How to create the perfect balance
Incentive trips are supposed to be a reward to your employees for a job well done. With that in mind, how do you balance required events with time for rest and relaxation? The question comes up repeatedly in discussions with our customers, and in general throughout the industry.
Destination Management Company
A Destination Management Company, or DMC, is a professional services company with extensive knowledge, expertise, and resources, specializing in design and implementation of events, activities, day trips, transportation, and program logistics. The services provided by a DMC usually include airport greetings, hospitality desks, special events, theme parties, decorations, AV, dinner events, site inspections, and anything you may need on site!
Source: Amstar
As more millennials move up in the workforce and baby boomers retire, this is a good time to refresh your employee engagement strategy. According to CNN, millennials expect to have four jobs by the time they're 32. This means that by the time it takes an employee to get fully ramped up (on average 18 months), he or she will already be getting ready to apply for their next job. Onboarding costs the company a lot of money and a lot of resources, so here are some tips on how to keep employees engaged in a genuine way:
Capturing the Key Moments
One important aspect of your incentive trip is capturing the special moments through photos and videos. This is not only for the guests, but also as a marketing tool for recruitment and future trips. In order to get the most out of your photography budget, we recommend a videographer who is able to not only capture the trip but also put together a compilation video. The video can then double as a highlight reel for the attendees as well as a piece to be used by the marketing team for recruiting.
Planning Your Event
After a trying year in 2020, most sales teams are in need of a major boost, something exciting to look forward to.
So... the decision was made to host an incentive trip in the next year or two, and you've been appointed ownership of the big event. Even if you're just starting to brainstorm trip ideas, there are three options when choosing what direction to take the planning: internal planning, a boutique travel agency partnership, or a large corporate agency. Below, we outline some of the benefits of each.
Photo by Marek Levak
2020 has been very difficult year, particularly for most sales reps. Depending on your industry, numbers may still be down and incentives are more important than ever to keep your team positive and looking to the year ahead. One good way to do this is setting up special incentives toward 2021 qualifications, like December sales counting double, etc., to get people motivated again.
This year has been incredibly difficult as we navigate a global health crisis that has completely changed the world around us. While we may not be spending normally or planning trips anytime soon, this is still a time for incentivizing the team you do have that's out there working for your company. We've discussed in other posts that special one-off incentive programs may help motivate your team, even if they are qualifiers for a trip that seems far away now.
If you're considering incentive travel for your team, there are two main categories: individual or group trips. Based on your company’s goals, it's important to weigh the pros and cons of each. But first, it’s important to understand the difference.
In 2020, you would assume the answer to this question is yes. And for the most part, that's right. Technology in the meetings and events industry has transformed over the last 5+ years with smartphone apps, websites, and on-site displays. However, despite providing attendees with all of this technology (from event websites to agenda apps, and even screens displaying throughout the property), there's still feedback that certain guests miss hard copy agendas. The days of printing agendas for every attendee are over, but if you find it necessary to provide hard copies for some, we recommend printing 20% of the attendee number. If you run out you can always print more on site.
The main benefit of having your agenda online is the ability to make live updates. Our world is more unpredictable than ever, so this is an increasingly important aspect in event planning. When COVID-19 started to impact everything earlier this year, we were able to update itineraries and communicate with clients as soon as changes happened. This is crucial, especially when planning for a large group traveling from all over the world. Even when things are going smoothly though, apps and event websites are the most streamlined way to communicate effectively with large groups of attendees.
One of the main benefits of incentive travel is that it builds attendees' affinity for their company, and you want to ensure those positive memories are lasting. While a photographer/videographer should be a relatively small line item (between $2,000 - $5,000 per event), there are three big things to consider when deciding to invest in this special add-on:
This has been a very difficult year, and while sales numbers may be down, incentives are more important than ever to keep employee morale up. Although you may not be thinking about a trip anytime soon, this information will be helpful whenever you do start planning again.