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Top 5 Incentive Travel Program

Mistakes & How To Avoid Them

United Incentives

1. Losing sight of the goal of the program

Common Mistake: Management has planned an incentive travel program that is representative of their dream getaway.

What To Do: If the incentive program is targeted to motivate employees or customers, it should be about them. Pick destinations or incentives that speak to their desires and dreams. Also, remember to keep in mind the ultimate takeaway you want attendees to go home with. Do you want them to go home feeling appreciated, recognized, refreshed, relieved, refocused? Structure your program accordingly once you’ve chosen your ultimate goal.

2. Forgetting who deserves recognition

Common Mistake: An incentive program is set up that will reward salespeople but it completely cuts out those that have been working on creating leads, researching opportunities, and marketing products.

What To Do: Sit down and decide what behaviors you’re trying to focus on to motivate. Do you need to recognize just your salespeople? Or are their real benefits that come from recognizing non-sales employees that contribute to your companies bottom line? Every party has a guest list and this is no exception.

3. No follow-up after the program

Common Mistake: A company sends its top earners on an incentive travel program. The employees come back to work after having an excellent experience but are never properly communicated to on how their achievements fit into the bigger picture of continued success in the workplace.

What To Do: Incentive travel programs aren’t quick fixes or Band-Aids. In order for them to work they need to be properly explained and communicated to employees before and after the trip. You can’t have a PB&J sandwich without peanut butter and you can’t continue to motivate your employees with just one program.

4. Lack of consideration of attendees

Common Mistake: Management plans the perfect trip to an excellent location but the resort is so pricey that attendees can’t afford to eat dinner on site.

What To Do: Know your audience. If your attendees are millennials they will want more adventure but if they’re boomers they might prefer a relaxing day of golf. Know what they can and want to spend on a trip. Forcing attendees to pay steep charges on an incentive travel program ruins the magic. Finally, if your company has a busy season, don’t schedule a trip in the middle of it. Nobody wants to feel like they are missing opportunities.

5. Ineffective goal-setting

Common Mistake: You’ve put together the perfect incentive program plan to boost sales and motivate employees to perform at their best. Unfortunately, you underestimated the effects of this sort of program and now you’re out of product and can’t fill orders leading to disappointed customers. Incentive programs need to be carefully planned because they will effect every aspect of your business.

What To Do: Plan, plan, plan. You will never be able to anticipate every effect of your program on operations, manufacturing, etc., but you can be prepared with a solution for any issue that might arise. Set realistic goals and have a Plan B, and C in place for insurance.

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