Get to ME with Candy McCray
We love to highlight a different employee each month as part of our Get to Know ME series. This month, it’s Candy McCray, our Creative Program Manager for clients using performance tracking and marketing enhancements as part of their incentive program. Read on to learn more about what makes her laugh and how she tackles short and long-term goals. Thanks Candy, for participating in this month’s Get to Know ME!
What’s your current title and how long have you been in the incentive industry?
My current title is Creative Program Manager, and I’ve been in the industry for 27 years as of 2025.
What do you like about your job?
This is my second stint with Motivation Excellence, so I really enjoy working with old friends again. In addition, I like to be able to share my knowledge/experience with my colleagues who are newer to the industry or Motivation Excellence.
What’s something you want to share about the people you work with at Motivation Excellence?
Our team is filled with highly skilled people who are passionate about doing a great job and being collaborative in nature. We have a lot of fun together.
What’s a specific moment in your history that always stands out as a defining moment, and why?
When I started my own marketing business. I learned so much and gained tremendous confidence in my skills and abilities.
What motivates you to accomplish things in your life (work or personal)?
My son – he’s made me a better person. I work hard to give him the things I didn’t have growing up. As a parent, I now truly understand the value of being in a constant state of learning and growth, and I try to instill that in him as well. Being a parent has also taught me a whole new level of communication and connection that I don’t think I understood prior.
What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
I like to socialize with friends, spend time with my son, and travel (we’re going to NY over spring break and planning a trip to Scotland this summer).
One thing that always makes you laugh is?
Watching AFV (America’s Funniest Videos) with my son. We love the ridiculous things people do and always get a good laugh!
What’s a bucket-list item you can’t wait to cross off?
I have two that I’m most excited to achieve: seeing the Northern Lights (ideally in Iceland) and an African Safari.
Do you make New Year’s resolutions? Why or why not and care to share any?
No, I don’t create New Year’s Resolutions anymore.
For day-to-day goals, I use habit stacking instead. I believe developing small habits a little at a time is more effective than setting a big goal once a year. Plus, why wait until New Year’s to start to work toward a goal? When you decide you want to do something differently, or achieve something new, start right away when you have the motivation!
For larger, long-term goals, I’m learning about using vision boards and manifesting techniques to help me identify and work toward those goals.
Motivation Excellence Names Solo CEO and Adds CFO Title to Management Team
As Motivation Excellence celebrates its 40th year in the incentives and meetings industry, the company announced new roles on the management team. In 2024, after owner David Jobes passed away, the Board of Directors named Bob Graham, VP Client Solutions, and Michelle Ebner, VP Finance, as co-Presidents/CEOs.
After a successful transition period, the Board decided to name Ebner as the CFO and Graham as the sole President and CEO.
“We appreciate the collaboration Bob and Michelle demonstrated during a difficult time. They were pillars the rest of the company could count on. We’re confident their new roles will highlight their strengths and solidify the positive track Motivation Excellence is on,” said Denise Jobes, Motivation Excellence Owner and Board Member.
Both Graham and Ebner are excited about the future of Motivation Excellence and their respective roles going forward.
“It was an honor to step into the co-CEO role with Bob at the time, but focusing on the financial security and growth of the company is really where I can offer the best guidance,” said Ebner regarding her new title as CFO.
Graham has been with Motivation Excellence since 2001, and in the performance improvement industry even longer. The Board believes his particular skills with data analytics and mapping projected outcomes for clients will serve him well as the big picture driver at the company.
“I care deeply about the success of Motivation Excellence, our team and our clients. I look forward to continuing our level of service, while exploring new efficiencies and expanding our internal team in 2025,” said Graham.
The new titles were effective January 1, 2025 with employees being told at their January company-wide meeting. Other leadership team members are Brad Hecht, Sr VP Travel & Chief Travel Strategist, Kelli Robb, VP Travel Operations and Rhonda Brewer, VP Sales.
Our 2025 Airfare Outlook; What You Need to Know & How You Can Try to Save Money
At Motivation Excellence, we book thousands of airfares every year for the participants who earn group travel experiences through our incentive programs and attend conferences that we organize for our corporate clients. We know a thing or two (or 12) about airfare trends and expectations. In the overall budget for our programs, air is the one thing that can fluctuate the most, so knowing when the best time to lock in tickets is critical.
We’ve seen airfares rise steadily since COVID, and we believe that trend will continue in 2025. Inflation, strong demand, and limited capacity all contribute to this, with the latter two really allowing airlines to flex their pricing power.
