5 Ways to Tariff-Proof Your Incentive Strategy

5 Ways to Tariff-Proof Your Incentive Strategy

Tariffs are no longer just a headline; they are a daily reality reshaping the wholesale distribution landscape. Recent data underscores the urgency and impact this is having on this large sector.

• In a June 2025 survey of over 4,000 small business owners,72% of wholesalers reported lower revenues due to tariffs.
• The wholesale trade sector is absorbing an estimated $48.7 billion in import duties, representing more than half of the U.S. economy’s total tariff exposure.
• Margins are under intense pressure, with 44% of small business owners seeing direct revenue losses from tariffs and the average decline reaching 13%.

This new data reinforces earlier research from the National Association of Wholesaler Distributors, which found that 62% of distributors expect their cost of goods sold to rise by at least 10% in 2025 and only 2.5% report any positive effect from tariffs.

Traditional incentive models can prove unsustainable in this environment. To maintain profitability in this constrained market, a better approach is needed to tariff-proof your incentive strategy. At Motivation Excellence, many of our clients are in the B2B distribution channel. Here’s some thought leadership we can offer others out there looking at their incentive strategies:

1. Focus on Emotional Loyalty

Buying decisions often start with emotion and get justified with logic. In wholesale distribution, most products are bought rather than actively sold. The real opportunity lies in building deeper relationships and creating more meaningful experiences. When products feel interchangeable, the experience becomes the differentiator. Group incentive travel is a proven tactic. According to the Incentive Research Foundation, 73% of participants reported that they increased loyalty to the sponsoring company after attending and 91% of respondents find group travel “very” or “extremely” motivating. Further,72% say relationship building is the most important benefit.

2. Make Use of Behavior-Based Incentives

Moving beyond volume-based rewards and focusing on long-term, value-driving behaviors is essential. Some examples include:

• completion of product training
• adoption of digital tools
• participation in joint marketing campaigns

A manufacturer might offer tiered rewards for partners who complete training modules and submit a case study or testimonials, thereby increasing their product knowledge. This approach encourages channel partners to invest in their own growth and education. Often, the root of the problem is different than the symptoms. Behavior-based incentives close this knowledge gap, empowering channel partners to sell with confidence and deliver greater value to customers.

3. Help Customers Grow Their Business with Cross-Selling and Upselling

Instead of simply trying to add incentives for pushing more products, help your customers sell more by incentivizing cross-selling and upselling solutions that fit their needs. For example, in plumbing distribution, rather than just promoting another type of pipe, create incentives for contractors who sell water heaters with compatible smart thermostats or leak detection systems. This not only increases average order value but also positions the distributor as a partner in business growth, not just a supplier. The best distributors provide training, sales tools, and support to help customers identify new revenue opportunities and close more sales.

4. Close the Feedback Loop

Use your incentive program to gather input through surveys or other feedback tools. This gives you insight into what they need and where the market is heading. Electrical Trends, the electrical distribution industry’s blog, had a recent article on Competing, and Winning, in a Tariff Induced World which states, “Doing business the way you did it will not drive profitable growth.” Now is the time to do research on growth segments, understand what customers’ needs are, and determine what they need from you. Feedback through surveys ensures your strategy, culture, and logistics keep pace. Offering an incentive to take these surveys or making them a part of your current incentive program, is essential for understanding why customers buy from you and what they value most.

5. Train Your Sales Team to Sell on Value

Sales teams need to show how your products or services save time or money. In the channel, price is often passed through to the end customer, so the focus should be on the solution and how you differentiate. With most projects running over budget now, end users are under pressure to justify every dollar and the value you provide. Your sales team needs to be solution-focused but should also know how to use the incentive program as a tool in that conversation. They should understand the rules and apply the program as part of their strategy to close deals. When they do, they move the conversation from price to value.

Mid-year is often the hardest time to change programs and pricing —or even rebate structures — for many distributors. But it’s a great time to start looking ahead. Since margin pressure will not be easing anytime soon, the real questions are:

• How will you adapt for 2026?
• Are you getting the right guidance to evolve your strategy?

