Want Better Sales Results? Rethink Your Incentive Plan

If you want to change behaviour, start by looking at your incentives.

Every sales incentive program influences how your rural sales team behaves. Reward the right behaviours and performance improves. Reward the wrong ones and you create conflict, complacency, or unhealthy competition.

That’s why great rural sales leadership doesn’t simply ask, “What should we pay our salespeople?”

It asks, “What behaviour do we want to encourage?”

Incentives Shape Behaviour

Industrialist Charles Schwab understood this more than a century ago.

Instead of demanding higher productivity, he simply asked each factory shift to write the number of steel heats they completed on the floor before leaving. The next shift naturally wanted to beat that number.

Without changing the people, he changed the behaviour.

The same principle applies to rural sales incentives today.

Healthy competition, clear goals, and visible progress often motivate people far more effectively than pressure or criticism.

Decide What You Want to Reward

Before introducing a new incentive, ask yourself:

• Do you want more collaboration?
• Do you want greater customer retention?
• Do you want more prospecting?
• Do you want your team to support each other across territories?
• Do you want to reward consistent performance over short-term wins?

The answers should determine how your incentive programme is structured.

Too many businesses reward outcomes while ignoring the behaviours that produce those outcomes.

Avoid One-Size-Fits-All Incentives

Not every territory is equal.

A new salesperson building relationships from scratch shouldn’t be measured the same way as someone managing an established customer base.

Likewise, incentive programmes that pay very little for significantly more effort rarely motivate anyone.

If a salesperson has to increase sales by 20 percent to receive a reward that barely exceeds inflation, the numbers simply don’t stack up.

The result?

People stop trying.

Effective sales team motivation comes from creating rewards that people genuinely value.

Balance Individual Success With Team Success

Individual incentives can drive outstanding performance.

They can also encourage salespeople to protect customers, compete internally, or avoid helping colleagues.

That’s why many successful rural businesses combine individual rewards with team-based incentives.

This encourages healthy competition while reinforcing collaboration across the business.

Instead of competition alone, think about “co-opetition.”

Everyone works hard individually while helping the wider team succeed.

The Bottom Line

The best sales incentive programs don’t reward entitlement.

They reward discretionary effort.

Tailor your incentives to suit different territories, levels of experience, and business objectives. Make sure your people clearly understand what success looks like and ensure the reward is worth the effort required.

When incentives encourage the right behaviours, your team becomes more engaged, your customers receive a better experience, and your business performs at a higher level.

Because when everyone rows in the same direction, everybody wins.

Ready to Improve Your Rural Sales Results?

Listen and subscribe to the Rural Sales Show Podcast, where St John interviews world-leading experts in mindset, sports psychology, leadership, and sales. Turn truck time into valuable up-skilling time with practical ideas you can apply immediately.

Join the Rural Sales Syndicate™ for affordable ongoing coaching and support, or apply for the Rural Sales Success™ Programme to help your team become rural sales legends.

We also run the Rural Sales Manager Mastery™ Programme for new and existing Sales Managers who want to become exceptional sales coaches and leaders. Think of it as a “train the trainer” programme that helps you build internal capability and reduce reliance on external support.

And if budget is tight, explore FieldCoach IO™; your AI-powered rural sales coach that gives you instant access to practical answers, tools, and strategies for every sales scenario you face.