Manufacturer: Driving Engagement to Grow Sales
A multi-faceted and expansive incentive strategy revitalizes a global leader’s channel loyalty program by driving engagement and increasing sales revenue.
The Client and Their Past State
The Client
A global leader in power management and automation systems, APC by Schneider Electric.
The Audience
Channel Program Manager, NAM
The Objectives
To motivate resellers in the client’s channel to sell more of their product, increasing the frequency, quantity, and diversity with which they ordered from the client and growing sales revenue overall.
The Challenges
The client’s previous cash rebate program had proved ineffective as it was not successfully engaging participants.
The Client’s Current State and Key Results
Award-Winning
Winner of the 2020 “Best Merchandise Incentive Award” from IMA’s Excellence Awards
Overall Success
The client saw a marked increase in frequency, quantity, and diversity of products ordered by firms that participated in the program over firms that did not.
Greater Quantity
Program participants ordered 1.23x more quantity.
Higher Frequency
Program participants ordered 1.87x more frequently
Diversifying Products
Program participants carried 1.82x more product categories.
Higher earnings
Program participants generated 6.04x the revenue of non-participants.
“When I go to sell any (APC Product) solution, you have made APC far and away my #1 choice.”
“We appreciate that APC is so channel focused and looking for ways to reward channel partners. Implementing this program shows their dedication to the channel. The program is very robust.”
How They Got Here
Marketing
Program Design
To help encourage engagement, HMI designed a multi-layered program that would reward participation on multiple fronts.
One layer, which formed the backbone of the program, was a classic sales incentive program. Participants were rewarded a certain amount of points for every eligible SKU they purchased. Additionally, the program regularly implemented periodic promotions to drive sales behavior by offering extra rewards for specific SKUs.
A second layer encouraged behaviors that would drive engagement. Resellers could seek further rewards by completing training modules to increase their knowledge of their client’s products. Additional engagement tools including “Questions of the Week” offered another a way for participants to earn points while driving platform traffic and emphasizing the program’s key messages.
Strategy & Implementation
- Four key strategies were identified to help the client reach their goal:
- Sales incentives to increase revenue
- Promotions and sweepstakes for specific product sales
- Training modules to increase product knowledge
- Question of the Week to drive engagement
- User-friendly platform design
- Dedicated incentive program management team
- Data analytics to maximize the program’s effectiveness and ensure continuous improvement
Enrollment
- Automatic “Fast Start” Enrollment Bonus: automatic points upon enrollment, plus a promo code to earn bonus points
- “Refer a Friend” Campaign: Quarterly email to participants encouraging them to tell qualified colleagues to join the program
- Bonus Point Campaign for New Enrollment: Opportunities to earn bonus points for making frequent claims early on in the program