A recent Wall Street Journal article titled, “Airlines Are Charging Higher Fares and Are Confident You’ll Pay Up,” supports our position. Adding to the equation, delivery of new aircraft has been limited due to production problems at Boeing and Airbus.
“Just in January we’ve seen airfares rise 12%. Spring and summer travel will likely boost this by another 5%,” says Brad Hecht, Senior Vice President of Travel and Chief Travel Strategist at Motivation Excellence.
Airlines continue to prioritize profitability according to United Airline’s Chief Commercial Officer who was quoted in a New York Times article published January 22, 2025. Both Delta Airlines and United have projected their profits in 2025 to be exceptional, with Delta saying they expect their 2025 profit to be the best in their history.
What can the average consumer do to try and mitigate soaring ticket prices?
“As always, fares depend heavily on where you are flying and when you are flying. Flying to the south/Caribbean in winter/spring will guarantee higher fares and limited availability for the high season,” says Hecht.
For consumers looking to get the best fares, try to
- Book more than two weeks in advance
- Check prices at multiple airports; it might be worth driving to an airport farther away if you can save money
- Be flexible with your travel dates
- Consider alternate destinations that offer similar experiences, but may not be as popular for the masses
For our group travel incentive clients, we’ll continue to use our hybrid model of combining free-sold flights with blocked space and charters to help manage their air travel spend. We are diligent in checking price trends and guiding our clients about when the best time to purchase is to help control this part of their budget.
Motivation Excellence uses high-end travel and merchandise incentives, meetings and events to help our clients Inspire Extraordinary Performance among the people who mean the most to the success of their business. Through data-driven metrics we create customized solutions that minimize risk and maximize results while providing business intelligence companies often don’t realize they’re missing.
Navigating Travel Requirements for US Citizens in 2025
There will be some travel changes for Americans this year, so let’s dive into what you need to know before you head to the airport.
REAL ID in the USA
Starting May 7, 2025 you will need REAL ID-compliant identification from your state, or a valid passport to fly ANYWHERE. Yes, that means travel within the United States too. Earlier this month, the TSA published their “final rule” on the deadline and enforcement of this law that was passed back in 2005 as a result of 9/11 security flaws.
“You know if your state ID is compliant if there’s a star in the upper right corner,” says Joe Reise, Director, Travel Purchasing, Planning, and Supplier Relations at Motivation Excellence.
To find out how to get a REAL ID in your state visit usa.gov/real-id. You’ll be required to bring in certain documents to verify your social security number, identity and address.
“Homeland security has an FAQ website that provides all the information travelers need to know. The bottom line though is if you don’t have a valid REAL ID or valid passport you won’t get past security at U.S. airports as of May 7, so take action now if you plan to travel domestically this year,” warns Reise.
REAL IDs will be required to enter a military base or other secure federal facilities after May 7, as well.
ETA in the UK
United States citizens traveling to or through the UK (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) are now required to get an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) before you fly.
“The key thing with the ETA is that it applies to layovers too,” Reise says. “The application process can take up to 72 hours, so it needs to be on your to-do list the week before your planned travel if your flight is taking you into a UK airport.”
The fastest way to apply is through the UK ETA app which is available for iPhone and Android users through the App Store or Google Play Store. You’ll need your actual passport, an email address and a digital way to pay like a credit card, Apple Pay or Google Pay.
ETIAS for European Travel
We first wrote about Americans needing to add a visa-like travel document to U.S. passports for European travel more than a year ago, but the requirement deadline is still fuzzy. According to the Travel Europe website, the European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS) will be operational six months after the automated Exit/Entry System (EES) is up and running.
“We hear that EES and then the subsequent ETIAS travel authorization for non-EU nationals will come into play sometime in 2025, but we haven’t heard a definite date yet,” Reise states.
Reise suggests US travelers check the US Department of State for the latest information and requirements you need to know before international travel.
Motivation Excellence makes sure our clients and their participants are aware of extra hoops to jump through well in advance of our incentive group travel programs, whether domestic or international. We hope this blog will help guide you to a safer and happier travel adventure in 2025!
Why Your Approach to Sales Incentives Matters to the Results
You already know that sales incentives are rewards designed to motivate the sales team to achieve specific goals or objectives. You also know that incentives can be applied individually or team wide. But did you know that your approach to sales incentives matters to the eventual results?
