Every new quarter is a chance to reset, refocus, and drive momentum. However, kicking off a new quarter with energy requires some planning to bring that energy to life.
From motivating sales teams to closing pipeline gaps, the start of a quarter or any new period can make or break your fiscal goals. In this blog, we’ll explore strategies to fire up your sales team with expert tips from industry leaders.
1. Incentivize Early Wins with Fast Start Bonuses
One of the most effective ways to build momentum at the start of a new quarter is to reward early success.
“Fast start bonus: You book 50% of your quarterly quota by the end of the first month, pay an extra %.” — Greg Hay, CEO, Free From Irons Consulting.
Why this approach?
It creates urgency and incentivizes your sales reps to focus on booking deals early in the quarter. By front-loading quota attainment, you also set a positive tone for the team. A fast start bonus program can include:
- Higher commission percentages for deals closed in the first month.
- Recognition on leaderboards to fuel healthy competition.
- Non-monetary incentives, such as gift cards, travel vouchers, or extra time off.
Remember to collaborate with finance to align on budgets and ROI for these bonuses. The goal is to balance motivation with fiscal responsibility.
2. Use Targeted SPIFFs for Pipeline Acceleration
SPIFFs (Sales Performance Incentive Funds) are a type of short-term incentives used to drive specific sales behaviors or reward short-term goals.
To implement effective SPIFFs:
- Target specific products or services that have higher margins or lower adoption.
- Combine discounts with rewards to attract both customers and sales reps.
- Isolate sales goals to avoid cannibalizing future quarters’ pipeline (e.g., focus on net-new opportunities).
For example, if you have a product launch, create a limited-time SPIFF to make reps prioritize it. Make it simple and compelling—sales teams respond best to short-term rewards.
3. Pricing Programs: Strategic Discounts with a Purpose
Strategic pricing incentives can help you win deals early in the quarter while staying competitive.
“We would let sellers offer Q4 of our software ‘free’ with a year or longer commitment… Your average deal in the quarter will take a hit, but no one will be upset if you take market share.” — Greg Hay, CEO, Free From Irons Consulting.
To design a pricing program that fires up your team:
- Offer short-term discounts to close deals quickly (e.g., “Buy this quarter, get X for free”).
- Tie discounts to longer-term commitments to preserve revenue and reduce churn.
- Announce an upcoming price increase and encourage customers to lock in current rates before the quarter ends.
- Offer a quarterly discount window to secure deals early.
- Validate with finance to ensure the pricing aligns with your CAC and margins.
You can also include incentives like trade-in offers for customers switching from competitors. Ultimately, the key is ensuring reps see quota relief for discounted deals to keep them motivated.
4. Avoid Quarter to Quarter Sandbagging
One critical challenge when running Q4 incentives is the risk of sandbagging—holding back deals from Q3 to capitalize on new rewards.
“Be careful not to reward Q3 slipped deals that now become Q4 fast start deals!
Strategize on when to communicate. Don't communicate the spiff until the current quarter closes and maybe isolate / exclude any slipped Q3 forecast deals. Also, maybe consider incentives outside the comp arena. If you do annual price list increases, would you do that from the beginning of the new fiscal year and communicate that at the beginning of Q4 to drive in deals before the price increase? Or will there be a promo discount to customers if they close early in Q4? ” — Darryl Heffernan, Founder, Revop 360
To address this, RevOps can:
- Close the communication gap by timing the announcement of new incentives carefully.
- Analyze pipeline forecasts to identify deals likely to slip and isolate them from fast-start programs.
- Implement clawbacks for reps who intentionally delay deals.
Combining pipeline data with regular sales coaching helps your spot sandbagging. The goal is to reward genuine Q4 success without unintentionally encouraging bad habits.
5. Promote Alignment Between Sales and Channel Partners
Incentives shouldn’t stop at your direct sales teams.
Channel partners can amplify your sales efforts, especially in Q4 when time is tight. To motivate your partners:
- Create partner-specific SPIFFs or discounts.
- Provide additional resources like co-marketing funds or training to enable faster closing.
Ensure consistent messaging between direct sales and channel partners to scale deals.
6. Fuel Friendly Competition with Sales Leaderboards
Sales teams thrive on competition. Try implementing a sales leaderboard to motivate reps to close more deals.
- Use dynamic leaderboards to track metrics like deals closed, revenue booked, and quota attainment.
- Combine visibility with rewards—top performers can win prizes, while others feel motivated to climb the rankings.
Tools like ElevateHQ or Salesforce can simplify leaderboard management and ensure accuracy. Public recognition and gamification go a long way toward firing up your team.
Before launching any promotions or incentives here are come key considerations:
- Impact on margins: Balance discounts and SPIFFs with profitability.
- Quota relief: Ensure reps aren’t penalized for participating in programs.
- Cash flow planning: Fast start bonuses and discounts should align with company revenue goals.
This cross-department alignment ensures your programs are sustainable while driving real results.
Incentivize your sales teams with ElevateHQ
Are you ready to light the fire for your next quarter? Start planning now and watch your sales teams thrive. However, adding sudden incentive plans to spreadsheets and reconciling data is tricky. Easily set up incentive calculation automation using ElevateHQ.
ElevateHQ integrates with your current CRM, spreadsheet and more to automate incentive calculations, give visibility to sales folks on incentives earned and also ask and resolve queries.
