How to Build a Killer CSR Incentive Program

By Kelly Donahue-Piro, President of Agency Performance Partners

Have you ever started a new initiative with your team but gotten discouraged when it didn’t take off like wildfire? Maybe you spent hours thinking of the best plan to drive the highest result but when you launched it your team gave you bitter beer face. Here is the reality. In motivating your CSRs it takes far more than some gift cards. It takes your personal time and investment into being their biggest cheerleaders.

Most CSRs are not money motivated people. I always ask agencies to stay away from account rounding commissions splits. It seems great if you are sale-centric but for your average CSR the juice isn’t worth the squeeze. Let’s think about it. A CSR account rounds an umbrella and the premium is $250. If you make 12% commission it is $30; then if the CSR makes one-half of that it is $15 and after taxes it is $10. Then it is paid out five to six weeks later! The CSR never feels that boost. Plus the paperwork around the $10 can often stop them in their tracks.

Bottom line is this model is easy for you since you pay commissions but hard on them. If you really want to incentivize your CSRs you need to include immediate recognition. From the owner or manager and in front of the team. Too often agencies shy away from peer to peer recognition because they think the other team members will be discouraged. You are right, they will for a few weeks. But once they see that it can be done and that people on their team can do it, they will come around. Sometimes you have to wait out the naysayers. The longer you hang on, the better the program does.

So this leads to the next component. Every successful incentive program has a leader at the top driving results. They set a goal, four account rounds per person per month. They watch that goal daily. They report to the team on what’s working, what talking points are best and how many are in the hopper. When your team sees you spending time on it they will follow suit. When you have one meeting and then expect people to change their behavior, you have just wasted everyone’s precious time. You, as the leader, have to commit to weekly emails, walking around congratulating everyone, working with the laggers and cheerleading the team to success. Your next incentive program can’t be another “we will wait and see what happens” type of plan. You have to drive it to success.

Now what motivates a CSR? Generally it is not money. I know, that’s nuts right?! For most CSRs they won’t spend that money on themselves. It will go to the kid’s soccer cleats, paying down a credit card bill or taking the family to the movies. You can score way more with something that is special to that person or by taking a goal they have that’s BIG and showing them how they can get to it via the incentive program. Some examples of the smaller incentives include spa days, clothing gift cards, gas gift cards, bottles of wine and time off. For the larger ones you have to sit with the person to find out what’s important to them. Is it sending their child to soccer camp, a credit card bill they want to pay off, a cruise for them and their spouse? You can then easily break down how to get there and hold the funds in a savings account so they can see it grow. The CSR can then engage their entire family in the progress so working a few extra hours won’t hurt as much at home.

Once you launch the program, be prepared for some disbelief. Your team may have seen programs launched and gone nowhere before. Not this time. You are going to be in the driver’s seat of success. If the program fails, you have to look at yourself. Did you update your team weekly? Did you provide them with immediate rewards? Was there an opportunity for coaching you missed? If the answer is yes, then leadership is to blame.

One final note. In order to hit goals the team may need to get uncomfortable. That’s 100% OK. That’s how you know it is working. For many CSRs, sales is a four-letter word. Account rounding to me has very little to do with sales. It has everything to do with helping a client protect what they love and that is not selling. That is providing a great service.