This article is contributed by R.L. Fielding who writes regularly for Dittman Incentive Marketing.

“If only I could get people to do what I want them to do...”

How often have you thought that … or said that? And how often has the answer eluded you?

We’d love to think that employees will do the right thing and that customers will make the right choice, but since only a segment of your employees are motivated to do what you need them to do, and only some of your prospects have become customers (while the others remain only prospects), the question is … how can you get the rest of the people to see the light?

The answer lies in the “Zone of Self-Interest.” People will do the things you want if they perceive it to be clearly in their own best self-interest. And when that perception exists, you’ll be well on your way to exceeding your business goals.

Here’s How It Works

No matter what you need to accomplish, you can put a price tag on it. Some things lead to greater sales and others to lower costs. And as soon as you put a value on it, employee and customer loyalty rewards programs can help you accomplish it.

The approach is simple, and it’s proven to work. Identify a simple activity that you know to be key to your success and calculate the dollar value to you when it’s accomplished to your satisfaction…then reward it every single time it occurs. Every single time.

Every time a program participant does what you want done, he or she earns points (based on the value you’ve calculated). The points are redeemable for desirable merchandise, exotic travel, or other options. On a real-time basis, every participant can view a custom, personal statement, which details the credits and/or debits made to his/her account and the current account balance.

The Implication for You

The concept of the Zone of Self-Interest revolutionized the airline industry, then most other consumer businesses. Think about your own behavior and how it’s affected by the opportunity to earn free trips or hotel nights or merchandise for providing a seller with conscious loyalty. The rewards fall into your Zone of Self-Interest, and it motivates you to do something you normally wouldn’t do … and do it frequently.

Success breeds success. Unlike many programs that start with fireworks and finish with a fizzle, behavior reinforcement programs grow in effectiveness. With each passing day, the motivation power strengthens, and the bond between you and your program participants deepens. Simply put, a well-built behavior reinforcement program will produce more incremental revenue than it costs.

About Dittman Incentive Marketing

This article was provided by Dittman Incentive Marketing (http://www.dittmanincentives.com/), a quality leader in the field of people performance improvement. Since 1976, Dittman has helped companies achieve critical corporate goals via original, one-of-a-kind employee and customer loyalty rewards programs that inspire a sales force to sell more, customers to buy more, and others to do more.

R.L. Fielding Bio

R.L. Fielding is a freelance writer who has written on a wide variety of topics, with special expertise in the education, pharmaceutical and healthcare, financial service and manufacturing industries.

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