of the following criteria:

• Have lasting value.
• Reflect the effort and quality of the recipient’s performance.
• Inspire pride of ownership.
• Be useful.
• Suit the personal taste of the recipient.
• Reflect the best image of the company.

While the details referenced here are primarily focused on employee reward programs, variations can also work well with independent contractor, vendors, and even customers and clients.  Motivation is a powerful tool and when used properly can help you get the results you desire.

About The Author:

Sally Liddicoat is a Wife, Mother, Speaker and the Founder & CEO of AttaBoy! Solutions. Her goal is to help businesses increase sales, generate ongoing referrals, strengthen relationships and create loyal customers and employees through appreciation marketing. Throughout this blog you can sign up for updates, news, special offers, discounts and more. So take a look around, leave a comment or two and enjoy.

Contact Sally

It doesn’t have to be a special occasion to show appreciation for your loyal customers.  Loyalty programs can be used year round for clients and business partners as well.  A properly implemented customer loyalty program can work well for all kinds of businesses, from retail stores to personal trainers.

There are several reasons you want to implement a loyalty program in your business:

• To thank existing customers
• To reward for referrals
• To acknowledge a large or significant purchase

The list could go on.  The most effective programs offer graduated rewards – the more a customer spends, the more they earn.  This rewards your best, most profitable clients or customers for their continued patronage.

Receiving a gift makes your customer feel good about your company, especially if they see the gift as something of value or something that is useful to them.  Thanking people with a gift for being your customer gives them a sense of loyalty to you and every time they use that gift it will help to solidify that relationship.
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About The Author:

Sally Liddicoat is a Wife, Mother, Speaker and the Founder & CEO of AttaBoy! Solutions. Her goal is to help businesses increase sales, generate ongoing referrals, strengthen relationships and create loyal customers and employees through appreciation marketing. Throughout this blog you can sign up for updates, news, special offers, discounts and more. So take a look around, leave a comment or two and enjoy.

Contact Sally

Your business needs a fish bowl!

One of two thoughts may have just crossed your mind; 1) We have a beautiful aquarium in our lobby, why in the world do we would we want a fish bowl? or 2) My business is online, what do I need with a fish bowl?

Once again, if you are in business your business needs a fish bowl! …and no I am not trying to sell fish bowls.

First off, for those with a retail location -although a fish bowl may hold fish that’s not the type we are suggesting here. You should have a fish bowl available to your visitors that says, *Drop your business card in and win a “deluxe widget”. The obvious reason that you want to be able to collect their information, you want to be able to send them information, you want to be able to educate them about the benefits of your products and services, you want to be able to ask them to come back in.

It’s really not that different if your business is online. A ‘fish bowl’ for an online business is an op-in form. Either way, you want to know more about your visitors. You want to be able to get people who don’t necessarily purchase to give you information about themselves.

Information is valuable and the best way to encourage your visitors to share theirs is to have a drawing for that “deluxe widget”. Note that it’s a “deluxe widget”. Don’t short change yourself here by choosing to give away something that has no value. Your visitors will see right through the hype. Make sure to choose wisely -the wrong choice will not produce the results you are wanting, either in the number of entries or in the value of coming back to your business.

Whether your plan is to give away 1 or 20 or make every one that enters a winner, after the drawing is over take some time and publicize the winner. Put their picture up, send a story to your local media and make the most of the event. Not only will the PR be good for your business, the winner will love the attention and be sure to tell their friends.
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About The Author:

Sally Liddicoat is a Wife, Mother, Speaker and the Founder & CEO of AttaBoy! Solutions. Her goal is to help businesses increase sales, generate ongoing referrals, strengthen relationships and create loyal customers and employees through appreciation marketing. Throughout this blog you can sign up for updates, news, special offers, discounts and more. So take a look around, leave a comment or two and enjoy.

Contact Sally

…that is the question.  Or is it?

Incentives have been used by businesses for years to motivate their employees to produce more – more products, more sales, or even to offer better customer service. They are also used to build business relationships, honor and encourage loyalty, thank buyers for large and/or frequent purchases, and to welcome new prospects. By implementing programs that focus on motivation by reward on both sides of the coin, the benefits are real:

• Productive, engaged employees who work harder, produce more, and stay with the company.

• Satisfied, loyal customers who buy more and tell others about the company.

Motivated employees are productive. Sales programs and internal competition for a prize considered to be highly valuable are very effective. Salespeople especially have clearly defined goals with measurable results, making incentives a major strategy. When an employee is singled out for doing a good job, they feel good about it. When they receive a gift to mark their achievement, they feel even better. As a result, they will display more loyalty and be more conscientious on the job.

Appreciated clients are loyal. When a new customer gets a smile and a handshake, it builds their relationship with the individual and the company. When they receive a welcome or thank-you gift to mark the occasion, they feel even better about it. Once again, human nature takes it back to basics: People like to feel valuable, important, and appreciated. When a company not only delivers their products and/or services to a client, but goes beyond to give them a tangible sign of how much their business means to the company, good things happen for everyone. New accounts are open, customers become loyal and stay, customers buy more, and the company sets itself apart from the competition.

Incentives are the classic dangling “carrot”. It’s human nature – we’ll work harder if there’s a reward that we find worthwhile at the end of our efforts. As the old saying goes, you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink… however, if you salt the hay he will be thirsty when he gets there. Salt that hay, dangle that carrot – incent and get results!
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About The Author:

Sally Liddicoat is a Wife, Mother, Speaker and the Founder & CEO of AttaBoy! Solutions. Her goal is to help businesses increase sales, generate ongoing referrals, strengthen relationships and create loyal customers and employees through appreciation marketing. Throughout this blog you can sign up for updates, news, special offers, discounts and more. So take a look around, leave a comment or two and enjoy.

Contact Sally