Sales management · Motivation and coaching
Plan the year's contests and recognition before the first slow month arrives.
A recognition and incentive calendar is a one-year plan that fixes when the sales team is thanked, which contests run and what each prize costs. It covers cash and non-cash rewards, written contest rules and a before-and-after check, and ends in a published sheet every rep can read.
Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.
In one paragraph
A recognition and incentive calendar is a one-year plan that fixes when the sales team is thanked, which contests run and what each prize costs. It covers cash and non-cash rewards, written contest rules and a before-and-after check, and ends in a published sheet every rep can read.
A building-materials dealer in Hubballi runs a scooter contest every Diwali because the owner once saw it work. In February nobody gets a word of thanks, in the monsoon the showroom is empty, and by March the two best reps are asking a rival for a meeting. The contest was fine. The other eleven months had nothing in them.
The calendar is a single sheet with twelve rows. Each row says what happens that month, who qualifies, how it is measured, what the prize is and who pays. The owner signs the budget, the sales manager runs it, and accounts confirms the figures before anything is announced.
It replaces the habit of inventing a prize when sales dip. A rushed prize announced in the third week tells the team the owner is worried, and the next contest will have to be bigger. This page sits beside the coaching routine, which covers the weekly conversations, and the pay-mix pages, which cover the money that is not a contest.
Where this sits
Topic 6 of 14 in sales management: motivation and coaching. Finding what moves each rep and coaching to it.
- The topic before
- Sales training and development
- The topic after
- Compensation
If you want this done for you
Your incentive plan rewards activity that has nothing to do with what needs selling.
The work
What this is actually like.
“A contest needs a baseline or it proves nothing”
Write down the last three months of sales for each rep before the contest opens. Afterwards compare the contest weeks with that line. If the dealer had been selling the same quantity anyway, the prize was a gift, and the sheet is the only way to find that out.
“Peaks need no prize and slumps do”
Running a contest in Diwali week pays reps to do what the market is already doing. Put the money into the months when buyers sit still: the monsoon for a paint dealer, April for a school supplier. That is where a rep needs a reason to keep dialling.
“Non-cash recognition costs less and is remembered longer”
A family dinner for the top rep and a spouse, a named title on the WhatsApp group, a day to leave early before a festival. These cost a fraction of a cash bonus. Ask three reps which they would choose, because the answers differ by age and family situation.
“Tax on prizes is your accountant's call”
Cash prizes, gifts and trips may be treated differently for tax and for payroll. Rules differ by state and change, so check with your own CA before you announce a prize, not after the rep has already been told.
What we do
What you end up with.
The documents this topic produces, what each one is for, and how you know it is finished.
The twelve-month calendar
One row per month with columns for the event, who is eligible, the measure, the prize, the budget and the owner of the event. Include a monthly thank-you, a quarterly contest, an annual trip or dinner and one training day given as a reward.
Result: Finished when the owner can point to any month and say what the team gets in it and what it costs.
One rules page per contest
Half a page: what is counted, from which date to which date, the minimum to qualify, the tie-break and who decides disputes. Written in the language the reps speak, with one worked example in rupees.
Result: Finished when a rep can read the page and work out their own standing without asking anyone.
The baseline and result sheet
For each contest, the average weekly sales per rep before it started, the figure during, the figure for the four weeks after, and the prize cost. The last column is cost of prizes divided by extra sales.
Result: Finished when you can say for the last contest whether it lifted sales or only moved them forward.
The published copy
The calendar and rules posted in the team's WhatsApp group and printed for the showroom wall, with family dates marked so reps can plan around them.
Result: Finished when every rep has confirmed in the group that they have read it.
Why us
Why owners pick GullySales over an agency.
Marketing and sales, as one job
Most agencies stop at the enquiry. We also fix what happens after it: the reply, the follow-up, the quote and the CRM.
The person on the first call does the work
No account managers in between. You are never handed to someone you have not met.
A baseline before anything starts
Your numbers are written down on day one, so every later report compares against something honest.
The fee in writing, split three ways
Our time, your media spend and production on separate lines. You always see what goes to us.
No guarantees we cannot keep
The term is agreed in writing and never a default twelve months. We never promise a ranking or a lead count, because nobody controls those.
One office, and we say so
Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru. We work across India by call and WhatsApp and travel when a session needs to be in person.
#257, 3rd floor, Sri Nanjundeshwara Complex, Nagarbhavi 8th Block, Outer Ring Road. How we work.
Your brief
Tell us what you need, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps about your business, what you want and who decides. Most questions are a tap, and you can skip any you would rather answer on the call.
FAQ
Questions owners ask before they call.
Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.
How much should I budget for incentives and prizes?
Should recognition be public or private?
What if the same two reps win every contest?
Is a calendar worth it for a team of four?
How long is the contract?
How soon will we see results?
Who will actually do the work?
What do you need from us?
What if we are not happy with the work?
Where to go next
The work that carries this topic further.
The rest of motivation and coaching
Or read all of sales management.
Your next practical step
Tell us what you are trying to grow, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps, mostly taps. Skip anything you would rather answer on the call.