Spiff

Spiff stands for ‘Sales Program Incentive Funds’, which is an incentive program that organizations use to drive sales. For example, a Spiff can be used when the organization needs to move X number of units of a product to meet their sales goals, but the sales team is holding back progress because they aren’t as invested in moving this product as they perhaps should be.

The spiff is a short-term solution that’s designed to motivate sales teams to get themselves into gear and begin shifting products. It essentially boils down to telling sales representatives that if they move X amount of product within Y time, they’ll receive Z as a reward. Most sales spiff incentives are financial, but anything can be offered as a reward—extra PTO, prizes, vacations, special recognition, pay rises… it’s down to the organization to decide this.

Although spiffs can be a powerful motivational tool, there’s no guarantee that they will work, especially in the long term. If a sales team is regularly demotivated or underperforming, there’s usually a deeper root cause that needs to be rectified.