Companies that start shifting their strategy now will be in a stronger position to grow in a more competitive and constrained market come January 1st.

If you’re starting to think about what comes next for you and your distribution channel and incentive strategy, we would be happy to consult with you, free of charge.

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4 Reasons a Channel Incentive or Loyalty Program is a Key to Success in a Challenging Economy

For many businesses, it’s a natural response to pull back on spending in the face of an adverse economic climate. Right now, we’re living through a challenging economy with tariffs and foreign country relationships in flux daily. While cutting back on spending within your sales and marketing budgets might feel like the right thing to do, there are concrete reasons why now is not the time. Instead, it’s critical to show your B2B customers just how much you value them; and our team at Motivation Excellence has the data to back that up. Below are four reasons why we suggest implementing a channel partner incentive or B2B loyalty program in today’s economic environment.

1. Economic Downturns Are One of the Best Times to Capture Market Share

When business slows down, decision makers have to decide if they want to:

• Cut back on spending enough to still turn a profit
• Stop investing and spending, hunkering down in a “wait it out” mindset
• Go on the offense and try to grow through the turbulence

Years of experience have taught Brian McHugh, VP, Client Solutions at Motivation Excellence, that businesses that come out ahead more often choose the last option.

“There are multiple studies spanning decades that show firms maintaining or increasing marketing spend during recessions recover faster and even outperform competitors,” says McHugh.

“There’s a popular industry adage that says, ‘When times are good, you should advertise. When times are bad, you must advertise,’” he adds.

McHugh advises that incentives are more powerful than “just marketing” because they factor in sales growth and growing market share.

Implementing a B2B loyalty or channel partner incentive program now, when competitors are pulling back, is a great way to:

• capture market share
• strengthen relationships
• build momentum for the eventual upturn

“When the economy rebounds, the customers you took care of in the lean times will take care of you because you’ve demonstrated commitment, which creates trust and leads to loyalty,” McHugh imparts.

A longtime electrical supply client at Motivation Excellence experienced this firsthand with an incentive program that spanned more than two decades and saw growth in up, flat, and down markets during that time.

Their ROI was more than 200%. They saw an increase in market share and built a loyal customer base. Working with vendor partners helped elevate the budget and the opportunities for their customers. For the full story on this client and their results, check out the case study on our website.

2. Investing in Relationships Protects Your Current Customer Base

Here’s a simple truth: it’s easier to retain and grow existing accounts than to win them back after they’ve moved on. One of our building supply clients calls this “relationship equity.” We’ve worked with this company for more than a decade on a loyalty-driving incentive program that culminates in an exclusive, all-expenses-paid, four-day event that includes world-class entertainment, access to preferred vendors showcasing the latest innovations, training and networking sessions, and small group activities.

“When the economy tightens and customers become more price-sensitive, programs like ours become even more valuable. It allows us to invest in loyalty without relying on price cuts. This premium, relationship-based benefit reinforces long-term value – and that resonates in any economic climate,” reports Natalie, a marketing manager at the above referenced building supply client.

Natalie says even when economic or global issues may alter business strategy, the focus of their loyalty program remains the same.

“It’s about delivering value beyond the business transaction. Especially in uncertain times, experiences like this offer a powerful way to reinforce connection, stability, and appreciation for our customers.

“It’s not just about points or perks; it’s about creating an emotional connection and a sense of belonging. In a growing industry, where customers can feel like just another number, this program reminds them that they’re seen, valued, and essential to our success,” Natalie extols.

Their sales growth has averaged 230% over the tenure of the program, which is still operating today. To see more about this company’s success with their loyalty event check out the case study on our website.

Increases in Sales Growth

214% = Median growth

230% = Average growth

263% = Top 25 average growth

3. They Can Pay for Themselves

If you’re still not sure you can afford to start a channel partner incentive or loyalty program, this should get your attention. The incremental gross profit generated from customers’ increased purchases pays for the cost of the program and contributes to overall bottom-line margins. Read that again.

