Smart business leaders know that recognizing employees for their efforts leads to a happier, more motivated and more productive team. After all, who wouldn’t want to be reminded that their hard work day in and day out is contributing to the company’s success?
But it’s not always enough to give a generic “good job” to the whole team – most employees want to know that you’re paying attention to their personal contributions and wins, and whether it’s in front of the team or via private communication, they want you to recognize what they’ve accomplished. Members of the Forbes Business Development Council shared six effective tactics they’ve used to celebrate individual achievements on their sales teams.
1. Celebrate Individual Wins In A Team Setting
When a member of our sales team closes a big deal, we celebrate that achievement by taking the team out to lunch. Rather than rewarding that individual alone, we recognize accomplishment in a collective manner. Going out to lunch as a team after a big win further enhances camaraderie and reinforces to team members that performing well leads to benefits for everyone. – Adam Mendler, Beverly Hills Chairs
2. Create Symbolic Visual Recognition In A Place That Everyone Sees
In each of our Inside Sales Centers, we have a tree on the wall with pictures of award winners on the branches. It reads: “We are deeply connected. These individuals are honored for their contributions. By interlocking and working together as a team, we grow strong as individuals.” The tree symbolizes growth and connectedness across our team and is a visual way to recognize outstanding commitment. – Rakhi Voria, Microsoft
3. Ring A Virtual Bell
Our sales team members are distributed and live in a virtual world when communicating and collaborating with their colleagues. To ensure our wins were shared across this setup, we incorporated a virtual bell that is rung when we have a deal go through. This is easily achieved through tools like Slack, and each team member even gets to get creative with their own virtual bell GIF! – Nitin Gupta, Sticky, Inc.
4. Implement Personal Recognition Traditions
I firmly believe that tradition creates a sense of belonging and pride. We name someone “Rep of the Quarter” every quarter and there is a set trophy for each time the title is earned. Depending on what trophy is awarded, the whole company is able to keep track of the number of times this individual has earned the title. We personalize the trophy with the quarter, year and our team name to lock in sentimental value. – Nico Marroquin, Logikcull
5. Take All Ideas And Let The Best Ones Win
Our entire company – salespeople included – is encouraged to bring ideas to the table both in-person and via our Slack channel. We encourage our salespeople to think beyond their jobs, imagine their customers’ problems and come up with a way in which we can make the customer happier. Then we discuss those opportunities and implement the best ones. – Joey Holt, Amerisleep
6. Keep The ‘Prize’ Moving
We have daily goals, and when the goal is met, the winner gets to “take” the award from the previous winner’s desk. While this sounds simple and like my team is in high school, it really works, and the team is engaged to get the “award.” – Wayne Elsey, Elsey Enterprises