Sales incentives are more than just the incentives themselves. An organization’s motivation is another big part of the equation. What does the company want to achieve? Introducing sales incentives could be about:
- Increasing revenue.
- Spurring new company growth.
- Introducing a new product.
- Encouraging channel partners to choose your product over a competitor.
Being very intentional about your goals is the first step to creating a successful sales incentive rule structure. Making sure your management team is hyped about the program is another step. When you get both aligned your odds of success increase dramatically. Create a simple and achievable set of rules that benefits your bottom line and motivates your participants and you’re on the right track from the start.
Sales Incentives Can Be Personalized
A good way to frame an organization’s approach to sales incentives is to look at the incentives themselves. Of course, there are monetary incentives that organizations have been relying on for decades. These include things like cash bonuses, gift cards, and stock options. But monetary incentives are not the be all and end all. Often an extra check gets spent on groceries or gas and is forgotten at the end of the month.
Incentives can be highly personalized. They can go above and beyond monetary reward. Here are just a few examples:
- Individual travel packages
- Group travel with a significant other and company executives
- Personalized lifestyle upgrade packages
- Award points that can be redeemed for nearly anything
- Tickets to high-value events or once-in-a-lifetime experiences
Sales incentives can even be packaged as professional development opportunities. For instance, we have worked with organizations that rewarded their channel sales teams with customized training programs and career development courses.
Anything You Want It to Be
It’s time for organizations to get beyond static sales incentives that don’t push the boundaries. Your organization’s sales incentives do not have to be the same incentives as your predecessors were using 10-20 years ago. The incentives you choose for 2025 can be anything you want them to be.
So, how do you come up with sales incentives that actually work? You start with establishing your goals. Put yourself in the shoes of the people who mean the most to the success of your business. Think about what motivates them. Think about what you can offer them they can’t get on their own. Are competitors offering a sales incentive or loyalty program to your shared distribution channel? What do you know about it? How can you do something more appealing?
Working with an experienced team like Motivation Excellence makes all of these questions easier to figure out and answer. We’ve got 40 years’ experience creating successful programs for our clients and their target audience.
The ‘Whatever It Takes’ Approach
This all boils down to being willing to do whatever it takes to motivate your sales team. If your approach to sales incentives is to simply do what everyone else did before you have done, plan to achieve the same results. If you want different results, you will have to approach sales incentives differently.
Your approach to sales incentives really does matter. It dictates how your internal and external sales teams will respond. And in the end, their response determines whether sales goals are achieved. It is really no more complicated than that.
Performance by Design; How We Develop the Best Customized Solution for Your Business
Successful business initiatives don’t often happen by accident. Planning an impactful B2B loyalty or incentive program is a very intentional process at Motivation Excellence. For us, it all starts with a consultative approach we call Performance by Design.
“It’s really about being able to create a financially balanced and metrics-driven reward program designed specifically for a client’s data, goals and participants,” says Bob Graham, CEO & President of Motivation Excellence.
When our clients can share pertinent internal data, like sales figures, inventory, distribution models and historical trends, we can offer benefits like:
- Risk reduction
- Meaningful analytics and insights
- Financial models
“The best program results happen when we are able to take that deep dive not only into a client’s history, but also the industry and their competitors. The more a client can share, the better it is for our team to build a rule structure with ROI built in, and determine the best metrics to track toward success,” says Graham.
One of the best results we see repeatedly for clients through this approach is the ability to bring their data to life in a way they haven’t seen before.
“Sometimes, it’s because different departments warehouse their records separately. Our process pulls it all together in one big picture for greater business intelligence. It’s so rewarding to hear that we’ve done something for a client they weren’t able to do internally.”
Starting an incentive or loyalty program is a big undertaking and one that can likely feel overwhelming without an experienced partner by your side. Did you know that a well-designed program can pay for itself through the incremental performance it motivates? That’s one of the biggest benefits of working with our team. After 40 years in the industry, we know how to build programs that match your needs.
While Performance by Design is a great way to begin your partnership with us, it’s not a mandatory part of the journey. If you don’t have access to the elements needed for this type of foundational process, it’s OK. We can still apply our expertise and work with you to build a customized solution to fit your needs.
Our goal is to help our clients Inspire Extraordinary Performance with the people who mean the most to the success of their business. We do this through customized incentive and loyalty programs, global meetings & events, aspirational group travel experiences and personalized rewards. Explore all of our solutions on our website and click on Let’s Connect to get started today!