How does this work? Our team does a deep dive into your:

• Goals
• Challenges
• Company & industry data
• Target audience
• Reward preferences

Your company wants to motivate behavior change within your channel—most likely to increase sales and loyalty. You might be one of several companies in your market vying for the same channel customers. We look at industry trends. We look at your product margins and individual customer sales data if available. We consider what type of rewards you want to offer; for instance, a group travel experience or reward points your participants can use for almost anything. (There are so many ways to reward people, truly.)

Once we have all the pieces, we can come back with recommendations and models that outline how much you need to increase your sales to pay for the program. This leads us to creating goals for your customers. The key here is the goals must be attainable, but not without extra effort, which is why the motivation (or type of reward offered) is so important.

Our electrical supply client mentioned previously employed an evergreen rule structure* that drove incremental sales growth year over year. They offered a tiered reward structure with the top performers earning a group travel experience with company executives and preferred vendor partners.

Once earned, the motivation to continue landing in a top spot added to the momentum. In addition, accelerated reward opportunities kept participants engaged and committed to meeting and beating program goals.

*With the evergreen program structure, participants created a sustained growth pattern year after year.

4. Incentive Programs Are Differentiators

Sought-after channel customers often want, or even need, a reason to buy from you, rather than one of your competitors. They might ask, what’s in it for me and my company to stay with you or jump to you?

Offering an opportunity to earn rewards like travel, merchandise or special event tickets can be a persuasive approach, especially because it feels “free” to them. It’s a business relationship with a personal gain. It becomes a part of your company’s overall value proposition with your customer.

“Industries with competitive distribution, like ours, give customers more options, and that’s exactly why loyalty can’t be taken for granted. We have to continually earn it. Our loyalty event helps us do that in a meaningful way while setting us apart from the competition,” continues Natalie.

“None of our competitors offer loyalty events at this level,” she says. “The event has become a cornerstone of our company culture. Customers talk about it all year long. It’s a celebration, yes, but it’s also a statement of how deeply we value our partnerships with our customers.”

Rewards alone can take you a long way with your channel partners, but there are additional benefits that really enhance a trusted relationship. Best practice discussions and product trainings are two additional ways to demonstrate your commitment to the success of your customers’ businesses. When you both grow your businesses together, the relationship is bound to grow too.

“With our programs, we want to drive buying behavior changes within a channel which then leads to lasting, mutually beneficial relationships. Once there’s an emotional connection, loyalty to your brand follows. Our loyalty and incentive programs foster a bond that will see positive returns well into the future,” says McHugh.

Channel partner incentives and loyalty programs are proven to effectively generate a boost in sales, as well as strengthen relationships within your distribution channel. You now know why they’re important and how they can help a business even in questionable economic conditions.

Let’s connect to discuss your unique situation. Our team is full of experts in this nuanced industry. We start from scratch with each client to drive the results you want to see. 

Motivation Excellence Welcomes Cherrie Tebeau in New Role as VP, Sourcing & Industry Relations

We are excited to welcome a new member to our leadership team this week! Cherrie Tebeau is joining us in a brand-new role as VP, Sourcing & Industry Relations. Cherrie’s extensive background in the incentives industry will benefit everyone at Motivation Excellence, including clients, supplier partners and internal colleagues.

“She is highly respected in our space. Bringing her on board will deepen our already strong vendor partnerships, giving our clients the best pricing and most creative solutions to enhance our programs,” says Bob Graham, President & CEO.

In her 25 years in our industry, Cherrie has held positions in sales and travel buying on the incentive agency side of things, as well as procurement and contract negotiations for a destination management company.

“We are investing even more in our industry relationships through creating this position and filling it with Cherrie. She will be a huge benefit to our existing travel team and all of our clients,” adds Brad Hecht, Sr. VP of Travel & Chief Travel Strategist.

Graham envisions Cherrie’s role as one that will focus on how we provide and position solutions that will elevate our clients’ overall experience.

“Augmenting our travel sourcing team and contributing subject matter expertise during the proposal process will bolster our sales team. Having Cherrie dedicated to building new supplier partners and sustaining our current ones will have a positive effect for our clients through expanding options and ideas,” Bob explains.

