By: Wayne B. Hodges
Senior Vice President - Director of Client Technologies
Co-Founder World Incentives

Welcome to the most popular awards for sales incentive, employee recognition and customer retention programs.  In a word - Travel Incentives.  Without doubt, travel is tops.

Study after study - (and we'll reference a few), prove conclusively that Travel Incentives, Travel Certificates and Individual Incentive Travel ranks highest among all other forms of incentive awards - including cash, merchandise, and gift cards - as judged by corporate decision makers who are responsible for managing their company's incentive programs. 

Maybe you've found this page, wanting to learn more about improving sales, increasing sales margins, improving morale, recognizing and rewarding your employees, attracting or retaining customers or implementing a Travel Incentives, Travel Certificates and Individual Incentive Travel program. Or perhaps your current employee recognition or sales incentive program is not meeting your goals, or the Return On Investment of your current program has caused you to look for other alternatives.

Key Point #1 - Its all in Your Head!

It's not hard to see why Travel Incentives, Travel Certificates and Individual Incentive Travel are tops.  But first let's consider the alternatives.  Take a second to think how you'd feel if you were told you were about to receive a cash award.... nice, huh?  Now - what's the first thing that comes to mind?  Well, how much, of course - you want to know how much you'll get!!!  In other words, your brain immediately goes into an analytical calculation.  Doctors refer to this type of analytical decision-making activity as being made in the left hemisphere of the brain - the same type of brain activity that helps you drive your car without wandering off the road while day dreaming.

But Travel...  Well, now lets think about travel for a moment... and take a look at the images flashing on the top of this page.  What are you thinking about now?  Maybe taking the kids into the ocean for the first time, watching the sun set over the horizon, cool clear skies, sunny days, fantastic meals, an escape from the daily routine, maybe even romance?

Travel Incentives, Travel Certificates and Individual Incentive Travel awards, literally take you somewhere else.  World Incentives creates and services its own Travel awards, Travel Certificates and Individual Incentive Travel.  We make sure your award winners receive the VIP treatment they expect and deserve.
 

Key Point #2

The emotional response is what drives behavior, not rational thought.
With cash, its reduced to one issue - simply how much.  By human nature, we are emotional beings, responding to emotional stimuli.  Hence the popularity and success of Travel Incentives, Travel Certificates and Individual Incentive Travel.

The point is, there's a scientific reason for the success of Travel Incentives, Travel Certificates and Individual Incentive Travel Programs:  It's the BRAIN, or more precisely, how the brain functions!

Research shows that the way the brain processes information is responsible for non-cash rewards having a greater impact on people than cash awards. Offers of non-cash rewards are visualized or imaged by the right hemisphere of the brain. Such images or mental pictures trigger emotional responses which can be quite powerful.

Conversely, offers of strictly monetary rewards are processed by the left hemisphere, which lacks the ability to create images. When a monetary offer is received, the brain's left hemisphere assesses the information and determines whether the offer is sufficient, relative to the time or effort required to earn it.

It is impossible to overstate the rational behind incenting behaviors:  the emotional response is what drives behavior, not rational thought. With cash, its reduced to one issue - simply how much.

Got it?  Ok, one more time - here's the basic equation:

Right Brain = Emotions and Imagery/Fantasy
Left Brain = analytical Thinking/Calculations

Translated to our purposes, another way to look at it is:

Travel Incentives = Images and Fantasy = Good Times & Memories to Last
Cash = analytical Calculations = Can I pay off my credit cards with this?

This is why Travel Incentive and Merchandise award programs are 3X (Three Times) more effective than recognition programs using just cash rewards, as shown below.

Key Point #3

"Take as much as you want, just clean your plate".  Did you get that as a kid?  I did... the key here is that from our youngest years, most of us are taught NOT TO BE WASTEFUL.  This translates to - "Hey, if you get a cash award, spend it wisely... constructively... don't waste it on toys or vacations when there are more pressing things that need attention... that new roof, for example.

Figure 2 below, demonstrates that over 70% of respondents feel that taking a vacation or purchasing a merchandise award, such as those typically offered in an Travel Incentive Program, would not be a justifiable expense.
So, still thinking about using case to reward???
Hello, new roof! Goodbye, Incentive Efficiency.

Key Point #4

Do not lightly undertake any Travel Incentive award program.  Talk to experts first.  Once you start a cash or gift card program, it’s very hard to take it away.

Many companies find out the hard way, once they've begun a cash-based employee reward program and realize it was a mistake - and employees perceive the change as a negative, take-away move.

Instead, work to slowly wean off of cash over a period of 3 years. Structuring the change carefully makes it easier to swallow for your employees.

Specifics of an industry study which detail statistical disadvantages of cash-based Sales Incentive award programs are found here:  Incentive Industry Survey.

For more info on structuring a successful Travel Incentive award program, talk to us first: info@worldincentives.com, or request info online at http://worldincentives.com/quotes.htm

See also:

http://worldincentives.com/products.html
http://worldincentives.com/merchandise.html
http://worldincentives.com/luxury-escapes.html