Maintained Customer Purchase Growth for More Than 20 Years
At a Glance:
- Over 100,000 customers segmented and engaged
- Two decades of incremental sales growth within the program
- Participants outperformed industry benchmarks in up, flat, and down markets
Business Issue
A nationally ranked electrical distributor wanted significant growth and brand recognition within the industry, regardless of how the economy was performing.
The objective was to create an evergreen incentive strategy capable of delivering incremental growth across economic cycles, while engaging a massive and diverse customer base over the long term.
Key challenges included:
- Motivating consistent performance across multiple locations and roles
- Rewarding top performers without disengaging the broader channel
- Creating a program structure that supported both peak performance and engagement
Our Solution
Motivation Excellence analyzed historical sales performance, industry benchmarks, and purchasing behavior to design a long-term incentive structure focused on incremental growth rather than one-time spikes.
The solution was a tiered reward points program with aspirational group travel incentives, built to scale and evolve. Our program held strong for more than 20 years. Below is a breakdown of what we did.
Step 1 | Segment and set meaningful goals:
- We segmented a 100,000-customer audience into three distinct groups based on purchasing behavior and potential
- Within each group, the top 20% of customers received individualized growth goals based on past performance
Step 2 | Fund growth through partnership:
- Using projected sales growth, the distributor secured vendor funding to support the program
- This approach reduced internal costs while strengthening supplier relationships
Step 3 | Maintain visibility and motivation of the program:
- Participants received regular communications and performance reporting at the branch and individual levels
- Customers purchasing over goal unlocked accelerated reward opportunities, reinforcing consistent, repeat behavior
The Results
The program delivered exceptional long-term impact:
- Sustained incremental sales growth for more than two decades
- High engagement and qualification rates for the group travel incentive
- Continued participation from non-travel qualifiers through reward points earning and redemption
Additional Impact:
Regular touchpoint elements and meaningful reward options kept participants engaged, year after year, despite the economy. In fact, enrolled participants outperformed the industry in up, flat, and down markets.
The evergreen program structure fostered long-term incremental sales growth for participating customers. Vendor involvement created long-lasting and beneficial relationships for all involved.
