It’s Time to Rethink Incentive Solutions for the Future of Channel Sales

Claudio Ayub

If you look at the structure of a typical channel program, you’ll find most businesses prioritize incentives. Even in the largest firms, there’s a clear emphasis on reward fulfillment and “giving over getting.”

However, if you’ve paid attention to channel trends over the last decade, you know incentive programs are undergoing a major transformation. While the emphasis on incentives hasn’t changed, partner demands are shifting, and channel programs now require an extended ecosystem of support with deeper, more complex reward structures to achieve the same results.

Practical Steps for Channel Programs

Given the breadth of current channel programs, what practical efforts should businesses consider as we head into 2023 and beyond? Let’s explore how current market drivers and technology transformations can help you prepare for the future of channel sales.

• Channel leaders who improve incentive management come out on top. According to a recent Forrester report, economic headwinds coupled with unexpected trends in employment make planning and budgeting trickier than normal. In fact, the report emphasizes that those looking to stay competitive need to prioritize incentive investments that maximize revenue growth, profitability and resilience while cutting wasteful spending and maintaining experiments with emerging technology. Although it’s no surprise, modernizing incentive programs is still a recognized struggle for many brands.

As an earlier Forrester report shows, the good news is that well-planned programs supported by automated incentive management solutions can deliver on the benefits. When brands deploy the right mix, level and cadence of incentives, it improves revenue and profit from the channel, deepens customer relationships and increases mindshare and loyalty of partners. Channel leaders who embrace this guidance to harness market opportunities will be well positioned for success in 2023.

• The need for authenticity in the partner’s journey is reshaping program models. As we previously highlighted, the No. 1 issue impacting channel brands and partners is the misalignment of partners’ sales processes with the digitally connected buyer. Consumers want more than rewards for transactions, they want incentive models that adapt to the complexities of their buyer’s journey, with messaging aligned to their unique needs. Rewards focused on behavioral learning and partner success win over purely transactional rewards, and programs that offer personalization at every stage of the sales funnel are more effective than traditional models.

Channel leaders desiring to stay relevant should design comprehensive incentive models that not only apply modern lead generation and lead management strategies, but also leverage automation to offer the customization, visibility and control channel partners demand. Success relies on ditching the one-size-fits-all mindset in favor of a highly personal approach. Brands that embrace an authentic, transparent connection with partners — and use technology to deliver personalized incentives and rewards — will happily reach their goals.

• Ecosystem solution providers play a key role in channel evolution. Today’s tech landscape of incentives, recognition and engagement technology is a dynamic mix of traditional, new and creative solution providers, including those that offer proprietary or white-labeled solutions, native software and professional services. Some use points-based recognition and reward-fulfillment platforms, while others use surveys and engagement-driven systems, or any combination of the above. The common thread is the expansion of data capture, analysis and insights capabilities.

Unearthing the benefits of channel ecosystem data is a core focus for many channel leaders, especially as they prepare strategies for the months ahead. Data is also driving demand for …