Cherrie says she’s excited about joining the Motivation Excellence team because of our outstanding reputation in the industry.

“When I started sharing the news with my industry contacts, the responses I got were overwhelmingly positive regarding Motivation Excellence. That certainly makes the transition for me very exciting and positive,” Cherrie says.

To hear more about Cherrie’s thoughts on being a new part of the Motivation Excellence team, watch this short video.

Why Group Travel Is a More Effective Sales Incentive Than Cash for Your Top Performers

Here at Motivation Excellence, we are big fans of group travel incentives. We’ve seen first-hand over the last 40 years just how effective they can be to engage, inspire, and motivate. In every case, it’s far better at building connections than a bank deposit. 

There is always going to be a place for using cash bonuses as part of an overall employment package. They’re practically expected, so as a sales incentive, they can easily fall short motivating your internal sales team. 

Group travel incentives, however, are motivational to internal and external sales teams, alike. Traveling, especially with a significant other, fellow top performers and company executives, creates lasting relationships that become worth much more to the future success of your business than writing a check.

Here are three reasons we believe group travel is a dominant motivator for sales incentives:

1. Fond Memories Become Future Goals

Travel experiences generate memories people hold on to. While receiving a bump to a paycheck, gives an instant, and surely appreciated lift, it’s often forgotten by the time the next month rolls around. Unfortunately, extra money ends up being used for gas, groceries or bills more often than being used for something more meaningful or extravagant.

On the other hand, memories of a great travel experience become the motivation to earn the next experience. The “have to do that again” factor can’t be underestimated with group travel incentives. Our travel incentives are filled with once-in-a-lifetime experiences individual travelers wouldn’t be able to replicate. That holds incredible motivational value!

2. Loyalty Is Built Through Emotional Connections

Traveling with a group of other top performing individuals is a bonding experience. Sharing incredible activities, meals and training events creates camaraderie that can grow into friendships. Those strengthened relationships translate into increased loyalty and talent retention. 

Hosting a group travel incentive is a way to stand out among competitors looking to woo top talent away. Selecting an amazing destination with incredible events combine to create a  memorable travel experience that can help a company differentiate even more. One of the best benefits is the intrinsic motivation to achieve the travel reward year after year…adding longevity to loyalty far into the future. 

3. Travel Is Happily Publicized

The modern culture values travel so much that there is prestige attached to it. Social media posts are loaded with people’s latest adventures. Now imagine the added pride when someone earns the travel experience through their own efforts. They shout it out for all to know (and follow along)! 

Offering a group travel incentive allows the hosting company to cover the expense through an increase in gross profits. Meanwhile, the person who earned the experience put in a lot of sweat equity, but isn’t shelling a dime out of pocket to enjoy the reward. It feels free to them, but also deeply appreciated since the road to get there wasn’t easy. 

The added publicity each participant freely gives to the host company on social channels is invaluable. It attracts the attention of colleagues who then want to earn the travel incentive too. The prestige of being a member of “the club” grows, along with the motivation to achieve it.   In the end, group travel is a more effective sales incentive than cash in many ways. Whether you’re interested in pushing your internal sales team to new heights, strengthening crucial relationships or differentiating your company’s rewards from your competitors, incentive group travel offers incredible ROI and ongoing motivation. Connect with us to learn more about how it can help your company thrive.

Channel Incentives: Boosting Partner Performance and Engagement

Has your organization been looking for ways to boost partner performance and engagement? Are you tired of the same, old promotional gimmicks? If so, it’s time to try something new. Consider investing in B2B channel incentives.

Channel incentives are customized reward programs designed to do more than just show token appreciation for the job your partners do day in and day out. They are designed to go above and beyond in a way that truly motivates performance and engagement.

Designing and implementing channel incentives is what we do here at Motivation Excellence. We work with you to learn about your business needs and derive the best goals to meet them. It’s a consultative approach that we back up with the detailed dedication needed to run an engaging, successful and totally custom-created program.  

