The success of any B2B business relies on the harmonious operation of all the important tools and software. Be it customer relationship management (CRM) software or enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, if these tools don’t work in tandem, it will affect the business’ success.
Similarly, when you are introducing a loyalty management software (LMS) into the mix, ensuring that it seamlessly integrates with your business’ existing tools is a must. 1Channel’s LMS ticks that worry off your checklist.
For those of us in the channel partner and last-mile advocate world, loyalty isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s the lifeblood of our business, so choosing the right LMS is paramount. Furthermore, choosing one that integrates with your existing ecosystem is a bonus. This 1Channel guide will explore all the details how.
Why Is It Necessary to Integrate your Loyalty Management System with Existing Tools?
The purpose of an LMS is to track the channel partner performance and automate their rewards when they hit certain milestones. However, the question comes down to one – “How will the business know about the progress of your channel partner?”
A big mistake that many businesses do is thinking that an LMS is just an “add-on” or a “nice-to-have.” The truth is that when it is integrated well with the existing systems in the B2B ecosystem, it is nothing short of a powerhouse.
Here’s why:
A well-integrated LMS syncs with your CRM, ERP, and sales automation tools to create a single source of truth.
It ensures that the channel partners and last-mile advocates get real-time awards and incentives upon reaching their sales milestones instead of having to wait for it.
It eliminates data silos because what’s the point of rewarding loyalty if you don’t know who’s actually performing?
Lastly, with a comprehensive LMS like 1Channel’s, you get to automate the entire channel partner loyalty process, so your team isn’t drowning in spreadsheets and manual labour.
In short, a well-integrated LMS = happier partners + increased sales + effortless management. But, how do you achieve that?
How to Integrate your Loyalty Management Platform with Existing Tools in the Business?
Let's be honest, we've all been there. You have a fantastic CRM that tracks every customer interaction, a slick sales platform that crunches numbers like a pro, and a loyalty system that's supposed to incentivise your partners.
But they're all sitting in their own little digital islands, refusing to communicate. Believe it or not, you are likely wasting away your money if that’s the case.
Following are a few strategies you need to follow to ensure seamless integration of your LMS with the existing tools:
Step 1: Define Your Integration Goals
The concept of “plug and play” might sound simple and lucrative but it doesn’t work all the time, especially when every business has subjective loyalty program requirements.
Before you even consider onboarding the best loyalty management software, ask the following questions to yourself:
- What do I want to achieve with this integration? (Automate incentives? Track performance in real time? Reward sales instantly?)
- Which tools need to be connected? (Your CRM? Your ERP? Your inventory management system?)
- What data needs to flow between these tools? (Sales volume, partner engagement, redemption history?)
- Who needs access to what? (Does the sales team need reports? Do finance teams need transaction logs?)
- Once the answer to all these questions are clear, you are now good to onboard the LMS and then start the integration process.
Step 2: Choose the Right Integration Approach
Now that you have defined your goals pertaining to the loyalty management tool, next comes the integration approach. There are three primary options:
API-Based Integration – APIs are like digital translators that allow different systems to communicate with each other. They provide a standardised way to exchange data and trigger actions.
Middleware Integration – This involves the use of a third-party software to connect the different systems without the intervention of direct API connections. Consider this as more like an “universal adapter” that enables different tools like CRM, ERP and LMS to communicate.
Manual Data Sync – Possibly the “last resort”, manual data sync is just how it sounds. You have to rely on manual uploads using CSV files, which might work for smaller operations but is not scalable and definitely takes a lot of manpower, time, cost and efforts.
Among the three, the API-based integration is, without a doubt, the most seamless option. Not only is it seamless, it is also the most flexible and versatile route.
Step 3: Ensure Data Consistency
Following the initial integration of the loyalty management software within your existing ecosystem, the next step is to ensure that the data flow is uninterrupted.
Some of the most common data consistency related pitfalls include:
- Different tools may use different formats.
- Partner names might be stored differently.
- Duplicate data can lead to double rewards or missed incentives.
- Some of the effective solutions to overcome these challenges are:
- Before the integration, ensure that all the data formats are standarised across all the different tools.
- Clean up all the existing data to eliminate duplicates and inconsistencies.
- Implement pre-requisite validation rules so that any kind of incorrect data entry won’t mess up the data flow after the integration is complete.
Data is undoubtedly one of the most important factors that drive a business’ growth, so if your data isn’t synced and well-adjusted after the integration, it will pose as a limitation to how you scale your business and channel partner loyalty.
Step 4: Automate Reward Distribution
A major issue that many businesses face with their channel partner loyalty programs is not being able to automate the process. After all, what’s the purpose of integrating a loyalty management platform if it isn’t automated?
This explains why integrating the LMS with the existing tools in the business is a necessity. If your partners and advocates have to wait weeks (or even days) to get their rewards, they’ll lose interest and the last thing you want is to push your channel partners to your competitors.
Here are a few tips to automate the rewards:
- Setting triggers is the easiest choice. For example, when a partner completes a sale, the system automatically credits them.
- Instant redemption of the rewards is a necessity, especially if you want to drive success of the loyalty program.
- Lastly, use notifications to intimate the channel partners when they earn rewards so they can redeem them promptly.
Step 5: Track, Analyse, and Optimise
“What gets measured, gets improved,” is a phrase that applies to the success of your loyalty management system.
Integrating your loyalty management system isn’t just about getting the systems to talk. In fact, it has more to do with using data to drive smarter decisions. So, if you aren’t paying attention to the data, you are likely missing out on a lot.
Some of the key metrics to track are:
Sales Performance – Which partners are performing the best?
Reward Redemption Rates – Are partners actually using their incentives?
Engagement Levels – Are your partners participating regularly, or just once in a while?
Once you have the data of these individual metrics, you can then analyse and assess “what’s working” and “what needs adjustment.” So, if a certain type of reward isn’t working, shelve it or change it.
1Channel LMS: Make Integration Work for YOU!
Integrating a loyalty management platform with your existing systems in the B2B ecosystem can be a hassle and a confusing process. However, this is where 1Channel team comes into the picture. We understand that your focus is on scaling your business, which is why we shoulder the burden of the integration for you.
When done right, your channel partner loyalty programs turn into revenue-driving engines and 1Channel makes sure of it.
Ready to integrate your LMS like a pro? Let’s make loyalty work for your channel partners!
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