“Let me be clear,” the Director of Sales of a well-known company in the manufacturing sector asserted. “We do not do brown envelope; we do not bribe. We are the leaders in our industry and have been in business for 35 years now. Most of our customers have been with us for decades primarily because they know of our transparency and above-board way of doing business. We have an agency model through which third parties can give us business and earn a commission—but let me stress, these are legitimate sales incentives, not under-the-table payments. If those asking for an ‘incentive’”—he did air quotes— “don’t want to use it, and if you feel you cannot get new business without bribing, then perhaps you should ask yourself whether this is the company you should be selling for.”
You could have heard a penny drop.
We had just completed a sales conference. Among the issues some salespeople had raised during the housekeeping session—before the bosses arrived—was this complaint: “We are losing business because the company is unwilling to incentivize our customers, and our competitors are.”
Navigating sales incentives in difficult markets
It is a complaint you hear across industries. The language may change—facilitation, token of appreciation, something small—but the underlying tension remains the same. In many industries, the debate about sales incentives sits right at the intersection between company policy and market reality.
What happens when you are struggling to access a market because an “incentive” is expected, yet your company policy forbids it?
The short answer: Measure the risk and find a solution somewhere between we don’t bribe and losing the sale — one that will not compromise you or your employer; for you will be fired. Possibly arrested.
Let’s unpack that.
Sales incentives and the grey zone of sales
The only function in an organization that regularly operates in a grey zone is Sales. Rarely is anything purely black and white. Incentivization is arguably the trickiest area. But salespeople who blanket every difficult engagement with the excuse, “I cannot get sales because we refuse to bribe,” will not last long in the game.
Navigating sales incentives in difficult markets requires judgement, reading people, and an appreciation of the difference between influence and corruption.
Experienced salespeople learn that influence is rarely linear. It flows through people, relationships, and small gestures of goodwill. Consider these real examples from sales people whose employers insist they do not do “brown envelope.”
Understanding market reality: small gestures, big access: informal sales incentives in action
“I sell for a bank. The receptionist gatekept my access to this huge market I needed to reach. On my third attempt, she casually said, ‘Sasa hata lunch huwezi toa?’ I gave her a hundred bob and said lunch was on me that day. The floodgates opened. She has never asked again, but every so often I volunteer to buy lunch. Of course, I have never claimed reimbursement from my employer. For what? It never happened.”
To a rigid compliance officer this might sound questionable, but to a salesperson on the ground it reflects market reality—relationships often determine access long before product value is even discussed.
Friendships that facilitate sales: leveraging ethical sales incentives
“Before today’s conveniences of WhatsApp, opening a bank account required several copies of documents—ID, PIN, letter from employer, three payslips, and so on. Telling the customer to get these only delayed closing the sale. At the premises of this large employer I used to ‘camp’ at, there was a busy photocopying office. I befriended the gentleman doing the photocopying by giving him a company-branded T-shirt. So grateful was he that Odhs would stop his employer’s work to do copies for me.”
These kinds of gestures often fall into what could be described as informal sales incentives—small relational investments that make business easier without crossing ethical lines.
Influencing technicians: targeting the right people without bribery
“We are a multinational in the oil business and, as policy, we do not bribe. But I realized how influential technicians are in steering purchases. At a large sugar factory where I wanted to sell lubricants, the technicians had enormous control over which products were actually used on the machines. Borrowing from what I had observed in other settings, I created a small entertainment budget from my own pocket. Occasionally, I bought them cheap liquor. They were eternally grateful—and they influenced the sale in my direction.”
The boda boda shed: community connections as ethical sales incentive
“Kila mkiwa na mchango wa mazishi ama bill ya hospitali ya mmoja wenu, contribution yangu ni elfu mbili.” This was my response when a rider said, “Kampuni kubwa na hata hamuwezi kutoa kitu.” It is remarkable what that simple promise to contribute to their harambee did for my sales of lubricants. Riders at the boda boda shed I made this promise to, not only accepted to emblazon their shed and motorcycles with our stickers; they spread the word to other sheds and, most importantly, prioritized our lubricant whenever they fueled at our service stations. Marketing, lubricants, and fuel sales. Three birds, one stone.
In many cases, these community-oriented gestures function as ethical sales incentives—strengthening goodwill without compromising integrity. Salespeople who operate in rigid black-and-white thinking freeze at such opportunities. Successful ones take them in stride—but also with discernment.
Discernment in Incentivizing
Discernment is paramount in knowing whom to incentivize. It does not always have to be the buyer. It can be the decision maker, the gatekeeper, the influencer, or even the user. Someone whose goodwill directly affects the success of the sale.
Effective sales incentives are rarely about cash; they are about understanding influence within the buying ecosystem.
Human resources lunch: Strategic relational investments: when access is the true incentive
“The Head of Human Resources clearly needed to be incentivized. He had the decision-makers ear. He did not say it outright, but I could tell—and several staff members hinted as much. The potential business from this market was phenomenal. I personally did not have the resources to meet him at his level, so I escalated the challenge. I roped in our Head of Commercial, who told me he invited him for lunch. The rest, as they say, is history.”
Sometimes the most powerful sales incentives are simply access, recognition, or shared time with someone whose status matters.
The line that should never be crossed
To incentivize or not to incentivize. That is the question.
The answer is not a simple yes or no. It is a calculated decision that separates true sales professionals from the rest. The Director of Sales was right to draw a hard line at bribery. But salespeople who thrive understand there is legitimate middle ground between a bribe and doing nothing. The middle ground of relational investments that allow your product’s merit to be seen.
(Like you should do with your back-office staff.)
Ethical sales incentives: the middle ground that builds lasting relationships
Now then. There is an uncomfortable but practical truth here: selling often involves navigating human realities that policy documents cannot fully anticipate.
The mature salesperson understands two things at once. First, the company’s ethical line must never be crossed. Second, influence rarely happens without some form of relational investment.
So, the next time you hit a wall, do not just see a bribe demand. See the person behind it. Understand their role, their pressures, and what they genuinely value. Sometimes, a hundred shillings for lunch opens doors that a briefcase full of cash never could—and it leaves your integrity, and your company’s reputation, intact.
The craft of selling lies in knowing the difference.
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