Reward programs

Why choose a gift card to stimulate your distribution network?

February 8, 2024


Motivating sales staff is a powerful lever for boosting company performance. But how do you optimize their commitment? Alongside a variable remuneration policy, a gift card is a relevant and motivating gift in the context of a sales challenge.

What are the benefits of sales incentives?

Sales management occupies a special place in the company. It is not part of the company's core business, but its results are crucial to the company's overall performance. Sales people are driven by a singular energy, a blend of optimism, enthusiasm and perseverance. The management of sales teams also obeys certain particularities in the company's HR policy: incentive is indeed a lever used by a majority of companies to stimulate and maintain sales motivation. The very nature of their activity - finding outlets for the company and therefore bringing in sales - means that the benefits can be shared mechanically to encourage them to perform even better.

The remuneration of sales teams includes a variable component to reward performance. But the company can go even further by setting up a sales challenge to distinguish sales staff according to precise objectives. The kind of initiative that appeals both to the competitive spirit and the need for recognition of this category of employee. Giving away a gift complements bonuses and redoubles their commitment. It also creates healthy competition within the department and helps to strengthen cohesion. The affective dimension of the gift is also a lever for loyalty, as it strengthens the bond between the salesperson and the company.

Why choose an incentive gift card?

Travel, outings, leisure activities, a restaurant, a high-tech object: there are a myriad of incentive gifts that can be offered as part of a sales challenge. But as the saying goes, to choose is to give up. And you run the risk that the gift in question will only motivate some of your sales teams. A touch-screen tablet to win? An employee who already has one won't feel concerned. A holiday? The date or destination could demotivate some "competitors". Two match tickets for a soccer or basketball match? An employee allergic to sport will shun the reward.

The incentive gift card gives the winner of the sales challenge the choice of how to use the prize money. It is not restrictive. It enables employees to treat themselves or to supplement their daily budget, depending on the state of their finances. Purchasing power is always appreciated, especially in times of inflation!

Last but not least, the incentive gift card doesn't present any difficulties in the "after-sales" of the reward. No malfunctions to deal with, no invoices to send for warranty issues. And above all, no dissatisfaction on the part of the winning employees!

How does L'Adresse Immobilier challenge its sales staff with the Sorewards gift card?

L'Adresse is a network created by the FNAIM in 1999 and comprising over 330 real estate agencies and 1,200 sales representatives in France. They are referred to as "consultants" in this cooperative organization, where the term "members" is used rather than "franchisees".

In a particularly competitive sector - that of real estate transactions and property rentals - L'Adresse has set up a sales challenge to reward the best-performing consultants. "Each month, the ten real estate agents who have distinguished themselves the most in terms of transactions and rentals are rewarded," says Brice Cardi, the cooperative's president. "The same goes for the national convention we organize every year, when we reward around a hundred consultants.


The network's management was in the habit of renewing the prizes on offer, giving in to the fashion of the moment for a gift box, a connected watch or an electric scooter. But dissatisfaction with the logistics involved prompted the company to reconsider its plans. "We sometimes discovered that the winners were reselling their gifts, when they weren't asking us about a malfunction. So we did some prospecting and discovered the Sorewards gift card."

The choice of the Sorewards multi-store gift card was a pragmatic one, in line with L'Adresse's policy of promoting its distribution network. "We liked the freedom it gave us in using the reward, as it's a prepaid VISA card valid everywhere from the big chain to the local store," explains Brice Cardi. "The other interesting aspect for our teams is the ease of implementation and day-to-day management. It's dematerialized, and all we have to do is credit the consultants' accounts each time they obtain a reward, as the gift card is reloadable. We also plan to encourage them to use their gift card to make a donation to our charitable foundation under the aegis of the Fondation de France."

A points system is used to reward the best consultants according to their performance, points which are then converted into euros with a one-year validity period. "We observe consultants fully embracing the challenges we set them, regularly consulting the ranking to see if they're in a good position to increase their kitty," says the cooperative manager. "One particularly successful consultant was able to accumulate enough points to top up her budget for the purchase of a boat. It would never have occurred to us to put a boat up for grabs!

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