Get to Know ME with Alyssa Chomiczewski
It’s time to get to know Alyssa Chomiczewski from our Traverse City location. Alyssa started with Motivation Excellence halfway through 2024 and fell in step with the team instantly. She’s kind, open and ready for adventure. Read below, and watch her short video, to learn more about her favorite sports team (despite the family drama) and at least one potential wedding gift idea (she gets married later in 2025). Thanks, Alyssa, for participating in our Get to Know ME segment this month!
What’s your current title and how long have you been in the incentive industry?
I am a Technical Project Manager, and I joined the incentive industry, and Motivation Excellence, about 7 months ago (July 2024).
What do you like about your job?
As a project manager, I enjoy problem-solving and keeping projects on track. Organization has always been a skill I value and rely on in my professional life. The problem-solving aspect keeps the work interesting and is especially rewarding when I overcome a complex challenge or learn something new in the process.
What’s something you want to share about the people you work with at Motivation Excellence?
I feel very fortunate to have joined a team that is not only welcoming (and fun!) but is also filled with smart, genuine people who have become friends with one another. The sense of camaraderie on my team, and with everyone I’ve met at Motivation Excellence so far, was obvious from the start and I feel lucky to get to be a part of it.
What’s a specific moment in your history that always stands out as a defining moment, and why?
The summer after I graduated from college, my car broke down while I was driving back to my internship. It suddenly stopped in the middle of the road, leaving me stranded and broke. At the time, my plan was to stay in Michigan and start interviewing for post-grad jobs in some of the state’s bigger cities. However, my dad was living in the suburbs of Chicago, so I made the decision to forgo buying a new car and move to Chicago instead. That choice led me to a role in Commercial Property Management, and I ended up having the time of my life living in one of the country’s largest cities.
What’s an unknown or odd talent you have?
I got a unicycle for my 12th birthday, and for a time, I was pretty good at riding it. It’s been over 15 years since I last tried, but I’m sure I could pick it up again with some practice.
What motivates you to accomplish things in your life (work or personal)?
I’m always striving to grow and improve, both personally and professionally. Learning or trying new things gives me a genuine sense of accomplishment. Ultimately, my goal is to spend as much meaningful time with my family and friends as I possibly can.
What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
I love anything that gets me outside! Hiking, backpacking, kayaking, snowboarding. If I have free time, you’ll usually find me outside. When I’m indoors, I enjoy reading, puzzling, or building with Legos.
One thing that always makes you laugh is?
My funny friends and family.
What’s a bucket-list item you can’t wait to cross off?
Traveling internationally (besides Canada). Other than a couple parks in Canada, I’ve never left the US.
Do you make New Year’s resolutions? Why or why not and care to share any?
No official resolutions, but I am participating in Dry January and No Frivolous Spending January.
Tips for Making Personalized Travel and Events More Exciting
If you’ve ever attended an event or embarked on a work outing that felt lackluster, where the highlight was watching the clock, you’re not alone. Whether it’s personalized incentive travel or a special event, the experience can feel uninspired when it’s not tailored to the participants. But here’s the good news: personalized travel and events can be thrilling and unforgettable.
At Motivation Excellence, we specialize in creating experiences that wow participants from the moment they arrive until the final farewell. Personalization is the key to transforming any event or journey into a memorable adventure. By focusing on customization and creativity, the possibilities for excitement are endless.
Let’s explore some tips for making personalized travel and events more engaging and memorable:
1. Choose Unique Destinations
The destination sets the tone for any experience. Selecting the same type of venue or location repeatedly can lead to predictability, and fatigue. Instead, explore unique destinations that your participants will be intrigued by. In the case of a channel partner incentive, selecting a location that outshines any competitors’ planned destination is critical.
Whether it’s an off-the-beaten-path retreat, a luxurious resort with a distinctive cultural flair, or a boutique venue with stunning views, a new and unexpected location ignites curiosity and enthusiasm. When attendees anticipate exploring someplace new, the excitement begins even before the journey starts.
Our travel planning team members are experts at finding the right space in the right place for your needs, audience and budget. You’ll be surprised at how many options you’ll have to choose from!
2. Incorporate Immersive Experiences
The best experiences are those that engage participants on multiple levels. Start things off with an engaging activity that immediately draws everyone in. For instance:
- A cultural cooking class at your destination.
- A fun group adventure, like ziplining or paddleboarding.
- A charitable activity that pairs your team with a local group in need.
- A hands-on workshop tailored to your group’s interests.
