Loyalty Programs for Channel Partners: Why Are They Important?
Loyalty Programs for Channel Partners: Why Are They Important?
For a lot of businesses, a considerable percentage of their revenue comes through indirect sales channels. And for a long time now, channel partner rewards and loyalty programs have been adopted by organizations to drive consistent performance among their distributors, retailers, franchise stores, influencers and more. While some of these programs have been successful, a lot of others have failed. Yet, among the sales fraternity, there is a general knowledge that if implemented and managed well, channel partner loyalty programs have huge potential to drive the bottom line.
Let’s dig a little deeper.
Channel Partner Rewards, Incentives, and Loyalty Programs – What Do Statistics Say
The Incentive Research Foundation (IRF), a US-based not-for-profit foundation recently published in a marketplace survey that almost 43% of US businesses run non-cash channel reward programs. Various case studies in this context by the Foundation hint at an approximate 32% increase in revenues of businesses that invest in channel partner reward programs and a 30% increase in market share has also been recorded.
It further states that such programs help increase product/brand awareness in channel partners by 71%, sales and market share by 67%, and push customer loyalty and satisfaction by 55%.
These pieces of data are very powerful and revealing. In the context of a channel partner loyalty program, organizations can uncover immense hidden opportunities if planned and executed well.
But what are these opportunities, to be more clear?
Here are the three reasons to invest in channel partner loyalty programs
A well-defined program drives channel partner brand loyalty
It’s a competitive world out there. Fiercely competitive. Incentivizing your channel partners appropriately and going beyond their expectations can give your business a leading edge in the marketplace. Cash and non-cash rewards, lifestyle and financial benefits can boost their enthusiasm and motivation to work around your brand and products.
Businesses strive so hard for customer attention. They incentivize them in multiple ways to keep them; turn them into loyal customers. The same kind of drive needs to be focused on channel partners too. After all, your partners are helping you sell your products and services.
With evolving technologies, there has been a paradigm shift in channel partner rewards too. Most partners prefer non-cash rewards, for example, free foreign trips, shopping vouchers, etc.
It also makes perfect sense to give a percentage or share of your profit to the people who are making it happen on ground zero. Consider a channel partner loyalty program that is inclusive of profit sharing. It will make your channel partners confident of the relationship and gives them a much-needed sense of security, encouraging them to put in committed efforts for your products/brand.
Take the case of Cisco’s Channel Partner Program which offers value-added rewards like providing training and tools to resellers. This has helped the partners to increase their profitability alongside Cisco. These partners are also allowed to reinvest their rewards when they sell specifically targeted technologies.
- Lets your business grow organically
One of the key takeaways of a channel partner loyalty program is how a unique program can guarantee the organic growth of your business. This is because of the synergized relationship between your business and that of your channel partners. The marriage should work well for both partners with a ‘give-and-take’ philosophy deeply etched into the relationship. For obvious reasons, the program needs to be well-designed meeting the needs of the channel partners.
Invariably, once you have aligned channel partners, sales and revenue boost will happen on their own.
A notable example, in this case, is that of Dell’s Partner Program Reward. The Program is designed to build long-term sustainable relationships with partners staying true to the corporate belief that “you must spend money to create money.” This viewpoint has helped the company retain partners, increase partner retention and add new partners. The loyalty program of Dell helps partners earn marks or points which they can then exchange for e-vouchers.
Implementing such a reward system that is points-based is simple with high-tech platforms like My Incentives. It offers seamless integrations that track performance and ensure optimized rewards and incentive payouts.
Helps leverage the channel partner’s market and clients
Every channel partner of yours has a well-defined territory, list of top clients, top-performing geographic regions, etc. When you reward your channel partners with a loyalty program, your access to such markets and client base is empowered and enhanced. Backed by consistent support and resources and a loyalty program that is synced with the business goals of your channel partners, it gives you direct access to a market that would have taken years to develop on your own. Your sales and revenues automatically get a boost with the channel partner reaching out to new potential customers and leads. In such cases, the lead conversions are not a time-taking process as the channel partner is dedicatedly involved in ensuring conversion.
Parting thought…
Loyalty programs empower your channel partners. When oriented properly, the gains can be meaningfully streamlined as the partner’s top priority would be to focus on your brand, products, and services. Additionally, the word-of-mouth publicity that your brand gets helps amplify brand credibility, sales, and revenues for your brand.
Driving channel partner loyalty programs can often be tedious and time-consuming. But with the right sales commission and incentive software, you can break through these challenges. My Incentives powered by GRG India is one such platform. If you would like to know how My Incentives can help, get a free demo with our product experts.
