For businesses to grow, they must expand their reach into newer markets and build a wide network of sales operations. This may be an expensive undertaking for SMEs. For this reason, most businesses rely on channel partner programs. These partners can be distributors, resellers, brokers, or agents who promote your business offerings and drive revenue.
For the sales they generate, the channel partners get an incentive like a sales commission or other benefits. This arrangement has been very beneficial for companies that properly utilize the services of their partners.
In order to keep benefiting from channel partners, recognizing their efforts appropriately through a channel incentive program is a must. Most companies struggle to maximize their partner network to generate revenue due to a lack of motivation.
In this blog post, we will discuss the benefits of a channel incentive program and the best practices that companies must follow to gain the desired results.
What is a channel incentive program?
The channel incentive program is a strategic approach to improve the performance of your channel partners. It allows you to keep them motivated and engaged with the business so that they effectively promote products and services. Generally, channel partner incentives can be special bonuses, discounts, exclusive rewards, or specialized training. The purpose of a channel incentive program is to motivate them to put in extra effort to make increased sales and drive more revenue.
Benefits of channel incentive program
By offering attractive incentives, companies can draw significant value out of their channel partner programs. Some of the benefits of channel incentive programs are discussed below:
Boost sales through better market reach: With incentives, you can gently push your channel partners to double down on their efforts to promote and sell your offerings. It encourages them to reach out to newer markets and increase the sales volume. They further establish solid customer bases and networks that you can leverage for sustainable growth.
Build stronger partner relationships: A well-designed channel incentive program shows that you value their efforts and contribution to the business growth. It fosters loyalty and facilitates the establishment of long-term partnerships.
Motivate channel partners for engagement: With channel incentive programs, you can motivate channel partners to set personal goals that they must achieve to win big rewards. It means they increase their marketing efforts, work on product/service knowledge, and offer enhanced customer service.
Align channel partners with your business goals: You can customize your channel partner incentive program to align with your business goals by rewarding behaviors that help with your objectives. For example, you can offer better incentives for reaching sales numbers for a specific product category, region, or order value.
Improve channel partner performance: By monitoring and tracking the metrics of the channel incentive program, you can identify the areas where your partners need help. It could be extra product training or resources. It is a great way to improve the performance of your channel partners.
Best practices of channel incentive program
Although it might seem like a straightforward process, implementing a channel incentive program is an intricate process. We listed below the best practices to follow so that you can leverage the program effectively.
Define your goals clearly: Set proper goals for your program and ensure that they align with your business objectives.
Design an attractive program: Create a simple and effective channel incentive program. The rewards involved, qualifying metrics and other details must be listed with great clarity.
Set attainable rewards: The goals or targets you set must be a challenge but also achievable. It should motivate your channel partners to push the envelope.
Provide a variety of rewards: Make sure that the rewards and incentives you are offering as a part of the program are attractive enough for the partners to put in extra effort.
Communicate effectively: Lay out the details of the channel incentive program clearly to avoid any confusion or mistakes.
Regularly review and update: Monitor program performance and make adjustments as needed to keep it relevant and effective.
Enhance channel incentive program with Zaggle Propel
Channel partner incentive programs can breathe fresh life into your partners to get them out of their daily rut. Depending on the incentives you offer, it can excite and motivate them to enhance their performance. But to implement your channel incentive program seamlessly, you will need a robust channel incentives platform like Zaggle Propel.
Zaggle Propel is an all-in-one automation platform that automates a range of tasks so that your channel partner programs don’t become an administrative overhead. It offers a seamless onboarding experience so that your partners can adopt the platform easily. It will empower you to create different automation workflows to run multiple programs simultaneously.
Learn more about Zaggle Propel here.
