Key Takeaways
Working with external teams and independent resellers can make a real impact on your bottom line, enhancing your revenue potential. In fact, 75% of global trade comes directly from indirect sales channels. But working with external partners also relinquishes some level of control since these resellers aren’t part of your core team.
You can regain control, however, by implementing proven independent reseller programs that drive desired behaviors, adhere to organizational goals, and provide comprehensive incentive solutions. In no time at all, your resellers will become so aligned with your objectives that they’ll feel like an extension of your in-house team.
Building a Strategic Plan of Action
If you have already implemented internal sales programs at your company, you won’t have to reinvent the wheel, since many processes can be modified to fit your new external sales audience. You will, however, want to align your strategies, outlining objectives like:
- Boosting client retention
- Increasing year-over-year purchases
- Increasing sales of specific products
- Promoting your services over those of competitors
- Facilitating cross-sell and up-sell opportunities
To ensure these goals can be achieved, you will need to understand the people you are trying to motivate, taking note of their drivers, pain points, and any strategies that they currently use. Ask yourself, how do their goals align with yours, where might their goals differ, and how can you make effective connections?
Once you have assessed your external team and determined the results you’re seeking, you will want to establish clear KPIs related to order size increases, ROI, referral rates, and any other metrics you’ve established.
For example, if your goal is to boost sales of specific products, you might set a KPI of a 20% increase in new product adoption among resellers within 90 days. If you’re focused on client retention, you could track the percentage of resellers maintaining an 85%+ customer renewal rate over a specific period.
The bottom line: Specific, measurable KPIs create accountability, make success quantifiable, and ensure expectations are clear.
Selecting Rewards That Drive Behavior
When creating sales incentive programs, some people think that cash is king, but it usually fails to create a lasting bond with your partners. Instead, we believe that tangible rewards and experiences are the better option, as they create deeper connections than a mere bonus would.
People don’t usually recall the amount of a bonus payment, but they don’t forget how they acquired high-end items that they value, or trips that produced lifelong memories.
In our B2B sales incentive programs, we focus on:
- Premium merchandise from major brands like Apple, Microsoft, Honda, Cuisinart, Dyson, and many more
- Travel packages that cover hotels, local adventures, cruises, fan experiences, and more
- Individualized and customized approaches to clients that avoid one-size-fits-all methodologies that feel impersonal and fail to inspire or motivate
By using a “white-glove delivery” approach, you can ensure that your channel partners feel recognized, seen, and appreciated, helping them to produce their best work.
Leveraging Technology and Data for Success
If you want your resellers to engage with your incentive rewards system, you need to make sure any platform you use is intuitive and user friendly. Platforms that are hard to use or take up too much time will simply be ignored, because resellers have other matters to attend to and it won’t be worth their time.
At QIC, we use the IncenTrac® platform which uses a “3 clicks or less” standard for any desired action. Users can easily see core metrics, track their points, and redeem rewards without all the hassle. Using the right technology handles the heavy lifting of logistics, ensuring your partners stay happy and motivated.
Justifying ROI with Data
Along with making things simple for your resellers, any system you use should also provide measurable data so you can see your ROI. A worthwhile platform, like our IncenTrac® system, needs to be able to track an incentive program’s impact against specific organizational benchmarks.
Beyond Sales: The Long-Term Value
An effective independent reseller incentive program doesn’t just drive in-store and in-person sales; it can transform the relationship you have with your reseller, leading to:
- Enhanced product knowledge
- A diversity in the products stocked
- An increase in ecommerce purchases
- Higher customer acquisition rates
In short, quality programs don’t just boost your short-term bottom line – they provide a framework that helps both your resellers and your company flourish, leading to long-term rewards.
How does a deal registration system prevent channel conflict?
A deal registration system lets partners claim exclusive rights to sales opportunities they’ve identified, protecting their pipeline from being poached by other partners. This builds trust by ensuring the reseller is rewarded for lead generation and nurturing a potential sale.
What are the benefits of using a tiered structure for reseller rewards?
Tiering rewards at distinct levels creates a clear growth path and adds urgency by unlocking premium perks as resellers advance. To ensure long-term value, tier advancement should be tied to specific behaviors like training completion and customer satisfaction rather than just raw revenue volume.
Design a Program That Gets Results with QIC
Your resellers make a big impact on your bottom line, so don’t let them slip through the cracks. Create an incentive rewards program that recognizes their hard work and drives them to new heights. Reach out to QIC today and we can get to work crafting a customized approach.