For a lot of businesses, a considerable percentage of their revenue comes through indirect sales channels. And for a long time now, channel partner rewards and loyalty programs have been adopted by organizations to drive consistent performance among their distributors, retailers, franchise stores, influencers and more. While some of these programs have been successful, a lot of others have failed. Yet, among the sales fraternity, there is a general knowledge that if implemented and managed well, channel partner loyalty programs have huge potential to drive the bottom line.
Let’s dig a little deeper.
Channel Partner Rewards, Incentives, and Loyalty Programs – What Do Statistics Say
The Incentive Research Foundation (IRF), a US-based not-for-profit foundation recently published in a marketplace survey that almost 43% of US businesses run non-cash channel reward programs. Various case studies in this context by the Foundation hint at an approximate 32% increase in revenues of businesses that invest in channel partner reward programs and a 30% increase in market share has also been recorded.
It further states that such programs help increase product/brand awareness in channel partners by 71%, sales and market share by 67%, and push customer loyalty and satisfaction by 55%.
These pieces of data are very powerful and revealing. In the context of a channel partner loyalty program, organizations can uncover immense hidden opportunities if planned and executed well.
But what are these opportunities, to be more clear?
Here are the three reasons to invest in channel partner loyalty programs
A well-defined program drives channel partner brand loyalty
It’s a competitive world out there. Fiercely competitive. Incentivizing your channel partners appropriately and going beyond their expectations can give your business a leading edge in the marketplace. Cash and non-cash rewards, lifestyle and financial benefits can boost their enthusiasm and motivation to work around your brand and products.
Businesses strive so hard for customer attention. They incentivize them in multiple ways to keep them; turn them into loyal customers. The same kind of drive needs to be focused on channel partners too. After all, your partners are helping you sell your products and services.
With evolving technologies, there has been a paradigm shift in channel partner rewards too. Most partners prefer non-cash rewards, for example, free foreign trips, shopping vouchers, etc.
It also makes perfect sense to give a percentage or share of your profit to the people who are making it happen on ground zero. Consider a channel partner loyalty program that is inclusive of profit sharing. It will make your channel partners confident of the relationship and gives them a much-needed sense of security, encouraging them to put in committed efforts for your products/brand.
Take the case of Cisco’s Channel Partner Program which offers value-added rewards like providing training and tools to resellers. This has helped the partners to increase their profitability alongside Cisco. These partners are also allowed to reinvest their rewards when they sell specifically targeted technologies.
- Lets your business grow organically
One of the key takeaways of a channel partner loyalty program is how a unique program can guarantee the organic growth of your business. This is because of the synergized relationship between your business and that of your channel partners. The marriage should work well for both partners with a ‘give-and-take’ philosophy deeply etched into the relationship. For obvious reasons, the program needs to be well-designed meeting the needs of the channel partners.
Invariably, once you have aligned channel partners, sales and revenue boost will happen on their own.
A notable example, in this case, is that of Dell’s Partner Program Reward. The Program is designed to build long-term sustainable relationships with partners staying true to the corporate belief that “you must spend money to create money.” This viewpoint has helped the company retain partners, increase partner retention and add new partners. The loyalty program of Dell helps partners earn marks or points which they can then exchange for e-vouchers.
Implementing such a reward system that is points-based is simple with high-tech platforms like My Incentives. It offers seamless integrations that track performance and ensure optimized rewards and incentive payouts.
Helps leverage the channel partner’s market and clients
Every channel partner of yours has a well-defined territory, list of top clients, top-performing geographic regions, etc. When you reward your channel partners with a loyalty program, your access to such markets and client base is empowered and enhanced. Backed by consistent support and resources and a loyalty program that is synced with the business goals of your channel partners, it gives you direct access to a market that would have taken years to develop on your own. Your sales and revenues automatically get a boost with the channel partner reaching out to new potential customers and leads. In such cases, the lead conversions are not a time-taking process as the channel partner is dedicatedly involved in ensuring conversion.
Parting thought…
Loyalty programs empower your channel partners. When oriented properly, the gains can be meaningfully streamlined as the partner’s top priority would be to focus on your brand, products, and services. Additionally, the word-of-mouth publicity that your brand gets helps amplify brand credibility, sales, and revenues for your brand.
Driving channel partner loyalty programs can often be tedious and time-consuming. But with the right sales commission and incentive software, you can break through these challenges. My Incentives powered by GRG India is one such platform. If you would like to know how My Incentives can help, get a free demo with our product experts.