Get to Know ME with Cherrie Tebeau
It’s time for a new Get to Know ME segment! This time we’re featuring a new member of our leadership team, Cherrie Tebeau (pronounced Sha-ree T-bo; very French sounding!). She agreed to do a video too, so be sure to watch that and read her answers below to find out about a famous first boyfriend and the destinations in the world she loves the most. Thanks Cherrie, for letting us get to know you better!
What’s your current title and how long have you been in the incentive industry/at Motivation Excellence? I am the newly hired Vice President of Sourcing & Industry Relations and I’ve been in the industry for 25 years.
What do you like about your job? Identifying those perfect destinations that align with client needs and program goals, while fostering long-term partnerships with our trusted suppliers.
What’s something you want to share about the people you work with at Motivation Excellence? In my short time here, I’ve encountered incredibly talented individuals whose achievements often go unspoken. They are Motivation Excellence’s best-kept secret – true hidden gems!
What’s a specific moment in your history that always stands out as a defining moment, and why? Successfully moved 6,000 guests in under 13 minutes during a program in Oahu, overcoming significant logistical challenges – despite being told it couldn’t be done.
What’s an unknown or odd talent you have? Interior decorating on a budget – many have said my home looks like it’s straight out of a magazine, even though most furniture and décor were found through discounts and great sales. I enjoy helping friends bring together pieces that may not seem to match at first, creating cohesive and stylish spaces.
What motivates you to accomplish things in your life (work or personal)? I’m motivated by seeing others achieve success through efficiency and effectiveness. And my faith keeps me grounded and centered on what truly matters in life – God.
What do you enjoy doing outside of work? I enjoy golfing, reading, and designing or building home improvement projects.
One thing that always makes you laugh is? Laughing at real-life instances. I enjoy comedian LeAnne Morgan for her relatable everyday humor and her perspective as a mom and wife.
What’s a bucket-list item you can’t wait to cross off? Redoing my “Get to Know ME” spotlight video -just kidding! In all seriousness, I’d love to have dinner with Rev Run of Run-D.M.C. (Joe Simmons) along with Kid Rock (watch her video to hear about her connection to Kid Rock).
When Channel Incentive Programs Go Stale: 5 Signs You Can’t Ignore
By Brian McHugh
As channel leaders prepare 2026 growth strategies amid economic headwinds, there is a dangerous tendency to maintain the status quo with channel programs that appear to be “working fine.” The reality is different. In today’s competitive landscape, “fine” is the enemy of growth, ROI and performance improvement. Programs that lose their edge don’t just stall, they drain budget, underperform, and invite competitors in.
At Motivation Excellence we have worked with manufacturers and distributors for 40 years to design, motivate and execute channel incentive programs. We know it’s easy for programs to slip into mediocrity. The warning signs start subtly, then compound quickly, turning your potential growth driver into a costly obligation.
Here are five critical signs that your channel incentive program needs attention now.
Your Sales Team Has Gone Silent
Healthy programs generate conversation. Your sales team should be the tip of the spear when it comes to communicating with your customers. They should understand the program, advocate for it, sell it, and help prove its value. Ultimately, a program is a tool designed to grow sales, and that tool should have your sales team’s fingerprints all over it.
When your sales organization stops providing feedback about what is working or not working in the program, or when program discussions disappear from your meetings and you stop promoting it, it signals a loss of confidence in the value proposition. Suddenly your investment becomes an expense.
When salespeople stop talking about it, partners stop hearing about it. Enrollment slows. The program fades from view. If you have not heard your sales team discuss the program recently, it’s time to ask why.
Your Provider Operates in “Set and Forget” Mode
Think of every incentive program as two engines: one powers how it runs (rules, platforms and rewards), the other powers where it’s going (strategy, outcomes, insights, scale). When the second engine stalls, so does growth.
When management of the program becomes vendor-like instead of a personalized strategic advisor, you may notice the provider’s business reviews start to become status updates. Reviews happen infrequently or devolve into just data dumps. The provider rarely suggests proactive enhancements and seems unfamiliar with your industry challenges. They treat your program as software rather than a strategic growth tool.
An incentive program is not just software, rewards, or travel experiences; it is a vehicle for executing business strategy. Your provider should understand channel dynamics, competitive pressures, and growth objectives. They should deliver insights, analytics, and recommendations that keep you ahead of trends.
