Houston Fearless 76 : The Sales Incentive Plan Modification Proposal

In order to appropriately recommend an incentive plan, one must first identify the main issues with operation at Howe 2 ski. Howe 2 Ski has experience increased competition resulting in a decreased market share. Smaller market share increases the negative impact a lack of productivity and customer dissatisfaction has on Howe 2 Ski’s profits. The decreased production of both the molders and Sales-Persons result in increased inventory and higher cost of production. Furthermore, Howe has attempted to establish an incentive pay program that has served to be ineffective and has fostered low morale within the organization.

Managers in many cases are presented with sales incentives in a retail environment. These incentives may range from free products, to cash prizes, to trips, bonuses, etc.

To respect better the sales objective, there is in the new incentive plan a commission which is paid on the sales forecast accuracy . So this new commission is something really good to improve the operating process buisnessand not only the potential sales objective. And also with this new rule salesperson will forecast the minimum target in order to reach their target.

1. When it is difficult to determine the effect of a salesperson’s effort son sales rather than pay any incentive through commission it is better to use a bonus with salary as part of the compensation package

Sales Contests – Sales contests can be very effective. The contest keeps the featured product line in front of mind with the sales team members as the status of the contest is generally discussed at the team meeting every morning. Sales people can be very competitive and work very hard to outperform their contemporaries. The downside of a sales contest is that the cost of the reward, be it a vacation cruise, a flat screen TV or a gift certificate, is committed to prior to the contest and not dependent on the results. The scenario can evolve where the increased profit from the contest is insufficient as a return on the investment of the cost of the reward.

Compensating the organizations sales staff through the use properly designed performance pay will lead to profitable sales for the organization. Once again linking compensation to performance will benefit the organization in its ability to pay. It is important to design the compensation of the sales staff in a manner that encompasses all of the organizations goals as communicating with production staff will be a key component of the High Involvement Strategy, and it is important for the organization to demonstrate a commitment to the sales team that the relationship is not just purely financial. Therefore direct compensation for them should consist of a minimum base salary upon which their commissions are added.

After identifying the sales targets, the strategies, tactics and actions to achieve them can be worked on. Gluck (2014), mentions that to identify underlying strategies and increase sales, a business can break into a new market segment by adapting an existing product or boosting the average sale per customer by using add-on sales or upselling premium features. When developing the sales strategies, the market segment, customers' motivations and expectations, and the capacity to meet customers' expectations should be considered.

The six features of an effective total rewards program include: focusing on alignment, taking the employees views into account, measuring / managing costs, the greater use of incentive based pay, having effective communication / education and managing the reward program. The combination of these factors is helping firms to more efficiently monitor the sales force.

Having buy-in from key stakeholders is crucial for the success of an incentive pay system. For example, if top management does not support such a program, lower-level managers will place little importance on effectively administering the program. Hence, a lack of top management support often leads to a lack of accountability. (Gordon, Kaswin)

Reward Management (RM) has been defined as the distribution of monetary and non-monetary rewards to employees in an effort to align the interests of the employees, the organisation, and its shareholders (O’Neil, 1998). In addition O’Neil (1998) also suggests that a RM system can serve the purpose of attracting prospective job applicants, retaining valuable employees, motivating employees, ensuring legal requirements relating to direct and indirect rewards are not violated, assisting the company in achieving human resource and business objectives, and ultimately assisting the organisation in obtaining a competitive advantage.

analysis of FHPC’s product cost, your report to the board of directors is to include strategic recommendations based

Reward and recognition programs must connect the needs and expectations of the workforce with the company’s overall goals and strategies. A program that reinforces important company values and goals will encourage employees to act in line with such goals and emphasize the importance of achieving these goals. Alternatively, rewards which do not connect with organizational goals may convey a misleading message and encourage employees to act in a manner that does not facilitate the

We believe the new incentive system was needed and reasonable because the accounting-based incentive system, where EPS was a measure of performance, raised valid concerns. The first being an agency problem. This existed within the old system as manager’s interests were not aligned with those of stockholders. EPS had improved steadily at a rate of 9% annually; however, the share price had increased only slightly in comparison. Therefore, the company’s stockholders had hardly benefited. The second issue was the use of subjectivity in granting bonus awards. These awards were given out even when their entity had not performed well. Managers began “politicking”, meaning they would try and convince their evaluators they performed better than the results had shown.

The current growth of Designs by Kate’s (DBK) business model is not sustainable for a future success of the company. In order to maintain, respectively improve its performance and thusly its position within the direct sales industry, it is essential that Kate Creevey realizes, how important the monetary reward for the sales representatives is. Therefore it is recommended that the compensation structure as a motivational tool should be changed in order to guarantee maximizing the key financial objectives, which can predominantly be defined as further volume growth. Sales growth is driven by two factors: in the first place by the number of sales representatives and secondly, by their increased productivity, when they become team leaders.

Salespeople can earn cash rewards under two incentive plans: the first one is a total $10,400 paid to five salespeople that had significantly increased in sales volume over previous year. The second plan is a weekly sales increase award for each week in which their sales volume compare than previous year. The company’s comptroller and production manager submit a new compensation plan proposals. The new proposal will discontinue these current incentive plans in effect.