You have spent months (or years) nurturing a fantastic channel partner relationship. They have been with your business for long, selling your products like hotcakes, hitting targets and even singing praises about your business to potential customers.
Then, bam! They vanish, lured by your competitor’s “greener pastures” aka better loyalty programs that make yours look like yesterday’s news – stale and boring. Sounds familiar? We’ve all been there at some point.
Before you start worrying, calm down because there’s a secret weapon in your arsenal that you likely haven’t tapped into – Loyalty management system.
If you are worried about channel partner loyalty where you want them to feel valued, motivated, and singing your praises from the rooftops (without needing a PR nudge!), this 1Channel guide will cover all the innovative ways how.
1. Gamification: Level Up Your Engagement (and Sales!)
Take this into consideration – You are a channel partner or a last mile advocate for a B2B company. You log into a comprehensive loyalty management software and the first thing you see is a progress bar.
It is not a stagnant bar though. With every successful sale, the bar progresses and you get to unlock exclusive rewards - think early access to new products, discounted marketing materials, or even a weekend getaway.
Gamification in a loyalty management tool taps into the innate human desire for progress and recognition. It instills a sense of competition but also makes the whole experience fun, keeping the channel partners hooked and motivated.
2. Tiered Rewards: Cater to Every Appetite (and Sales Volume)
Another innovative way to drive channel loyalty is with tiered rewards. Traditional loyalty programs often incline towards “standarised” incentives, which might not be as enticing.
After all, you might have a channel partner that’s a small-scale reseller and another who is an industry giant, bringing you majority of your sales. Wouldn’t you want the latter to feel more compensated for the work they are doing?
This is where tiered rewards come into the picture. By offering a progression path in the loyalty program, you also empower and motivate the partners to grow alongside you. Not just that, tiered rewards also ensure there’s something for everyone to take back home.
3. Personalised Rewards That Speak Their Language
While we are already discussing about tiered rewards, let us also highlight the need for personalisation in the loyalty programs. Can you imagine gifting a tea set to a coffee enthusiast and then liking it? Obviously not!
Generic rewards feel the same to channel partners. They don’t necessarily crave for vouchers or a hamper for reaching millions in sales target. Instead, they might be chasing a loyalty reward that’s more personalised to their needs.
1Channel’s customisable loyalty management program uses advanced analytics to identify a partner’s preferred incentives, valuing their unique contributions in the process.
4. Real-Time Performance Tracking and Feedback
No one in their right mind likes the guessing game. “How much sales did I make?” “What kind of rewards am I eligible for?”, etc. are common questions that often intrigue channel partners when they are part of a loyalty program.
This is where features like real-time performance dashboards take all the unnecessary guessing out of the equation. It enables the channel partners to track their progress towards the sales goal in a more transparent manner.
One amazing thing about 1Channel’s loyalty software is that it provides businesses access to sales figures, incentive earnings, and performance benchmarks with a few simple clicks.
5. Streamlined Communication: Keep Everyone on the Same Page
Miscommunication can derail even the strongest partnerships. For example, one of your channel partners might be on a different page than you are, creating confusion, turmoil and potential severance of long-lasting ties.
One of the best ways to declutter all that confusion is with a centralised database and dashboard, which 1Channel’s rewards management software makes possible. The centralised approach simplifies communication, eliminate e-mail clutter and bring everyone on the same page.
Not only does it simplify communication, it also fosters a sense of trust and transparency, eliminating confusion from the equation too.
6. Exclusive Perks for Advocates
When it comes to channel partner loyalty, a large cohort of it comprises the last mile advocates or the influencers. They are one of the unsung heroes driving sales and customer satisfaction simultaneously.
So, when you are optimising your LMS, prioritise including exclusive perks for advocates that market your brand and its products. These perks can include exclusive invites, personalised thank you notes and hampers, vacations, etc.
Doing this simple thing turn your last mile advocates into brand ambassadors without any persuasion.
7. Flexibility to Adapt and Scale
The market is consistently changing and evolving and so should your business and your loyalty programs. The main stakeholders behind your business’ success – channel partners and influencers, deserve to be applauded for their work and they deserve to grow and evolve too.
So, beyond the standard rewards, another innovate measure that boosts channel partner loyalty is providing them access to resources that allow them to grow in their career. It could be training opportunities, access to exclusive product modules, etc.
8. Milestone-Based Bonuses to Celebrate Success
Beyond personalisation and tiered rewards, another aspect of loyalty management for channel partners is celebrating the milestones, even the smallest ones.
Let’s consider that you have recently onboarded a new channel partner into your business roster. To further strengthen the relationship and build trust and loyalty, reward them for reaching 10 successful sales, despite how small the milestone is.
You can set monthly, quarterly, or annual milestones like first sale of a new product, hitting a regional target, or completing a training module. For every successful milestone reached, you can either reward directly or reward them with bonus points, which they can redeem at a later date.
9. Loyalty-Driven Networking Events
Another innovative way to drive channel partner loyalty is by hosting networking events. These can be an annual affair or something that your business hosts every few years.
The main objective of these events is to let the channel partners interact with each other, learn from one another and build relationships too. Doing so not only helps with better networking opportunities but also makes the partners feel part of the larger ecosystem, strengthening their emotional connection to the business.
How does the concept of a “Partner Summit” sound? Somehow, investing in such events translates to amazing ROI for the business in the long run.
It’s Not Just About Retention—It’s About Relationships!
Channel partner loyalty is a lot more than simply retaining them. Also, the role of a loyalty management software is a lot more than dishing out rewards and points. It has more to do with building loyalty, trust and strengthening partner relationships.
1Channel LMS takes care of it all. Every vision that you likely have with your channel partner loyalty management is brought to reality with our software. Be it through gamification or customisable dashboards, every aspect of your brand loyalty is laid out in a single platform.
Ready to bring about subsequent boost to your business through channel partner loyalty?
Schedule your free demo with our team today!
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