You’ve finally done it. After months (or maybe even years) of planning, you’re ready to launch your very first incentive program. Or you have been doing an incentive program for a while, and the Honchos in the organization wonder if it’s even worth it. So how do you figure out how to measure the return on investment (ROI) of your program?
An incentive travel program can be a great way to engage employees, increase sales, and drive behaviors that will help your business grow. But in order for senior management to sign off on future programs, they’re going to want to see hard data that proves the current one was successful. That’s where tracked metrics come in. In this blog post, we’ll discuss some of the important things you should measure—and how to go about doing it.
1. Establish Your Benchmarks
Before you can begin tracking the success of your incentive program, you need to establish what your benchmarks are. What goals are you hoping to achieve? Do you want to increase sales by X%? Boost employee engagement by Y%? Get more people to sign up for your company’s safety program? Once you have a good understanding of what you want to accomplish, you can start thinking about how best to measure it.
2. Set Up a Tracking System
Once you know what you want to measure, it’s time to set up a tracking system. This will help you keep tabs on progress and identify any issues that might arise during the course of your program. If you’re not sure where to start, there are plenty of software programs out there that can help with this (like Excel or Google Sheets). Or, if you prefer a more hands-on approach, you could always create a physical tracker that everyone can easily refer to (like a whiteboard or bulletin board—Old School-Style).
3. Start Measuring!
Now that your tracking system is in place, it’s time to start collecting data! This is where things like surveys, interviews, and focus groups come in handy. You can also look at sales numbers, CRM reports, or any other existing data points that might be relevant to your program. The key is to track progress over time and look for any patterns or trends that emerge. Doing this will help you determine whether or not your program is actually having the desired effect—and make necessary adjustments if it isn’t.
Conclusion
Asking whether or not an incentive program is worth the investment is a valid question—one that all organizations should be prepared to answer before launching a new initiative. By taking the time to establish benchmarks and set up a tracking system ahead of time, you’ll be in a much better position to measure the ROI of your program and make a strong case for its continuation in the future. And who knows? With enough careful planning and execution, yours could be the next big success story!
