Meaning & use
sales incentive
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Meanings
nouncountablebusiness
Something, such as a bonus or prize, offered to salespeople to encourage them to sell more.
Grammar: Countable; use 'a sales incentive' or 'sales incentives'. Often followed by 'for' or 'to'.
Patterns
- a sales incentive for someone
- offer a sales incentive
- sales incentive plan
The company introduced a sales incentive for the team that reached the highest monthly target.
As a sales incentive, top performers were given an extra week of paid vacation.
Without a good sales incentive, many employees lost motivation to push new products.
nouncountablebusiness
A special offer, such as a discount or free gift, used to persuade customers to buy.
Grammar: Countable; often used in the plural when talking about a range of offers.
Patterns
- offer a sales incentive to customers
- a sales incentive for buying something
- use sales incentives
The store used a sales incentive of 20% off to attract more shoppers.
Free shipping is a common sales incentive during the holiday season.
They offered a sales incentive to customers who signed up for the loyalty program.
Word forms
| plural | sales incentives |
|---|
Common combinations
- offer a sales incentive
- The manager decided to offer a sales incentive to boost flagging numbers.
- sales incentive program
- The sales incentive program rewarded employees with cash bonuses.
- provide sales incentives
- Companies often provide sales incentives to keep their best staff.
- a powerful sales incentive
- A free upgrade is a powerful sales incentive for many customers.
Synonyms and how they differ
- bonus
- A bonus is a specific extra payment; a sales incentive can be any reward, not just money.
- reward
- Reward is a general word for something given in return for effort; sales incentive is used specifically in selling contexts.
- spiff
- Informal and mainly American; it means a sales incentive paid to a salesperson, often on the spot.
Opposites
Commonly confused: sales incentive or sales commission?
sales incentive vs sales commission
A commission is a percentage of sales paid to a salesperson, while a sales incentive is any reward or offer meant to encourage selling. A commission can be one type of sales incentive.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'sales incentive' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Option 0 correctly uses 'sales incentive' to mean a reward for selling more. Option 1 is wrong because sales incentives are for sales work, not cooking. Option 2 confuses it with a physical object. Option 3 treats it as a tool.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “sales incentive”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.