Channel Incentive Elements

Channel incentives come in all shapes and sizes, so to speak. We appreciate variety because it gives us an opportunity to customize every incentive program down to the finest detail. The elements are flexible and include:

• Goals – being specific here is important to the design of the program
• Budget – will this come from incremental sales, vendor buy-in, a budgeted line-item, or a combination
• Rules – these lay the groundwork for success and expectations
• Performance management and tracking – data analytics are important to track for management and participants
• Rewards – travel, lifestyle upgrade packages or award points, to name a few
• Marketing – engaging participants is a special skill set and critical to the overall success of the program

We work with our clients to make sure their goals are met within their budget while meaningfully motivating the people who mean the most to the success of their business. A great channel incentive maximizes results and minimizes risks. 

Channel Incentive Benefits

There are a lot of reasons to run an incentive with your distribution channel. One of the biggest is differentiation. If you’re in a market that’s saturated with competitors, running an incentive can be the way to gain attention and new customers. Channel incentives with motivating rewards can increase B2B customer loyalty, which can begin a lasting relationship well into the future. 

Cost effectiveness is another benefit of running a well-designed channel incentive program. When we design a program, we like to see the program pay for itself, and then some, through incremental sales. Programs that run year after year can continue to bring in incremental gains as participants work to outperform their activity from the previous period. 

Channel incentives can be very flexible too. They can run for a short period of time, like a quarter, or longer stretches. They can coincide with a new product launch. Incentive programs can include rewards for completing training, making your B2B customer an expert (and advocate) on your product versus the competition. The flexibility options are nearly endless!

Channel Incentive Management

This part is really important. A channel incentive that is launched and not managed after that will die a quick and quiet death. Management includes participant engagement. It includes regular metric checks. It might mean the program gets tweaked from time to time to maximize results or avoid costly hiccups. Working with a skilled partner, like our experts at Motivation Excellence, is the best way to ensure success and minimize risk. We recently published a blog reviewing how we handle performance management and tracking within our B2B loyalty and incentive programs. It includes a detailed Q&A with our Client Performance Manager, so if you have questions about what it entails please check it out. In the meantime, here’s a quick list of some of the ways we work with our clients to manage their loyalty or incentive programs:

• Regular client review sessions set up at intervals that make sense for the program and client
• Marketing support like emails, postcards, texts and gift mailings
• Data-driven performance websites that give management and participants one place to get instant program updates
• In-house customer service for participants redeeming award points or registering for a group travel reward

Channel incentives are a must in today’s highly competitive market. They are critical to boosting performance and increasing engagement. For more information about how we develop and deploy channel incentives, give us a call or shoot us an email today. We’d love to give you a free consultation anytime!

Performance Management & Tracking Yield Key Business Intelligence for B2B Loyalty and Sales Incentive Programs

Loyalty and incentive programs can be truly transformational. When designed and executed well, they provide great ROI for your company and stronger relationships with the people who mean the most to the success of your business. In addition, our clients gain valuable business intelligence through our performance management and tracking offerings. Sometimes, we provide information they didn’t even know they were missing!

Our Guide to Group Travel Incentives for Sales Teams and Channel Partners

Group travel incentives are a major part of our business here at Motivation Excellence. We are firm believers in group travel incentives for sales teams and channel partners because we’ve seen decades of positive results. With that in mind, we have put together a small guide offering a rundown of everything you should know on this topic. Reach out to us for more information about arranging group travel incentives for your organization.

Why Group Travel Incentives Work

Group travel is a fantastic incentive on many levels. For example, incentive travel motivates sales team members and channel partners to achieve their sales targets by way of a tangible and exciting reward. Travel is something people look forward to, especially when it’s something they couldn’t necessarily plan on their own. And, even though it’s being paid for through increased sales by the earners, to them it feels like it’s on the house!

