5 Common Mistakes In Incentive Travel Program

An incentive travel program is designed with good intentions such as to increase sales, motivate employees and to reward good performance. But despite the good purpose, sometimes, the program fails due to lack of understanding on how to execute it and poor implementation. Hence, organizations that plan to offer an incentive travel reward should carefully consider each possible scenario and situation that can undermine the program.

A successful incentive program should yield positive results to the business. But too often, organizations succumb to any of these common mistakes which hinder them from getting much of a return on the efforts they’ve exerted to implement the program.

Neglecting The Goal Of The Program 

No program will succeed without a clear goal. Operating without a specific goal in mind is just a waste of time, resources, and effort, so the management should set challenging yet achievable goals when planning the program. The goal must be clearly and consistently communicated to all people involved from the top management to the employees or customers. When picking a destination, think of which place the participants desire to step foot or, at least, close to their dream destination. All participants must view the program as fair and unbiased, otherwise, they will feel it is not worthwhile and will not be interested. Structure the program accordingly once you have decided the ultimate goal.

Complicated Rules

Setting up rules will give the program a clear structure and provides a sense of fair play. But the participants may feel frustrated and lose interest if there are too many rules and guidelines being imposed. An incentive travel program will never gain traction if the participants feel that it is difficult to win the reward. Thus, it is of substantial importance to keep the rules simple and straightforward. Remember, complex rules often turn off participants making the program less effective.

Lack Consideration To Attendees 

In choosing an excellent location for the incentive program, it is crucial to consider the attendees. The organization may select a perfect destination for the program but the resort is too expensive that the attendees cannot afford to dine on the site. As a result, they won’t enjoy most of their time spent in the travel. So while planning, it is better to know the audience and what they want to do on a trip. For instance, the millennials are more into an adventure trip while the boomers prefer a relaxing day by the beach or a golf session.

Give Enough Time

In implementing an incentive travel program, the participants should be given ample time to work their way toward achieving success. The program should have a reasonable time frame to allow the participants to plan out their strategies on how to improve their performance. If the timeline is too short, some participants may feel they are at a disadvantage but if it’s too long, they might get bored waiting for the result.

Failure To Follow-up After The Program 

Never forget to make a follow-up after the program. When the employees go back to work after an exciting travel experience, there should be a proper communication as to how their achievements contribute to the continuous success of the business. Every aspect of the incentive travel program should be properly explained to employees or participants before and after the trip. Surely, they will look forward to another program in the future.