Interactive experiences create connection and excitement, breaking the ice and setting the stage for a truly memorable time. Your participants will wonder what’s happening next!
3. Add a Dash of Gamification
Gamification isn’t just for meetings—it’s a powerful tool to add fun and engagement to travel and events. By incorporating game-like elements, you’ll keep your group entertained and energized. Here are some ways to gamify your next experience:
- Create scavenger hunts that encourage exploration of the destination.
- Offer opportunities to earn rewards or prizes through group challenges.
- Set up friendly competitions, like trivia or physical challenges, that foster camaraderie.
Gamification not only adds excitement but also keeps participants engaged throughout the entire gathering.
4. Leverage Technology to Elevate the Experience
Technology can enhance travel and events in ways that feel fresh and innovative. Gone are the days of dull itineraries and generic activities. Our proprietary travel technology, Inspire, gives your participants the power of individuality in the palm of their hands.
- Real-time engagement: You can send alerts and updated activities directly to the participants who need to know there’s a change.
- Personalized itineraries: Inspire creates individual itineraries and keeps flight and transportation information in one place.
- Create a Scrapbook of Memories: Our interactive photo gallery allows everyone to share photos from the experience so they can relive the best moments again and again.
By integrating the latest tech, you can transform even the simplest gathering into something extraordinary. We’re up to date on
5. Surprise and Delight
One of the most powerful ways to create lasting memories is by incorporating surprises throughout the experience. Whether it’s a surprise guest, an unexpected gifting event, or a secret experience revealed at the right moment, these touches add a sense of wonder and make your event feel truly special.
We like to offer special activities that participants select ahead of time, to help create that personalized experience within a group travel program. Adding a gift that enhances the activity is a great way to keep the surprises coming.
Final Thoughts
The secret to creating excitement in personalized travel and events is to focus on the participants’ unique preferences and interests while continually introducing new elements to keep them engaged. From unforgettable destinations to interactive activities, gamification, and tech-driven innovations, there’s no limit to what you can do.
At Motivation Excellence, we believe in delivering the wow factor at every step. Whether it’s an incentive travel program for top performers, a team-building retreat, or a celebration to acknowledge a big milestone, we craft events and travel experiences that leave a lasting impact.
Your next adventure doesn’t have to be ordinary—it can be extraordinary.
How to Establish Goals for a Successful Incentive Program
When we design an incentive program, your goals become the heart of the rule structure. Motivation Excellence programs focus on attainable goals for your participants that move the needle for you too. Whether you’re putting together a sales incentive program for your internal team or looking to reward your channel partners, having clear goals and motivational rewards are the pillars to success.
Start With the SMART Concept
A good place to begin when establishing goals is the SMART concept. SMART is an acronym encapsulating the following five components:
- Specific – Specifically define what you want to accomplish and why.
- Measurable – Your chosen goals should be both measurable and trackable.
- Achievable – Set goals that are challenging yet reasonably achieved.
- Results-Driven – Goals should be driven by a desire to produce results.
- Timely – Establishing time sensitive goals creates a sense of urgency.
The SMART concept works extremely well for ensuring goals are intentional rather than random. Intentional goals lay the groundwork for successful incentive programs. If you’re looking for more tips on setting and achieving goals, check out our blog on the topic here. For specifics on how we design successful rule structures visit our website and explore our tab on Performance Management & Tracking.
Consider Existing Business Objectives
Every business entity has a core set of objectives. Well-designed incentive programs look at which objectives, or goals, will make the most difference to your bottom line. Pairing the appropriate goals to the most relevant participant audience is key to building your next incentive program. For instance, if you’re launching a new product in Q2, your incentive program audience might be your internal sales team, with the goal that each team member secures five new locations to distribute your new product. If five new locations is a stretch, but doable with extra effort AND it will create positive ROI for you, then it’s a worthwhile goal to use as the basis of your incentive program.
If something is unattainable for your participants, it kills the incentive process before it gets started. Also, if you’ve selected a goal that doesn’t help your overall business objectives, no one walks away feeling motivated or rewarded in the end, which can lead to poor excitement levels leading into your next incentive scenario.
Get Management Buy-In
In our experience, incentive programs that don’t involve the management team, tend to fizzle rather quickly. If team leaders are fully involved and excited, the enthusiasm spreads to participants. This is the case whether you’re planning an internal incentive or one that involves channel partners. Management needs to believe in the goals and rewards, and even have the ability to earn something if their team succeeds. Incentives that have individual and team goals can really amp up participation. And often, team leaders are the ones who know what the best goals are for their team, as well as the best motivators. Don’t leave them out of the mix!