Group travel incentives also work for sales teams and channel partners because they:

• Enhance engagement and loyalty
• Strengthen relationships with the people who mean the most to your bottom line
• Provide a competitive environment that boosts sales
• Provide a means of attracting new talent for internal teams, and new customers for external channel partners
• Offer the opportunity to combine both work and rest in a beautiful setting
• Create lasting memories that emotionally tie the travelers to your company

Best of all, group travel incentives offer a significant return on investment (ROI). Travel events ultimately pay for themselves by generating sales, differentiation in the market, and loyalty.

How to Plan a Successful Group Travel Incentive Program

Planning is critical to pulling off any group travel incentive. The planning stage has a myriad of critical steps, including these:

1. Define Your Objectives – This means figuring out the purpose for the incentive and what you hope to accomplish for your target participants.
2. Establish a Budget – Exactly what the experience looks like will depend heavily on your budget and how you plan to generate it.
3. Choose a Destination – The destination should motivate your participants, match your budget and tie into the theme of your incentive program.
4. Tailor the Itinerary – The itinerary can be a mix of team-building exercises, activity options, leisure time, and networking with company executives and fellow high achievers.
5. Personalize the Event – As you zero in on the end of the planning process, be sure to find ways to personalize the event.
6. Communicate – Engaging with your target audience before, during and after the travel incentive is important to tying the experience all together for your winners. 

The level of planning directly correlates with the effectiveness of the experience. Our travel team at Motivation Excellence has 40 years of experience creating and executing award-winning incentive travel programs. When you work with us, we can offer our expertise on the rule structure to qualify, the destinations that will work the best for your budget the best way to motivate performance improvement.

Why Working with Experts Is Worth It

Running an Incentive travel program is definitely not DIY. Enlisting the help of an expert is worthwhile for several reasons:

• Our industry relationships, decades of experience and contract negotiation skills will keep your budget in check, while delivering incredible service and attention to detail. 
• We can handle everything from planning to executing, including all logistics, performance management and marketing. 
• We have access to exclusive experiences that would otherwise be unavailable for your event.
• We customize group travel incentives to maximize their business impact, thereby maximizing ROI, while minimizing risks. 
• And most importantly, we make sure it operates to exceed you and your participants’ expectations

Any organization can arrange for employees or partners to travel. But maximizing travel incentives requires a lot more than going online and booking a few hotel rooms. If you are interested in how group travel can benefit your organization, Motivation Excellence is standing by to help.

Sales Incentives Motivate Performance Improvement and Retain Talent for Long-term Gains

Blog Summary:

·  Sales incentives drive measurable performance improvements by motivating your sales team at all levels—especially the middle 60%, which can yield significant revenue increases with even small gains.

·  Flexible and well-designed incentive programs align with business goals—everything ranging from short-term boosts to long-term engagement can inspire both individual and team achievements.

·  Incentives support sales team member retention and loyalty by adding value to compensation packages, enhancing employee recognition, and fostering a culture of appreciation and motivation.

·  When structured correctly, incentives can pay for themselves through incremental revenue gains, compliance, and best practice adoption, especially when rewards are meaningful and tailored to the sales team’s preferences.

Sales Incentives Offer Many Benefits

Getting incentives for outperforming your peers is instilled in us at an early age. Whether it was selling the most Girl Scout cookies for your troop or the most wrapping paper at your elementary school, taking a run at being the top contender definitely could have predestined you to a life in sales as an adult. But, if the reward for being the best wasn’t very good, the motivation to get to the top fell flat too, right?

Running well-designed sales incentive programs at your company can bring in a variety of benefits for both your business and your sales team. You can plan short-term and long-term programs. You can target segments of your sales team to motivate unique behavior changes at different levels.

Rewards for achieving goals can range from exclusive group travel experiences to points that can be redeemed online for almost anything, including individual travel, lifestyle upgrades, trending merchandise, and special event tickets. You can also reward in tiers, so those who bring in more business get rewarded at a level equal to their effort.

Our experts at Motivation Excellence know how to create sales incentive programs that Inspire Extraordinary Performance and can pay for themselves, plus deliver great long-term gains.

Improve Performance

Improving performance is the number one reason our clients run sales incentive programs. Sales incentives have a proven record of boosting performance and can be effectively used to motivate your entire sales force. The Incentive Research Foundation shows how even a small gain from the middle 60% of your team can yield significantly more revenue than the same shift in your top-performing group.

