Ask Victoria: How Long Should the Qualification Period Be for a Trip Incentive?

June 28, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

People are motivated not only by money. Trip incentives encourage representatives to work hard for the recognition earned for achieving a specific goal.

Even in today’s economy, trip incentives are vital to keeping your most productive representatives excited and focused. Trip incentives can be great motivation tools and often a company will see a measurable increase in sales during the qualification period.

A prospective client the other day confided to me that his top producers seem to be stagnant. He said, “They are making more than they ever have and frankly, they are pretty content. I’d like them to work a little harder.”

I suggested a trip incentive may help.

Now, let’s look at the period during which a trip can be earned. How long should it be?

One month is too short. One month doesn’t give enough time for representatives to build momentum or enthusiasm. They need to have time to focus on sales and goals and prepare. The month you may have chosen may be the month your representative has kids home for spring break and as a result, it may be difficult to meet the requirements that month.

One year is too long. Our lives are filled with family needs, social obligations, and often a full-time or a part-time job. If we have to look at a year down the road, we may not start focusing on the incentive trip until it’s too late.

Three to six months is ample time for representatives to focus on the task at hand and for goals to be met along the way so the trip can be theirs if they work hard enough. This amount of time also allows for representatives to overcome the ups and downs brought on by seasonal sales, family obligations, and other issues that may arise during the qualification period.

Don’t make the mistake of offering a trip incentive to only the top 10 performers. For a trip incentive, it’s better to set specific requirements.

For help designing the qualifications for your next trip incentive, contact us at Sylvina Consulting.

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 network marketing, party plan and referral marketing companies across the globe.

Jay Leisner and Victoria Dohr authored the top-rated book for new and young network marketing, referral marketing, and party plan companies, "Start Here: The Guide to Building and Growing Your Direct Selling Company".

Available in English and Spanish. This startup guide contains 250 pages of wisdom that will guide you through the right steps to start and continue on your journey to build a successful direct selling company.

You will save thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours of your time using the information you will read in our book.

In 1986, Jay began his career in direct selling by working for a major direct selling software provider. First as a software developer and later as a project leader and a business analyst, Jay worked closely with new and established network marketing and party direct selling companies to provide them with software solutions to meet their unique requirements.

Jay contributed in many ways to the success of large implementation projects for many companies. Jay also worked with dozens of smaller companies to assist each of them in various capacities to provide them with the systems they needed to help their businesses to grow faster.

Along the way while working with them, he learned the secrets of successful direct selling companies and the challenges faced by them. In true entrepreneurial spirit, Jay’s decision in 1999 to start Sylvina Consulting as a direct selling consulting company was driven by what he saw was a need for answers, advice, and solutions.

In 2004, 2006, 2009, 2014, and 2018, Jay gave presentations on compensation plans, recognition, and field leadership development at conferences held by the US Direct Selling Association.

He traveled to South Africa in 2015, 2016, and 2017 to conduct workshops on compensation plan design and recognition programs for member companies of the South African Direct Selling Association.

In 2017, Jay spoke at the Canadian Direct Sellers Association Meeting on the importance of recognition.

More than just a compensation plan expert, Jay is exceptionally skilled at advising new and established companies on business strategies. Before offering advice or solutions, he asks important questions to understand each client’s specific concerns and goals.

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