Marijuana Business Magazine April 2019

116 Marijuana Business Magazine | April 2019 By Omar Sacirbey My Favorite Things | Incentives & Rewards In an industry as fragmented and intimate as cannabis, placing emphasis on travel is not just a smart way to incentivize our sales team—it is also necessary. At New Frontier Data, we view in-person relationship-building as a crucial part in forging connections. This is why we offer bonuses, domestic and international travel to conferences, customized luggage and gift cards to coffee shops. GIADHA AGUIRRE DE CARCER Founder & CEO, New Frontier Data—Washington DC An account executive gets a new-store bonus when they sell to a store for the first time, because growing a brand is all about increasing distribution in any given market— especially when penetrating new states. We also like to offer quarterly bonus programs based on performance to motivate the sales force to be competitive within the company. JOHNNY STANGE Chief Revenue Officer, Ionic—Tacoma, Washington LUKE SCHUSTER Sales Manager, Dixie Elixirs—Denver My favorite sales incentive is a team outing. In the past, we have gone to Avalanche (professional hockey) games, concerts and steak dinners. When it is time to really drive the team to reach a goal, there is no substitute for a cash bonus. Each month, we survey a group of marijuana industry executives and ask them to share a favorite item—such as a strain, top-selling product or edibles ingredient. We welcome your suggestions for topics. Email us at magazine@ mjbizdaily.com . Since this magazine issue highlights compensation, we’ve asked executives about their favorite incentives or rewards they've given to sales teams . LANCE C. LAMBERT Herbal Business Unit Manager, Boveda—Minnetonka, Minnesota We like to be creative when incentivizing our team. One of the more recent reward programs included a nice, four-course dinner in Minneapolis, accompanied by group tickets to the Wild (professional) hockey game in the city. We have also done a summer boat cruise for the team on Lake Minnetonka and Amazon gift cards as well.