• Why Your Incentive Program Will Outlast This Downturn
• IMA “Circle of Excellence” Award Winners Show Incentives at Work
• IPC White Paper Outlines “New Rules of Engagement”

Why Your Incentive Program Will Outlast This Downturn

Economic conditions can have a serious impact on the incentive industry and the latest economic downturn is no exception. But a recent white paper, “Why Incentive Programs Endure Recessions” from the Incentive Performance Center (IPC), in reviewing past Incentive Federation studies, argues that there’s little evidence of a significant negative impact to the industry resulting from past downturns. There is some impact in the early phases of a recession as companies cut back and fewer participants qualify for rewards, but business generally rebounds swiftly as companies turn to measurable, cost-effective programs to meet sales and marketing goals.

The IPC white paper looks at why incentive programs often thrive during times of economic stress, and in particular, why smart companies will continue to use incentive companies to drive business even while cutting budgets in other areas. Specifically, it makes the argument that there are five basic reasons to continue to use incentive programs during a downturn. These include:

• Low fixed costs, with variable costs driven by performance – and a high potential return.
• The ability to reach target audiences effectively.
• The relative ease of measurement of incentive program outcomes.
• Flexibility.
• The potential for both short- and long-term results.

The IPC warns that success is not guaranteed, and that companies should seek competent professional help to help ensure that their incentive plans will be successful. For a copy of the white paper, click here, or visit the IPC Web site at www.incentivecentral.org.

[ Return to Top ]

IMA “Circle of Excellence” Award Winners Show Incentives at Work

The road to increased sales gets a lot smoother when one’s efforts are driven by a creative customer or employee incentive program, and the winners of the Incentive Marketing Association (IMA) 2008 “Circle of Excellence” Awards show just how smoothly it can be done. The 2008 winners, announced at this year’s Motivation Show, include Subaru Canada Ltd.; Toyota Motor Corp. Australia; BigPond – TELSTRA of Sydney, Australia; LJ Hooker Financial Services of Alexandria, Australia; and Modis, of Jacksonville, FL.

The Circle of Excellence Awards are meant to identify and recognize outstanding examples of successful customer and employee incentive programs designed to help drive their businesses. “In today’s challenging economy, companies have to distinguish themselves from the competition by developing creative ways to entice and excite customers and employees alike,” says Karen Renk, executive director of IMA. “Together with their marketing incentive partners, these five winners achieved great results for their efforts.”

Here’s a brief summary of each of the winning programs:

• Subaru Canada partnered with Carlton Group Ltd. of Markham, Ontario, to create a rewards club program for buyers of the sporty Impreza WRX STI hatchback. New owners received a gift card valued at $2,500 toward service, extended warranty, accessories, apparel, and Subaru-branded merchandise.
  
  
• Toyota Australia worked with Synchro Marketing of Sydney to establish the Toyota Sales Society – a multi-tiered program recognizing individual dealer employee performance and integrating the business goals of dealers’ new car, used car, and service departments.
  
  
• LJ Hooker Financial Services and incentive professional Solterbeck, of South Melbourne, Australia, launched an easy-to-use software program to link and manage a diverse network of real estate brokers, agents, and offices across multiple regions of Australia to drive home mortgage referrals and sales.
  
  
• BigPond, an Internet hardware provider, teamed with incentive advisor ACCUMULATE of Port Melbourne, Australia to create and implement its “BigPoints” incentive program to increase sales among retailers and call centers.
  
  
• IT provider Modis used the opportunity to gain “celebrity” status at The Breakers, a Palm Beach, FL resort, to drive a sales incentive plan it created with the help of USMotivation of Atlanta.

For more complete details on the programs of each of these Circle of Excellence Award winners, visit the Incentive Performance Center at www.incentivecentral.org. For information on the Incentive Marketing Association and its programs and activities, visit the IMA website at www.incentivemarketing.org.

[ Return to Top ]

IPC White Paper Outlines “New Rules of Engagement”

With competition high and employee retention and customer loyalty at all-time lows, the need for companies to create an emotional engagement with employees, channel partners, and customers has never been greater. That’s the message delivered in a recent white paper, “Going One-on-One: The New Rules of Engagement,” sponsored by the Incentive Performance Center (IPC).

Drawing on interviews with some of the leading experts on engagement, including Don Peppers of the Peppers & Rogers Group, Mark Schumann of Towers Perrin, Alex Edmans of the Wharton School, and Allan Schweyer of the Human Capital Institute, the white paper offers a working definition of engagement and talks about some of the prerequisites of engagement in organizations, including:

• A clear and promising direction.
• Clear development opportunities.
• Confidence in the organization.
• Teamwork and collaboration.
• Meaningful objectives and expectations.
• A system of measurement.
• The necessary skills and tools.
• A system of reinforcement.

The paper has an important message for brands as well. To build customer loyalty, customers will have to step up their efforts to fulfill the brand promise. “And to ensure that you are fulfilling the brand promise and meeting customer expectations,” the white paper argues, “companies will have to have employees who are engaged and enthusiastic about their work, have the right training, have the right tools and information, and have the authority to take action.” The IPC white paper offers some suggestions on how companies can begin to move in that direction.

To see a copy of the complete white paper from IPC, click here.

[ Return to Top ]