Successful programs require continuous improvement. We’ve seen firsthand how a more hands-on, insight-driven approach can turn around stagnant performance, like this flooring company case study where program participation rebounded after a strategic reset. If your provider is not bringing ideas, you may have a vendor problem as much as a program problem.
Catalog Fatigue, Recycled Destinations
When redemptions start to repeat for the same item and trips feel predictable, your program is losing its pull. Participants begin to view online reward items as ordinary. Comments like, “I can get this cheaper on Amazon,” or, “Where are we going this time?” shift from excited to indifferent.
When redemptions stop being celebrated or even mentioned it means the program is no longer creating moments worth talking about.
This is critical because aspiration, not just costs, drives engagement. Participants crave rewards that feel earned and meaningful, not transactional handouts. Loyalty is an emotion not a transaction. When rewards feel like something anyone could buy anytime, the sense of accomplishment fades. Activity may still be tracked, but the deeper motivation dims and engagement wanes. Rewards have power when they become personal, not just part of their income.
Reward Entitlement and Compensation Creep Take Hold
Every incentive program exists on a spectrum, from a motivator where awards feel like earned recognition, to compensation, where they feel like expected income. The slide toward compensation happens gradually and poses serious risks.
Warning signs emerge when participants start requesting rewards like cash, rebates, or gift cards instead of traditional rewards. Exceptions for cash equivalents like one-off payments, rebates, or credits begin to multiply. You might notice some push back on any program changes, especially from top earners. Gaming behaviors surface, participants try to time submissions strategically to maximize claim payouts.
This shift marks dangerous territory. Once awards feel like entitlements, participants mentally categorize them alongside salary and benefits. What once motivated performance now simply maintains the status quo. The emotional connection between effort and reward has dissolved.
Channel leaders or program managers might be saying: “Are we paying for business we’d achieve regardless?” When programs drift into compensatory territory, the answer is usually yes. Cash has its place but when it becomes the default, your program becomes payroll with extra steps.
Your Program Rewards the Same Performance Patterns Year After Year
Whether it is travel qualifiers, SPIFF winners, or points-based awards, the same partners consistently achieve top rewards while most of the channel sits in lower tiers or disengages. Additional promotions stop. Earning opportunities feel thinner for the participant. Engagement starts to fade.
When invoices arrive and you think “this feels like a cost of doing business,” or you might think the program has become “too rich,” that usually signals something deeper. Rule structures and earning logic have not evolved. Rules that felt innovative at launch now feel predictable.
The risk here falls on program managers. If you continue to ask your channel for more volume, new product sales, and market expansion, year after year without refreshing the program, fatigue will follow.
Bottom line: If you ask partners to do more while the program stays the same, do not expect the same or greater loyalty in return.
The Path Forward
These warning signs rarely appear all at once. They build quietly over time. Performance softens, engagement slips, and what was once a growth engine starts to feel like a sunk cost.
The most effective channel programs never stand still. They evolve with the market. Communications are constantly refreshed. Earning structures are recalibrated. Rewards stay aspirational. Promotions feel timely and relevant. Nothing runs on autopilot.
Now is the time to ask the hard questions. Is your incentive program still delivering measurable value, or has it become an expensive obligation? Your 2026 growth goals will not be met by programs that simply maintain the status quo. They will be met by programs that inspire action, capture mindshare, and earn loyalty.
At Motivation Excellence, we partner with channel leaders to uncover what is working, what is not, and what needs to change. If any of these signs sound familiar, schedule a complimentary program evaluation. We will help you assess your current structure and identify clear steps to reignite engagement and drive growth.
5 Ways to Tariff-Proof Your Incentive Strategy
Tariffs are no longer just a headline; they are a daily reality reshaping the wholesale distribution landscape. Recent data underscores the urgency and impact this is having on this large sector.
- In a June 2025 survey of over 4,000 small business owners,72% of wholesalers reported lower revenues due to tariffs.
- The wholesale trade sector is absorbing an estimated $48.7 billion in import duties, representing more than half of the U.S. economy’s total tariff exposure.
- Margins are under intense pressure, with 44% of small business owners seeing direct revenue losses from tariffs and the average decline reaching 13%.
