Keeping sales reps highly motivated after moving to a non-commission-based structure
Centralizing and cutting down on data systems
Solution
Create a culture of friendly competition
Track, visualize, and measure employee performance, and allow them to compare to each other
Results
More motivated sales reps and friendly competition between employees
United and aligned teams working together to achieve common goals
Company Background
If P&C Insurance is the Nordics' leading insurance company, providing car, dog, life, accident, and home and contents insurance to over 3.7 million customers across Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, and the Baltics. A subsidiary of the Sampo Group, If boasts a processing time of fewer than 24 hours for 60% of the 1.4 million claims they receive yearly.
If’s 7,900-strong employee base has been recognized for prioritizing the satisfaction of its customers and providing the greatest insurance expertise, with 90% of customers giving the insurance giant top marks for their claim handling.
"When you remove commission, you remove a lot of people’s motivation for doing sales work. So how do we still keep employees motivated?"
Simultaneously, the company was on a mission to centralize its exhaustive stack of systems used across different countries within the firm.
Solution: Why Plecto?
“Salespeople are competitive, whether they want to admit it or not,” Daniel says. It’s this competitive nature that made Plecto the best solution for If Forsikring.
With Plecto, If's sales teams visualize and compare performance, as well as run fun motivational contests, so they can continue to offer exceptional insurance expertise while guaranteeing the long-term customer satisfaction If is renowned for.
Here's a few of the components of If's Plecto strategy that led to sales success:
With Plecto, If achieved a level of competitiveness and motivation it had aimed to achieve since its pre-commission-based salary model. “There has certainly been a shift in culture regarding people’s competitiveness,” Daniel notes.
"Since introducing Plecto, people have been more engaged, and have been competing a lot more than we used to. Our reps are reaching out a lot more to each other, and saying ‘OK, I will sell more than you today,’ for example."
Daniel Toft
Outbound Sales Team Leader, If Forsikring
Smaller competitions—such as the agent with the most daily sales winning a gift card—got reps within teams to race against each other, inciting a level of performance reminiscent of when reps received a commission.
Teamwork makes the dream work
If found a solution to bring teams closer together and stir up some friendly, fiery, fun. Bigger competitions were reserved for team contests where teams would work toward a common goal. Simple prizes like going out to dinner together were the perfect way to get teams to collaborate, with the drive to enjoy and celebrate the future reward.
The insurance giant ran an innovative contest that saw teams work together to compete against other branches and walk their way from Stamholme (Danish headquarters, just outside Copenhagen) to sunny Costa del Sol. In addition to encouraging healthy habits during the lockdown, the challenge was the perfect way to keep employees motivated and connected to their teammates, irrespective of location.
It not only evidenced the beauty of what a team working together can achieve, but also showed how succeeding in smaller milestones—and celebrating with rewards along the way— helped accomplish larger victories.
"It’s not just me motivating my employees, they motivate each other because all of a sudden they need to work together to meet a target."
Daniel Toft
Outbound Sales Team Leader, If Forsikring
Motivation without commission—and an upgrade from whiteboards
“How do we still keep our employees motivated?" Daniel asks, getting straight to the heart of an important problem.
"Well, Plecto is a massive part of that. Because every person in sales will always be some kind of competitor. The competition itself—to measure yourself against another person—is so easy and valuable if you use it in the right way."
Employees have personal dashboards, so they compare their own performance to that of their teammates selling to the same market. "Before Plecto, we just used a whiteboard and a marker," Daniel says.
"It was hard to tell the difference and compare performance. If my colleague made five sales, I can't see that on the board, but we can see that in Plecto. I can see, ‘OK, my colleague has made five sales, I have made three, so I need two more to reach them or three to pass them.'"
"With Plecto, people have been more engaged and have been competing a lot more than we used to. Our reps are also reaching out a lot more to each other, and saying ‘OK, I will sell more than you today,’ for example."
Daniel Toft
Outbound Sales Leader (Private), If Forsikring
Results at a Glance
4 TVs to display performance
36 separate data sources
3550 km walked in 28 days per team
177 real-time dashboards to compare performance
The celebrations have continued in external sales teams with Plecto Achievements and Instant Notifications. Badges next to the name of high-achieving employees are used to recognize and reward everyday efforts. Since dashboards are displayed on TVs throughout the whole organization, everyone is able to see their colleagues’ performance, and get involved in celebrating individual milestones and achievements.
Daniel duly notes that, thanks to Plecto's help, agents are happier to be at work and If has experienced a much lower employee turnover rate as a result.
An app to close the remote work gap
The Plecto App became the performance hub during COVID-19 and for remote work thereafter. Staying connected with colleagues is as simple as pulling up Plecto on a phone, or checking a computer dashboard. This is a particularly successful solution for external field salespeople at If, who spend their days visiting customers.
Centralized systems to cut down confusion
The 37 data sources and systems that If currently integrates with Plecto can be centralized and visualized as desired, slashing tons of time and hassle spent manually logging data into several different, complex systems.
The next step, and final thoughts
“We’ve been really happy with Plecto," Daniel says. "It’s something that really motivates people to compare yourself to each other. It’s something we really value at If"—so much so that the insurance giant is keen to make it a staple throughout the whole company, from B2B sales departments, to inbound teams like customer service, and across borders to the other Nordic locations.
For others thinking about using Plecto, Daniel offered, “Just do it. It’s added a lot of value for us at If Forsikring. Not only would I recommend it, I have recommended it.” He continues, “It’s easy to get into. Easy to use, really easy to use. A great and easy overview.”
And Daniel’s final words of wisdom:
“Use Plecto’s support–not just in the beginning, but also throughout. The Plecto team has a lot of ideas and know how to use Plecto to the full extent, and how to use the tools within Plecto in the best way possible. I have only had great experiences with Plecto.”
Motivate and unite your teams with Plecto
Eager to coordinate your teams and bring out their best performance like If Forsikring?
*Disclaimer: We are committed to data privacy. All dashboard images in this blog post have been provided by our customer, If Forsikring. Names and identification photos have been blurred out for security. Plecto does not access customer dashboards without written consent.
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