It has been stated that one of the things that cause a sales person to hesitate calling on a prospect is the lack of a planned series of questions to qualify the account. Below is a primary list of questions covering the basic elements required to plan an incentive program.This list is by no means exhaustive, yet enough to cover the basics as well as save our time, energy, and make selling a little easier. Some of these you may want to research before the meeting, others will make your time with your prospect more productive.

General Information

• Has the company ever conducted incentive programs?
• If yes, what was their most successful program? Why?
• Has your contact ever purchased, managed and /or sponsored an incentive program?
• What awards have they used? (Do they have an award bias? cash vs. merchandise/merch. vs. gift certificates or travel)
• Which types of awards does your contact believe to be most motivational?
• What are their overall annual sales?
  • What is their product/service mix?
  • What are sales by product/service?
• What is the market share by product/service?
• How is their distribution channel structured?
• What are your contact's top three objectives?
• Are the goals realistic and attainable?
• What are the top three opportunities for business with this client?

Program Specific

• Who is the best audience for an incentive/recognition program? If more than one, rank them in order of influence
• What is the profile of the target audience?
  • Age
  • Income/earnings
  • % male/female
• When is the earliest they could launch a program?
• How do they currently track sales and /or purchases?
• For which levels of their distribution channel do they have a viable database? Can they provide a file? Is it current?
• How far into their distribution channel can they track sales/purchases? One level? Two levels?
• If they have operated previous incentive programs, how have they tracked sales/purchases?
• Do they have examples of previous programs/program materials? Results?

Program Budget

• Is there a budget earmarked for this project? If so, what is it?
• What has the client spent on previous incentive programs?
• What dollar amount will be required to motivate your client's participants?
• Are there other opportunities to enhance the budget such as co-op dollars, advertising funds, etc.?

Buying Decision

• Who are the primary decision makers?
• Are there other competitors? Who?
• When will they make a decision about a program or supplier?