This new data reinforces earlier research from the National Association of Wholesaler Distributors, which found that 62% of distributors expect their cost of goods sold to rise by at least 10% in 2025 and only 2.5% report any positive effect from tariffs.
Traditional incentive models can prove unsustainable in this environment. To maintain profitability in this constrained market, a better approach is needed to tariff-proof your incentive strategy. At Motivation Excellence, many of our clients are in the B2B distribution channel. Here’s some thought leadership we can offer others out there looking at their incentive strategies:
1. Focus on Emotional Loyalty
Buying decisions often start with emotion and get justified with logic. In wholesale distribution, most products are bought rather than actively sold. The real opportunity lies in building deeper relationships and creating more meaningful experiences. When products feel interchangeable, the experience becomes the differentiator. Group incentive travel is a proven tactic. According to the Incentive Research Foundation, 73% of participants reported that they increased loyalty to the sponsoring company after attending and 91% of respondents find group travel “very” or “extremely” motivating. Further,72% say relationship building is the most important benefit.
2. Make Use of Behavior-Based Incentives
Moving beyond volume-based rewards and focusing on long-term, value-driving behaviors is essential. Some examples include:
- completion of product training
- adoption of digital tools
- participation in joint marketing campaigns
A manufacturer might offer tiered rewards for partners who complete training modules and submit a case study or testimonials, thereby increasing their product knowledge. This approach encourages channel partners to invest in their own growth and education. Often, the root of the problem is different than the symptoms. Behavior-based incentives close this knowledge gap, empowering channel partners to sell with confidence and deliver greater value to customers.
3. Help Customers Grow Their Business with Cross-Selling and Upselling
Instead of simply trying to add incentives for pushing more products, help your customers sell more by incentivizing cross-selling and upselling solutions that fit their needs. For example, in plumbing distribution, rather than just promoting another type of pipe, create incentives for contractors who sell water heaters with compatible smart thermostats or leak detection systems. This not only increases average order value but also positions the distributor as a partner in business growth, not just a supplier. The best distributors provide training, sales tools, and support to help customers identify new revenue opportunities and close more sales.
4. Close the Feedback Loop
Use your incentive program to gather input through surveys or other feedback tools. This gives you insight into what they need and where the market is heading. Electrical Trends, the electrical distribution industry’s blog, had a recent article on Competing, and Winning, in a Tariff Induced World which states, “Doing business the way you did it will not drive profitable growth.” Now is the time to do research on growth segments, understand what customers’ needs are, and determine what they need from you. Feedback through surveys ensures your strategy, culture, and logistics keep pace. Offering an incentive to take these surveys or making them a part of your current incentive program, is essential for understanding why customers buy from you and what they value most.
5. Train Your Sales Team to Sell on Value
Sales teams need to show how your products or services save time or money. In the channel, price is often passed through to the end customer, so the focus should be on the solution and how you differentiate. With most projects running over budget now, end users are under pressure to justify every dollar and the value you provide. Your sales team needs to be solution-focused but should also know how to use the incentive program as a tool in that conversation. They should understand the rules and apply the program as part of their strategy to close deals. When they do, they move the conversation from price to value.
Mid-year is often the hardest time to change programs and pricing —or even rebate structures — for many distributors. But it’s a great time to start looking ahead. Since margin pressure will not be easing anytime soon, the real questions are:
- How will you adapt for 2026?
- Are you getting the right guidance to evolve your strategy?
Companies that start shifting their strategy now will be in a stronger position to grow in a more competitive and constrained market come January 1st.
If you’re starting to think about what comes next for you and your distribution channel and incentive strategy, we would be happy to consult with you, free of charge.
Why Sales Incentives Represent an Investment in Company Success
You rely on your channel partners to drive sales. Their success translates into yours. So, anything your company can do to help make channel partners more successful is ultimately good for the bottom line. This begs a question: how does your company feel about sales incentives? Does management see them as an investment in long-term success?
Sales incentive programs are crucial to a successful business strategy. We see them as investments because they pay for themselves in terms of lead generation, closed deals, and revenue growth. The potential ROI for a well-designed sales incentive program is great, and the loyalty you develop can carry forward through good times and bad well into the future. Working with an established company like Motivation Excellence is imperative to achieving the best results.