That’s why employing a targeted incentive plan can be a lucrative deal for everyone involved. Your best performers can vie for the top reward, but anyone making improvements gets something. This can encourage healthy competition within your sales team while also motivating achievements on a personal level. When performance gets better, so do the reward opportunities!

Incentives can be very flexible. You can run year-over-year incentives, or schedule them for shorter time periods if it makes sense for your sales cycle. Encouraging sales of a specific item, either because it’s brand new or yields a better margin, can lead to quick gains. The built-in excitement over a limited-time incentive helps drive momentum. Engaging in longer term sales incentives allows team members to plan ahead and perhaps drive in bigger gains. They’re also a great opportunity to track valuable metrics that can be useful for end-of-year review periods.

Whether they’re short- or long-term, sales incentives can keep your team engaged and motivated to perform at a higher level than they did in the period prior.

Retain Talent

There are quite a few things that add to the desirability of working somewhere. Obviously base salary, vacation time, and health insurance are at the top of the list for many! Offering additional benefits like a flexible work environment and education reimbursement can be very appealing as well. Recognizing milestones and special achievements, along with offering incentives for your sales team, helps build a culture where people can see themselves thriving for years.

We advise our clients that retaining top talent, and thus, increasing profits over the long haul, takes three distinct compensation elements: salary, recognition and incentives. They each have a role to play. Combined, they offer stability, acknowledgment, and engagement.

For the recognition and incentive elements, the rewards are key to making these worth the extra effort. They need to have value to your salesperson. If they don’t, they won’t offer anything to an overall benefits package. If they do, you’ve created additional ways to make your team feel valued.

Incentives Can Pay for Themselves

The right rule structure is imperative from the start of any incentive. When we know our clients’ goals, target audience, and some simple sales data, we can build an incentive that pays for itself – and then some – just with incremental gains.

Determining the desired rewards and their cost allows us to back into the performance expectations required to earn them. Selecting motivating rewards, like a group travel experience with company executives to Thailand… or the ability to earn once-in-a-lifetime tickets to a big sporting event… or the option to rent a vacation home for the family, is the lynchpin for the incentive to be successful.

Sales incentives can certainly be a fun, creative, and flexible way to motivate improved performance. This blog focuses on internal sales teams, but everything we’ve written is true for channel partner incentives, too. If you’re interested in reading more about the benefits of channel partner incentives, please check out these recent blogs:

How Incentivizing Channel Partners Helps Your Business Thrive
Channel Partner Engagement: Common Challenges and Overcoming Them
The 4-Step Process for Measuring Channel Incentive ROI

Explore our website and reach out to us if you’d like to consult about how best to run a successful incentive for your company!

Elevating Performance Through Incentive Travel: Uniting Sales Teams and Channel Partners

Unlike traditional bonuses or SPIFFs, incentive travel taps into deeper psychological drivers: the desire for recognition, the thrill of exclusive experiences, and the opportunity to connect with peers in inspiring settings. Research shows that:

86% of sales professionals rank travel rewards as more motivating than cash incentives (2022 IRF Destination Preferences Study)

Channel partners who attend incentive travel programs demonstrate 32% higher year-over-year retention (IRF Partner Study 2024)

The reason is simple: Incentive travel transforms transactional relationships into shared journeys of success.

Sales Incentives Are Important to Channel Partner Loyalty – Here’s Why

Key Summary

Channel partners boost sales—They act as an extension of your team (dealers, distributors, reps) and need incentives to stay loyal.

Incentives drive performance—Travel rewards, competitive perks, and training motivate partners to sell more and stick with your brand.

Long-term success requires alignment—Shared goals and strategic rewards (like exclusive benefits) strengthen partnerships and growth.

We love channel partners here at Motivation Excellence. We understand they are integral to the success of many of our clients. So, if we can motivate them with sales incentives, we know our clients will be happy. The big question for you is this: why are sales incentives so important to your channel partners?