On the flip side, if management isn’t involved or interested, we see inconsistent success rates. Incentive program motivation definitely comes from reasonable goals paired with aspirational rewards, but without consistent encouragement, individuals can find themselves deflating after the first bump in the road.
Personalize the Reward Experience
As a final springboard to preparing the best incentive outcome for your selected goals, consider making the reward for success something personalized to the receiver. Individual travel options, lifestyle upgrade packages, or reward points that can be used for nearly anything are all staples of our personalized reward choices. When someone is working for an experience or reward that means something extra special for them, the intrinsic motivation value can skyrocket!
Remember, incentive programs are most successful when they are established on clear and attainable goals, paired with aspirational rewards and buoyed by consistent encouragement. Before you launch your next program, consult with us on how best to establish goals and rewards that will help move your business forward in both the long- and short terms. We’re experts in creating winning rule structures that motivate your participants and reward your bottom line.
Channel Partner Engagement: Common Challenges to Overcome
Successful distributor incentive programs understand the importance of channel partner engagement and its relationship to loyalty. The whole point of engagement is to captivate, activate, and motivate partners to choose your product or services over your competitors. Anyone in this sphere of influence knows keenly though that there are challenges when it comes to engaging with B2B partners.
1. Poor Communication
Communication is essential between businesses and their distribution channel. Clear and transparent communication ensures that everyone is on the same page and pursuing the same goals. But the opposite is also true. Poor communication leads to goal misalignment. It leads to misunderstandings, missed opportunities, and conflicts.
How can organizations overcome this challenge? By establishing clear lines of communication in advance. At Motivation Excellence, we suggest reaching out to channel partners involved in an incentive or loyalty program multiple ways. Some people prefer email to text. Others prefer a printed piece over a phone call. Sometimes participants like to be able to tune in on their own time.
We always recommend a variety of engagement channels. A custom program website that can house important program information, training modules and instant performance tracking gauges is great for the “one stop shop” approach. Sending well-timed emails with data analytic options is critical for getting increased open rates. Sending materials to the home can engage the significant other as well as the participant. Texts can be easy ways to keep the program top of mind. We put together a monthly schedule so we aren’t being too intrusive, while also knowing we are being timely and consistent.
2. Competing Interests
Your channel partners are probably not exclusive to you. Most partners work with multiple distributors or manufacturers, increasing the chances of competing interests. Channel partners may prioritize a competitor instead, leaving your business with partners who are not as engaged as they could be.
That’s where loyalty or incentive programs play a critical role. If your business is offering an incentive that ignites excitement, you’ll likely capture attention. At Motivation Excellence we take a deep dive into your industry to find out what competitors might be doing for incentive or loyalty programs. Then we look at what options could bring the focus to your program, and thus, bring you more market share.
Our programs drive incremental growth, but also, stronger relationships which, in the long run, builds loyalty and trust.
3. Business Support and Training
If your business invests in the success of your channel partners, you’ll see a greater ROI in your incentive or loyalty program. One of our clients has seen great success and increased loyalty with their distribution network because they offer supports like networking events, training modules and small business growth seminars in between their yearly customer loyalty travel event. As channel partners’ businesses grew, they tied the success back to our client’s support.
Providing training on the merits of your product or service is another proven way to build trust and loyalty with B2B partners. If you’re reaching out with valuable information on best practices or steps to the sale and your competitors are not, you’ll capture engagement and loyalty going forward.
4. Incentive Misalignment
Rewards and incentives are the seeds of channel partner engagement. However, they may fail to effectively bloom under one of two circumstances: they do not align with partner priorities or partners find the reward structure confusing or unmotivating.
Incentive misalignment is overcome through proper research ahead of time. Creating a clear rule structure with attainable stretch goals and aspirational rewards leads the way to engaging channel partners. By successfully overcoming numbers 1 to 3 above, you’ll naturally find better alignment and success with your next incentive or loyalty program.
One final word about channel partner engagement before we close: it is not a one-time thing. It’s an ongoing effort designed to ensure that channel partners remain on board for the long term. Strong engagement drives sales and brand loyalty. On the other hand, a half-hearted engagement will deliver half-hearted results. Which would you prefer to see from your channel partner program?
Take the guesswork out of your channel partner engagement and have Motivation Excellence manage your next loyalty or incentive program.