Sales Incentives Directly Impact Performance
Consider your channel partners and what motivates them to perform. Of course, they are likely looking out for their own best interests. But as a partner, their interests are tied to yours. A great sales incentive ties the success of both companies together with rewards that create lasting bonds.
Sales incentives directly impact partner performance. Partners motivated by the rewards in your incentive program are more likely to put extra time and effort into reaching their goals and aligning their business strategy with yours. Incentives motivate channel partners to want more. And when that happens, your company earns more.
Note that data backs up this principle. For example, a study conducted by McKinsey & Company demonstrated that well-developed sales incentives have a 50% greater impact on total sales than new investments in advertising.
Sales Incentives Boost Retention
Retention is always a challenge with channel partners. Your partners have their own businesses to worry about. There is always the temptation to leave your organization behind in search of greener pastures. Any such temptations can be countered by developing a deeper relationship with channel partners. A great way to do that is through a sales incentive program.
Sales incentives reward your partners commensurate with their efforts. Rewards go a long way toward increasing loyalty and boosting collaboration. Given a choice between staying with your organization and its sales incentives or working with another company that doesn’t offer such incentives, or a less desirable one, partners are going to choose you more often than not.
Sales Incentive Rewards Come in Many Forms
Reward points to spend on nearly anything, a spot on a coveted group travel experience, special event tickets, or a combination of options make sales incentives a great engagement tool!
No matter what the reward is for them, the reward for your company is a deeper emotional connection between your company and your partners. Group travel experiences create long-lasting memories. Using reward points to geek-out a new rec room at home reminds the recipient of your company every time they sit down with the kids to play a game. Giving access to marketing materials, product training or steps-to-the-sale tips demonstrates your commitment to your partners’ growth. Sales incentive programs can be customized starting with the rules and ending with the rewards in countless ways that benefit both your company and their business.
Sales Incentives + Channel Partners = Great Business
Your company’s long-term success depends on continually driving sales and sustaining lasting partnerships. You can create a lifelong advocate of your product or solution through well-designed incentive programs. You know “the why” and we know “the how” when it comes to building successful B2B incentive programs with great ROI. Be intentional with your sales incentive strategy with us as your guide. Connect with us to get started!
Why Group Travel Is a More Effective Sales Incentive Than Cash for Your Top Performers
Here at Motivation Excellence, we are big fans of group travel incentives. We’ve seen first-hand over the last 40 years just how effective they can be to engage, inspire, and motivate. In every case, it’s far better at building connections than a bank deposit.
There is always going to be a place for using cash bonuses as part of an overall employment package. They’re practically expected, so as a sales incentive, they can easily fall short motivating your internal sales team.
Group travel incentives, however, are motivational to internal and external sales teams, alike. Traveling, especially with a significant other, fellow top performers and company executives, creates lasting relationships that become worth much more to the future success of your business than writing a check.
Here are three reasons we believe group travel is a dominant motivator for sales incentives:
1. Fond Memories Become Future Goals
Travel experiences generate memories people hold on to. While receiving a bump to a paycheck, gives an instant, and surely appreciated lift, it’s often forgotten by the time the next month rolls around. Unfortunately, extra money ends up being used for gas, groceries or bills more often than being used for something more meaningful or extravagant.
On the other hand, memories of a great travel experience become the motivation to earn the next experience. The “have to do that again” factor can’t be underestimated with group travel incentives. Our travel incentives are filled with once-in-a-lifetime experiences individual travelers wouldn’t be able to replicate. That holds incredible motivational value!
2. Loyalty Is Built Through Emotional Connections
Traveling with a group of other top performing individuals is a bonding experience. Sharing incredible activities, meals and training events creates camaraderie that can grow into friendships. Those strengthened relationships translate into increased loyalty and talent retention.
Hosting a group travel incentive is a way to stand out among competitors looking to woo top talent away. Selecting an amazing destination with incredible events combine to create a memorable travel experience that can help a company differentiate even more. One of the best benefits is the intrinsic motivation to achieve the travel reward year after year…adding longevity to loyalty far into the future.
3. Travel Is Happily Publicized
The modern culture values travel so much that there is prestige attached to it. Social media posts are loaded with people’s latest adventures. Now imagine the added pride when someone earns the travel experience through their own efforts. They shout it out for all to know (and follow along)!
