Incentivizing for Impact: How to Drive Growth With Rewards

The success of customer-facing businesses hinges on the motivation and engagement of its employees. 

As such, finding ways to incentivize workers to boost employee performance is critical. 

The fundamental truth that underpins this need is the direct relationship between employee satisfaction and satisfied customers, or, more importantly for your business, loyal customers. 

Edge's innovative platform makes incentivizing workers simple. Rewards and recognition are both automated as part of their daily work. Let's explore how you can use Edge to drive growth for your business. 

The Importance of Employee-Driven Growth

Businesses across many customer-facing industries face the daunting task of getting people through the door. Not only is there so much competition to attract customers, but they also face a battle to retain them. A sub-par experience, and the customer can simply head elsewhere. 

In such a dynamic, the quality of service that frontline employees provide makes a significant difference.

Let's keep this simple. The more employees feel valued, happy at work, and motivated to be there, the better the service they provide.

This exceptional service forms the core of the customer experience and is so often the difference-maker in customer retention. As such, it pays for you as a business owner to create an environment where this level of service becomes the norm. 

The Power of Recognition and Rewards

So, how do you create this positive environment? What effective incentives can you offer to employees?

Don't underestimate the power of simple recognition in employee motivation. Consider these insights:

• 85% of employees globally report feeling unmotivated at work
• 77% of employees would increase their efforts if they received more recognition
• A mere 5% increase in employee recognition can boost profitability by up to 85%

Edge's platform is built on these principles and designed to make it easy to recognize employee achievements. Further, Edge offers employees different types of rewards in real-time. Here's how Edge builds a motivational incentive program:

• Immediate financial incentives - Staff can instantly see any feedback they receive through the app. If a customer mentions them positively in an online review, they get immediate access to cash rewards. They can claim this directly through the app. This immediacy and ease of access to financial rewards reinforces the direct connection between great customer service and the recognition/reward itself.
• Automated reward tracking - As the business owner, tracking every review for employee snippets is time-consuming. Edge automates everything for you, ensuring no good deed goes unnoticed. Every mention of an employee in customer feedback triggers a notification. You can review these as you like on your own time. Meanwhile, the employee gets their reward with no input from management.
• Customizable rewards  - What motivates one employee may differ from another. Purely monetary incentives aren't a one-size-fits-all recipe for engagement across the board. Paid time off, preferred scheduling, access to professional growth training, or other enticing rewards may be more valuable than a cash bonus. With Edge, you can tailor the reward types you offer to meet the unique needs of your frontline employees. This flexibility is key to ensuring rewards are as effective as possible in motivating your staff. 

And the result of these incentivizing measures? Boosted morale and an alignment of employee goals with your broader business objectives.

The direct feedback loop created by immediate rewards builds an ideal, engaged, and committed workforce because business success means success for them, too.

Building Customer Loyalty Through Long-Term Relationships 

Engaged employees are more likely to build authentic customer relationships. 

Again, this is basic pop psychology, but we tend to like spending time with happy, warm, outgoing people. When employees feel valued at work, they interact with customers in a way that feels welcoming and trustworthy.

Customers respond well to this. Who would have guessed, right?

These interactions are critical as they transform routine transactions in customer-facing businesses into meaningful experiences that customers value.

The beautician at the spa who seems genuinely interested in a client's day. The personal trainer who goes the extra mile to make a customer feel good. The mechanic who always has a patient smile for their customers.

These small differences leave a lasting impression on customers. 

Edge encourages this warm authenticity by empowering employees to take ownership of their interactions, converting potential one-timers into a loyal customer base for your business. 

Employees Can Be Organic Marketers

Your customer experience can be your most effective marketing tool, which makes your employees frontline marketers. After all, they shape the brand experience through each interaction. You can maximize these moments for growth with Edge. Here's how:

Imagine a fitness trainer at your gym, Sarah, who receives instant rewards through Edge for positive client feedback.

Motivated by this system, Sarah not only upsells a personal training package but also encourages her clients to leave online reviews, mentioning her by name. Each positive review amplifies your brand's visibility and credibility online and also through word-of-mouth marketing, directly contributing to your business’s organic growth.

Employees like Sarah become active brand ambassadors whose genuine interactions and enthusiasm are the best kind of advertising (free!) These positive engagements naturally attract and retain customers, helping you achieve your business goals in the long run. 

The Impact of Recognition on Business Growth and Profitability

Let's flesh out exactly how rewarding employees can drive growth.

Strategic recognition of employee achievements is so much more than a pat on the back. Yes, it helps to create a positive work environment, but it also contributes directly to the business's bottom line.

That's because employee recognition is an investment in your business’s core product—exceptional service.

At Edge, we understand that in customer-facing industries like salons, your employees' interactions with customers are essentially the service you sell. Here’s how prioritizing employee recognition translates into tangible business benefits:

Consider the example of Emily, a talented hairdresser in a busy salon.

Let's say you recognize Emily through Edge for her creative hairstyles and outstanding customer satisfaction rates (as evidenced by the automated review collection). Motivated by public recognition and tailored rewards, she upsells additional treatments and products.

Here’s the breakdown of the ROI:

• Increased sales - Emily’s motivated upselling results in a 20% increase in sales from her regular clients who trust her recommendations.
• Enhanced customer loyalty - Clients serviced by Emily are more likely to return, enhancing customer retention by 15% due to her recognized and rewarded service quality.
• Reduced turnover - Recognition reduces Emily’s likelihood of leaving the salon by 30%, saving on recruitment and training costs for new stylists.

By integrating Edge’s analytics, salon owners can see the direct correlation between employee recognition and key business metrics like sales volume, customer retention rates, and turnover. 

This is what we mean when we frame Edge as a powerful tool that facilitates employee-driven growth.

Invest in Your Employees

The direct correlation between employee recognition and business success cannot be overstated.

With Edge’s platform, businesses can leverage the full potential of their workforce by:

• Aligning employee incentives with company goals
• Building a culture of recognition
• Enhancing customer relationships and engagement levels through genuine interactions

See for yourself how our platform can revolutionize your approach to employee engagement and drive growth. Schedule a demo today.