Dear Workforce How To Reward Truck Drivers For Sales Leads

QDear Workforce:

– Ted

Dear Ted:

    It sounds as thoughthere are two things you want to reward: first, you want the drivers to learn toidentify and pass on promising leads to sales staff. Second, you want toultimately increase the number of actual sales generated from driver referrals.You can reward the behavior and the results individually or together. Forexample, if you choose to reward separately, a potential program mightincorporate the following features:

• To increase driver awareness andactivity, conduct periodic “lotteries.” Each qualified leadsubmitted earns the driver one chance to win either cash or a prize ($25gift check, coupons for movie tickets or caps with the company logo) over acertain period of time. This rewards those drivers who consistently submitqualified leads and motivates volume.

• To reward referrals that increaseactual sales, provide additional incentives for leads that lead to newbusiness. Each referral resulting in a closed sale would produce a secondseparate award, again either cash or a prize, potentially linked to the sizeof the sale generated. This rewards drivers that identify the”best” leads – ones that lead to increased revenue for thecompany.

    Alternately, theprogram could be combined, with all qualified leads earning thesame or similar awards.

    The most streamlinedapproach to determining eligible submissions is to leave the decision to thesales staff following up on the lead. The sales staff itself also should beinvolved, either informally or formally, in determining the criteria for a”qualified” lead, as well as for providing feedback to drivers thatwill allow them to adequately pre-qualify leads on an on-going basis. Establishand communicate simple criteria, such as:

• The prospective contact and companyactually exists

• The prospective contact is able topurchase directly or influence

• The purchase of your services

• The prospect is within the territorycovered by the company and

• The prospect has a current or futureneed for your services.

    The simpler theprogram is to explain and administer, and the more focused it is on elicitingthe behavior you hope to motivate, the more impact it will have for what youchoose to invest. Although HR or another group can provide administrative anddesign support for the program, involvement and buy-in by the sales team and thedrivers will be crucial. Keep in mind as you design the program to ensure thatthe awards will not generate problems in calculating hourly rates under FLSA, orintroduce any additional tax-reporting requirements.

SOURCE: Melissa Meller, TheSegal Company, New York City, Feb. 15, 2001.

The information contained within this article is intended to provide useful information on the topic covered, but should not be construed as legal advice or legal opinion. Also, remember that state law may differ from federal law.