Offering a group travel incentive allows the hosting company to cover the expense through an increase in gross profits. Meanwhile, the person who earned the experience put in a lot of sweat equity, but isn’t shelling a dime out of pocket to enjoy the reward. It feels free to them, but also deeply appreciated since the road to get there wasn’t easy.
The added publicity each participant freely gives to the host company on social channels is invaluable. It attracts the attention of colleagues who then want to earn the travel incentive too. The prestige of being a member of “the club” grows, along with the motivation to achieve it. In the end, group travel is a more effective sales incentive than cash in many ways. Whether you’re interested in pushing your internal sales team to new heights, strengthening crucial relationships or differentiating your company’s rewards from your competitors, incentive group travel offers incredible ROI and ongoing motivation. Connect with us to learn more about how it can help your company thrive.
Channel Incentives: Boosting Partner Performance and Engagement
Has your organization been looking for ways to boost partner performance and engagement? Are you tired of the same, old promotional gimmicks? If so, it’s time to try something new. Consider investing in B2B channel incentives.
Channel incentives are customized reward programs designed to do more than just show token appreciation for the job your partners do day in and day out. They are designed to go above and beyond in a way that truly motivates performance and engagement.
Designing and implementing channel incentives is what we do here at Motivation Excellence. We work with you to learn about your business needs and derive the best goals to meet them. It’s a consultative approach that we back up with the detailed dedication needed to run an engaging, successful and totally custom-created program.
Channel Incentive Elements
Channel incentives come in all shapes and sizes, so to speak. We appreciate variety because it gives us an opportunity to customize every incentive program down to the finest detail. The elements are flexible and include:
- Goals – being specific here is important to the design of the program
- Budget – will this come from incremental sales, vendor buy-in, a budgeted line-item, or a combination
- Rules – these lay the groundwork for success and expectations
- Performance management and tracking – data analytics are important to track for management and participants
- Rewards – travel, lifestyle upgrade packages or award points, to name a few
- Marketing – engaging participants is a special skill set and critical to the overall success of the program
We work with our clients to make sure their goals are met within their budget while meaningfully motivating the people who mean the most to the success of their business. A great channel incentive maximizes results and minimizes risks.
Channel Incentive Benefits
There are a lot of reasons to run an incentive with your distribution channel. One of the biggest is differentiation. If you’re in a market that’s saturated with competitors, running an incentive can be the way to gain attention and new customers. Channel incentives with motivating rewards can increase B2B customer loyalty, which can begin a lasting relationship well into the future.
Cost effectiveness is another benefit of running a well-designed channel incentive program. When we design a program, we like to see the program pay for itself, and then some, through incremental sales. Programs that run year after year can continue to bring in incremental gains as participants work to outperform their activity from the previous period.
Channel incentives can be very flexible too. They can run for a short period of time, like a quarter, or longer stretches. They can coincide with a new product launch. Incentive programs can include rewards for completing training, making your B2B customer an expert (and advocate) on your product versus the competition. The flexibility options are nearly endless!
Channel Incentive Management
This part is really important. A channel incentive that is launched and not managed after that will die a quick and quiet death. Management includes participant engagement. It includes regular metric checks. It might mean the program gets tweaked from time to time to maximize results or avoid costly hiccups. Working with a skilled partner, like our experts at Motivation Excellence, is the best way to ensure success and minimize risk. We recently published a blog reviewing how we handle performance management and tracking within our B2B loyalty and incentive programs. It includes a detailed Q&A with our Client Performance Manager, so if you have questions about what it entails please check it out. In the meantime, here’s a quick list of some of the ways we work with our clients to manage their loyalty or incentive programs:
- Regular client review sessions set up at intervals that make sense for the program and client
- Marketing support like emails, postcards, texts and gift mailings
- Data-driven performance websites that give management and participants one place to get instant program updates
- In-house customer service for participants redeeming award points or registering for a group travel reward
Channel incentives are a must in today’s highly competitive market. They are critical to boosting performance and increasing engagement. For more information about how we develop and deploy channel incentives, give us a call or shoot us an email today. We’d love to give you a free consultation anytime!
