Author: Rob Miklas

At Quality Incentive Company, Rob is responsible for leading the company’s business development efforts in both the employee recognition and sales/channel arenas. He has more than 10 years of experience in the recognition and incentive industry, having served as president and CEO of Atlanta-based Loyaltyworks before joining QIC in 2011.

Incentive Programs-One Piece of the Performance Puzzle

March 19, 2014 by

Incentive Programs-One Piece of the Performance PuzzleMany of QIC’s channel sales and customer incentive programs are business-to-business (B2B) rather than business-to-consumer (B2C). Both types provide insight, however and recently I was intrigued by two B2C items that came to my attention:

Loyalty Programs Don’t Drive Loyalty; Customer Experience Does – by David Jacques, Customer input

The Loyal Treatment, Maximizing Customer Value Through Engagement – by Dennis Armbruster, Loyalty One.

Both of these publications cite statistics about B2C loyalty program usage that I found interesting:

. . . only 45% of customers enroll in loyalty programs and only 35% of them redeem awards. This means about only 16% of the customer base is actually using the loyalty programs. (Customer input).

 The fact is, companies on their own often lack the ability to provide enough value in currency alone resulting in unused benefit and limited shifts in consumer behavior (Loyalty One).

The authors used these statistics to make the case that points-based incentive programs don’t singularly impact metrics like customer retention, customer engagement and revenue. Rather, they say that it’s more important to provide a robust product or service value proposition and a compelling customer experience.

We agree with that point of view. Points-based loyalty or incentive programs will have limited impact if your business does not have a compelling “reason for being.” On the other hand, if your products or services deliver real value to your customers (as we hope they do), a points-based program is an excellent way to get those customers to pay attention to that value. As we say in our web site section on Customer Incentive Programs:

Points-based incentive programs not only offer a “do this, get that” incentive to your customers; they also create a more captive audience for your key messages. With something to gain, your customer now has a vested interest in paying attention to your news and updates. We like to call customer incentive programs “communications campaigns with teeth.”

We can help you determine the best way and time to use points-based incentive programs to reinforce your company’s distinctive competency to your customer base. Contact us here or give us a call.

A Smoother Flight with Effective Program Communications

February 18, 2014 by

On the trip home following a recent sales meeting at our offices in Memphis, my flight encountered some of the most significant (worst?) clear-air turbulence that I have experienced in some time. Since I am a fairly frequent flyer, I was never really worried about the turbulence. But it was a bit unsettling nonetheless –… Read more »

Website Demolition and Incentive Program Design

February 3, 2014 by

There’s a very interesting, somewhat tongue-in-cheek article in a recent edition of the Marketing Profs news compilation and blog. (Side note: If you haven’t already checked out this excellent service, I highly recommend it). This particular article, Destroy Your Website in 13 Easy Steps, by Andy Crestodina, highlights some practices that companies definitely should avoid… Read more »

A New Year’s Look at Recognition & Incentive Strategy and Tactics

January 14, 2014 by

This is my first post of the new year, and I must admit that I’m finding it a bit of a challenge to get started again following the holidays.  After all the social and professional excitement that accompanies the completion of another year, January is a time when it can be easy to lose focus.… Read more »

Rob’s Top 5 from 2013 – QIC Recognition and Incentive Posts

December 30, 2013 by

We’ve had a successful and productive year here at QIC, with several significant additions to our team, numerous new program start-ups, and the launch of this blog. It’s been fun, interesting and entertaining coming with commentary on recognition and incentive topics that (we hope) have been valuable for our followers. It’s been insightful and enjoyable to… Read more »

Setting The Value Proposition of Your Incentive Program – How Much is Enough?

December 9, 2013 by

I recently had a somewhat mundane, yet ironically valuable, experience that highlighted for me the importance of establishing an appropriate value proposition in your customer incentive or channel sales incentive program.  Here’s the story. I purchased a number of items at a national-chain drugstore that has a loyalty program. After supplying my program ID and… Read more »