The “golden girl” on this issue’s cover, the lovely Charlize Theron, knew it when she gushed and graciously accepted this year’s Best Actress Oscar™ for Monster; Halle Berry knew it when she nearly had a breakdown accepting hers a few years back for Monster’s Ball; and Adrian Brody knew it when, in a moment of spontaneity and sheer delight after winning the Best Actor award for The Piano, he planted the kiss seen ’round the world on Berry.

But being a Hollywood A-lister isn’t a prerequisite for getting an awesome reward that elicits such an enthusiastic response. Research has shown that in business, both employees and clients who are given awards and incentives to generate sales or loyalty outperform expectations spectacularly. In a recent study, awards and incentives ranked much higher than cash in eliciting a positive reaction among gift recipients.

In this issue’s Awards & Incentives cover story, we’re showing you a ton of items available through your promotional consultant that can help you generate amazing results among clients and employees.

Consider this: A few years ago when Strategic Marketing Alliance (SMA), a promotional consulting company in the promotional products industry, heard that I had won a writing award, they sent me a personalized granite plaque with my name and “In appreciation and recognition of the fact that you ROCK!” etched on it.

Now, in addition to causing me to squeal with glee when I received this, two things happened: 1) I never forgot SMA and called on them often for interviews for different articles I was writing, thereby increasing their visibility and 2) Even after all these years, that award is still prominently displayed in my office because it cracks me up and I’m proud of it. Consequently, the people who have been in and out of my office over the years have seen this as well. And though it was a lovely gesture, it was certainly a smart marketing move on SMA’s part.

Awards and incentives can be used with amazing effectiveness (and results) to drive sales, attract new clients and motivate the existing ones to spend more money, to keep quality employees, draw new ones, encourage the ones you have to be safe and healthy and to let them know when you’re proud of the job they’ve done.

The list of ways you can use awards and incentives and the vast variety of products available is almost inexhaustible; what’s not is the reaction from recipients – it’s always a winner!

Michele

PS: As always, please don’t hesitate to contact me at (800) 326-7378, ext. 3323 or mbell@asicentral.com. Have a fabulous fall!