Our Guide to Group Travel Incentives for Sales Teams and Channel Partners
Group travel incentives are a major part of our business here at Motivation Excellence. We are firm believers in group travel incentives for sales teams and channel partners because we’ve seen decades of positive results. With that in mind, we have put together a small guide offering a rundown of everything you should know on this topic. Reach out to us for more information about arranging group travel incentives for your organization.
Why Group Travel Incentives Work
Group travel is a fantastic incentive on many levels. For example, incentive travel motivates sales team members and channel partners to achieve their sales targets by way of a tangible and exciting reward. Travel is something people look forward to, especially when it’s something they couldn’t necessarily plan on their own. And, even though it’s being paid for through increased sales by the earners, to them it feels like it’s on the house!
Group travel incentives also work for sales teams and channel partners because they:
- Enhance engagement and loyalty
- Strengthen relationships with the people who mean the most to your bottom line
- Provide a competitive environment that boosts sales
- Provide a means of attracting new talent for internal teams, and new customers for external channel partners
- Offer the opportunity to combine both work and rest in a beautiful setting
- Create lasting memories that emotionally tie the travelers to your company
Best of all, group travel incentives offer a significant return on investment (ROI). Travel events ultimately pay for themselves by generating sales, differentiation in the market, and loyalty.
How to Plan a Successful Group Travel Incentive Program
Planning is critical to pulling off any group travel incentive. The planning stage has a myriad of critical steps, including these:
- Define Your Objectives – This means figuring out the purpose for the incentive and what you hope to accomplish for your target participants.
- Establish a Budget – Exactly what the experience looks like will depend heavily on your budget and how you plan to generate it.
- Choose a Destination – The destination should motivate your participants, match your budget and tie into the theme of your incentive program.
- Tailor the Itinerary – The itinerary can be a mix of team-building exercises, activity options, leisure time, and networking with company executives and fellow high achievers.
- Personalize the Event – As you zero in on the end of the planning process, be sure to find ways to personalize the event.
- Communicate – Engaging with your target audience before, during and after the travel incentive is important to tying the experience all together for your winners.
The level of planning directly correlates with the effectiveness of the experience. Our travel team at Motivation Excellence has 40 years of experience creating and executing award-winning incentive travel programs. When you work with us, we can offer our expertise on the rule structure to qualify, the destinations that will work the best for your budget the best way to motivate performance improvement.
Why Working with Experts Is Worth It
Running an Incentive travel program is definitely not DIY. Enlisting the help of an expert is worthwhile for several reasons:
- Our industry relationships, decades of experience and contract negotiation skills will keep your budget in check, while delivering incredible service and attention to detail.
- We can handle everything from planning to executing, including all logistics, performance management and marketing.
- We have access to exclusive experiences that would otherwise be unavailable for your event.
- We customize group travel incentives to maximize their business impact, thereby maximizing ROI, while minimizing risks.
- And most importantly, we make sure it operates to exceed you and your participants’ expectations
Any organization can arrange for employees or partners to travel. But maximizing travel incentives requires a lot more than going online and booking a few hotel rooms. If you are interested in how group travel can benefit your organization, Motivation Excellence is standing by to help.
Elevating Performance Through Incentive Travel: Uniting Sales Teams and Channel Partners
Unlike traditional bonuses or SPIFFs, incentive travel taps into deeper psychological drivers: the desire for recognition, the thrill of exclusive experiences, and the opportunity to connect with peers in inspiring settings. Research shows that:
86% of sales professionals rank travel rewards as more motivating than cash incentives (2022 IRF Destination Preferences Study)
Channel partners who attend incentive travel programs demonstrate 32% higher year-over-year retention (IRF Partner Study 2024)
The reason is simple: Incentive travel transforms transactional relationships into shared journeys of success.
Sales Incentives Are Important to Channel Partner Loyalty – Here’s Why
Key Summary
Channel partners boost sales—They act as an extension of your team (dealers, distributors, reps) and need incentives to stay loyal.
Incentives drive performance—Travel rewards, competitive perks, and training motivate partners to sell more and stick with your brand.
Long-term success requires alignment—Shared goals and strategic rewards (like exclusive benefits) strengthen partnerships and growth.
We love channel partners here at Motivation Excellence. We understand they are integral to the success of many of our clients. So, if we can motivate them with sales incentives, we know our clients will be happy. The big question for you is this: why are sales incentives so important to your channel partners?
