Channel partners are critical for business expansion regardless of the size of your operations. They are an avenue for increasing sales and enhancing your brand presence. However, the success of your relationship depends primarily on the channel partner incentives you offer. These are not just about monetary value, but what and how they express your appreciation and recognition for their efforts. Since a majority of channel partner programs rely on incentives, companies must be cautious about how they plan and implement their channel partner incentives. They can make or break your partnership.
The onset of 2024 can be a good time if you are planning to either initiate or enhance your channel partner incentives strategy. To help you maximize its advantages, we have compiled a comprehensive list of best practices to help you understand what works and things to avoid.
Plan a flexible channel partner incentive scheme
Companies have been relying on tier structures for partner incentive programs, which involve categorizing partners at different levels. The rigidity of this structure can cause partners to disengage through uneven – or unfair – partner groups. It could affect your channel partner program’s ability to drive sales and scale. Instead, you can build a points-based system giving equal opportunity to all the partners. It allows you to diversify your program and encourage sales partners of all sizes to add to your growth trajectory.
However, you must draft simple and clear terms of the channel partner incentives program to avoid complexity in implementation. When adopting a points-based system, it is critical to keep your sales partner updated on their progress.
Gamify your channel partner program
Keeping channel partners engaged and motivated is essential for the success of your incentives program. For this, you can gamify your channel incentives in addition to having a points-based evaluation system. You can introduce multiple contests rewarding the favorable behavior of the sales partner. It enables you to re-engage and motivate partners who are unable to meet their goals. You can also allow them to set their own goals and then reward every milestone through a voucher or discount offer.
Most organizations use leaderboards to announce top-performing partners to inspire competition among your sales partners. More importantly, gamification offers better engagement and communication with them as you are constantly in touch with their performance. It puts you in a good place to help them overcome a challenge they’re facing.
Rewards are the focal points of the incentive program
Channel partner incentives program – like the name suggests – relies solely on how you reward or incentivize your partner’s performance. Companies have seen a 32% rise in their total revenue through channel partner incentives, as per the Incentive Research Foundation’s 2022 data. Your incentives must encourage them to increase their efforts, while also presenting a challenge to refine their performance.
Most organizations rely on cash-based incentives for channel partners. However, that is not the only approach to rewarding. You can have a healthy mix of cash and cashless rewards like awards, exclusive travel experience, and better access to resources. You can also offer them rewards points that they can redeem to purchase items of their choice.
Digitalize channel partner incentives program
Managing channel partners through spreadsheets and emails can quickly become cumbersome. These manual processes are error-prone and eat away at your resources. The success of your partner incentives program relies on how streamlined the experience is. For this, you must turn to channel partner program solutions like Zaggle Propel. It allows you to automate your channel partner incentives scheme and centralize your activities to manage your sales partners seamlessly.
Optimize your channel partner program with data
Access to data is a great way for businesses to drive growth and profitability. The same applies to channel partner programs. Using an automation solution can help you spin up necessary reports and data so that you get a first-hand view of how your incentives program works. It also allows you to identify top performers across regions and verticals so that you can reward your partners appropriately. With insights, you can evaluate and recalibrate your channel partner programs for improved revenue. It will also help you assess the mood of your partners and give recommendations on how you can enhance their experience.
Maximize incentives program with Zaggle Propel
Channel partner incentives programs can be a gamechanger for your business but with a condition. It must have a structured approach for both your sales partners and your team so that you can keep the program under control. It is impractical to manage channel partner incentives with half-baked tools. You must turn to a specialized solution like Zaggle Propel designed to handle channel partner rewards programs. It empowers you with all the necessary features and capabilities to help you maximize the program. Some of the features that make Propel an ideal platform for channel partner incentive programs are:
- Seamless onboard experience with an intuitive UI.
- Automated claims processing through AI-based workflow.
- Option to tailor your channel partner incentives program.
- Prioritization of high-performing channel partners.
- Easy report generation for real-time monitoring.
Check out Zaggle Propel here.
