Many organizations rely on external dealers and distributors to connect with customers, promote products and services, and boost sales. But when key parts of your operation aren’t located in-house, it can increase uncertainty and reduce control.
However, you can regain that control by implementing a custom dealer incentive program that keeps your distributors aligned with your goals and motivated to close sales. Follow this guide to start mapping out a strategy.
Build a Plan of Action
When you begin creating a dealer rewards program, your goals should be clearly defined in order to achieve the best results.
- Align and modify your strategies – The best dealer loyalty programs will follow tactics you have implemented for your internal sales teams, strategically modifying elements to fit your new audience. Increasing sales of specific products, boosting retention numbers, and promoting your services over those of a competitor may all be key objectives. Valuable dealer rewards will help you achieve them.
- Consider your audience – To build a successful program, you must understand your dealers’ motivations, pain points, struggles, and current strategy. Where do their goals align with yours? Where might their goals differ, and how can you bridge the gap?
- Shape your metrics – Establishing clear KPIs in a dealer incentive program will let you track performance and determine where to make improvements. Common examples include sales metrics, order size increases, ROI, retention rates, referrals, and more.
Think Beyond Continuing Sales
Dealer loyalty programs are effective tools for helping your company and dealers meet key objectives, but this isn’t limited to ongoing sales. Proper incentives and established metrics can lead to:
- Increased year over year purchases
- Customers trying new products
- More diversity in products stocked and sold
- Larger transactions
- More ecommerce purchases
- Cross-sell and up-sell opportunities
- Higher customer retention and acquisition rates
- Better product knowledge for dealers
All of these aspects contribute to a stronger dealer network, better relationships, and reduced uncertainty, with each element working to boost the bottom line.
Choose Dealer Rewards Designed to Motivate
You want your dealers and distributors to feel appreciated, and that begins with selecting rewards they will value. Here are some best practices to follow:
- Tailor your dealer rewards to specific roles and companies so that incentives align with their needs
- Make your rewards scalable to ensure high performers can benefit from their hard work
- Offer merchandise from high-end brands like Samsung, Apple, Microsoft, DeWalt and others to entice distributors
- Consider travel packages for reaching major milestones, with stays, transportation, and entertainment included
Leverage Technology for Success
When you work with professionals to develop a dealer incentive program, they should have plenty of tools at their disposal to keep your operations on track. Ask your chosen team about:
- Training systems for your company and dealers
- Verification tools for measuring and authenticating KPIs
- Communication platforms to better connect you with dealers
- Segmentation systems that deliver clear metrics on performance per outlet
- Cloud and mobile offerings
- Tools that measure engagement and ROI, supplying detailed reports
Customize Your Program for the Best Results
No dealer loyalty program should be one-size-fits-all because companies and their distribution networks have unique requirements and goals. When you work with a business to design a program, you deserve more than a cookie-cutter approach.
Our team members at QIC are experts at creating customized dealer loyalty programs that can offer:
- Bespoke structures and platforms tailored to any B2B sector
- KPI measurement tools that track and encourage progress
- Valuable dealer rewards that drive results
- Intuitive and user-friendly interfaces
Build Custom Solutions with QIC
Keep your dealers motivated and on task with an incentive program that gets results. The QIC team is standing by to help you create a tailored approach, so reach out to us to start driving sales.