What You Can Gain from Group Travel Incentives
At Motivation Excellence, we LOVE group travel incentives! For sales incentives, whether for your internal team or channel partners, a group travel award is coveted, and thus very motivational. For the right audience, travel experiences as rewards are phenomenal ways to engage, connect and foster performance improvements from the people who mean the most to the success of your business!
Group travel is a complex beast. But, with us as your partner, your team and participants only see the shiny, fun exterior because we put in all the sweat equity behind the scenes. As with any sales incentive, it needs to be managed in just the right way so that participants are engaged and rewarded, and our clients are secure in their budget and goal attainment.
A Plethora of Goals
Group travel incentives can be defined by one or more goals. So, it’s important for businesses to really understand what they want to accomplish before designing an incentive program that culminates in a group travel award. Below are examples of five goals we routinely design travel incentive programs around:
1. Improving Performance
According to the Incentive Research Foundation, an estimated 91% of travel incentive participants find travel incentives ‘extremely’ or ‘very’ motivating. Those are some impressive numbers! With a fantastic travel program as motivation, improving performance to earn it gets some added priority. Of course, offering the right destination for the audience is a critical component. Budget also comes into play, but we have 40 years of experience helping clients fit great destinations into their budget.
2. Relationship Building
Group travel experiences are great at building relationships between the executive team and the people working so hard to improve the bottom line. Planning small group activities or dinners so leadership can interact with top performers in a relaxed setting is one way we nurture relationship building. When you see a whale breach 100 feet away together, the shared experience builds memories which create fondness and leads to loyalty. Significant others become more than acquaintances which can lead to friendships outside the business world.
3. Building Brand Loyalty
Travel awards tend to be powerful and positive experiences. For B2B channels, they’re also a great venue to add value to a business relationship through networking and training sessions. Including preferred vendors, adding small group session options and organization product demonstrations will highlight how your business is able to put all the pieces in place for easy one-stop-shopping and support.
4. Sharing Organizational Insights
Yet another opportunity group travel offers is the ability to spend time sharing organizational insights with sales teams and distribution partners. Announcing a new product, giving insight into company goals and strategies or offering best practices for continued growth or steps to the sale are all ways to connect with your internal sales team or B2B channel partners. Combine all that with being in a great location with plenty of fun activities too and you’ve captured attention and fostered engagement.
5. Building Momentum
Showing appreciation to the people who bring the most to your bottom line not only strengthens relationships and increases loyalty but if done well, it motivates them to continue to qualify year after year! And each subsequent year likely brings with it a larger goal, which means your company continues to see performance improvements long after the group travel experience is over.
Take Advantage of the Latest Trends
We advise any company considering group travel incentives to partner with a trusted incentive travel firm. It’s a niche business, but knowing you’re with a company, like Motivation Excellence, can take a lot of stress off your shoulders. We do the heavy lifting. Our years of experience add up to risk mitigation for our clients, creative ways to get the most out of a budget and global partnerships that reap rewards wherever we go!
We also know what’s hot in group travel right now and how to best motivate your target audience.
- Personalization – When participants get choices on a travel experience, they’re able to make it more personal to them and their guests. Our Inspire travel technology creates personalized itineraries, including transportation, selected activities and a daily agenda. There are other ways to make a group experience more personalized, and we use them all.
- Free Time – One of the biggest trends of the last several years is offering more free time to the daily schedule. Not only does this save some budget for our clients, but it allows their participants the opportunity to truly relax without having every minute planned. “Bleisure” (business + leisure) days offer a more balanced experience for everyone.
- Cultural Experiences – Incentive travelers like to feel immersed in their travel experience. Getting off the tourist path, and finding unique places, usually only the locals know about, offer a glimpse into the significance of cultural traditions and activities which tend to be very impactful.
- Exclusivity – We like to plan travel experiences no one could plan on their own. Travel awards should be built with a wow-factor (or multiple) to really drive home to the winners that they’ve accomplished something extraordinary and are being treated as such.
If your organization wants to plan a group travel incentive we’d love to connect with you to offer our insight into successful programs. Motivation Excellence has 40 years of experience designing, planning, and implementing group travel incentives for channel partners and sales teams. Let’s get started on yours today!
