Category: Customer Loyalty

Customer Loyalty Incentive Programs

Taking Incentive Programs Back to School

August 26, 2014 by

Taking Incentive Programs Back to SchoolAs I travel around the country these days, I encounter the unmistakable signs of the “back-to-school” season – more traffic, football games, advertisements for school supplies and less crowded airplanes, just to name a few. It’s been a couple of years since our family has experienced this rite of passage first-hand – and I must admit that I miss the excitement a bit.

For us, the return to school meant encountering the possibilities and challenges created by new coursework. In addition, there were the new relationships with teachers and fellow students to be navigated. But perhaps the most important adjustment was the reapplication of the discipline required for success – which inevitably waned during the relatively unstructured pace of summer.

Reflecting on this, I think that our existing and potential clients can learn a few things from the back-to-school season when it comes to incentive programs.

  • First, this is an excellent time to ask whether education could play a role in helping drive business results. For example, if you are running or contemplating a channel incentive program, consider adding a product knowledge quiz to your program platform. Not only do such quizzes advance the expertise of your channel partners, they tend to raise overall awareness and enthusiasm among program participants.
  •  Secondly, those of you who are running sales incentive programs might benefit by considering the addition of classes of customers who are not now participants in your program, but should be. By so doing, you might identify a new participant who becomes your new best friend (so to speak).
  •  Finally, there is the topic of discipline. I can tell you that here at QIC we plan to use this season to systematically review our processes and procedures to make sure that we are operating as efficiently and “smartly” as we should. I encourage all of you who are running incentive programs, be they sales incentives or employee recognition, to do the same.

No matter how old we – or our children – get, we can all learn something in the back-to-school season. Please don’t hesitate to call upon us if we can help you with that process in any way.

Building Trust with Program Communications

March 27, 2014 by

The design of any recognition or incentive program should be based on thoughtful consideration of the program’s purpose and potential for positive change.  Clearly defined, measurable objectives further increase the odds for successful results.  In addition, you must employ effective program communications to inform, engage and motivate program participants. QIC’s IncenTrac online points platform is… Read more »

Effective Communications Improve Engagement

March 4, 2014 by

Effective communications are instrumental to the success of any business, organization or enterprise.  As Rob Miklas colorfully illustrates in this post – A Smoother Flight with Effective Program Communications – without effective communications your recognition or incentive program will most likely never reach its full potential. Like regular announcements from the flight deck, pertinent program… Read more »

Recognition and Incentive Rewards – Trophy Value Lasts a Lifetime

January 23, 2014 by

In the Incentive and Reward Recognition industry, there are many articles, whitepapers, etc. written about this idea of Trophy Value as it relates to the rewards offering.  Trophy Value meaning the continued reminder tangible rewards, as opposed to non-tangible rewards (e.g., cash and gift cards), provide of the task completed and the work performed in… 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 »

Building True Loyalty: Closing the Expectations Gap

December 4, 2013 by

An article by Jim Tierney about a Colloquy study entitled “Global Strategy, Local Tactics” is very enlightening.  The study looks at loyalty programs in five different global regions and as Jim points out, exposes an expectations gap that leaves a large part of the market disengaged.  As a result, the majority of programs are not building… Read more »