Inventive Types
The 12 Types of Incentive Programs and How They Work
The 12 Types of Incentive Programs and How They Work Back in 2005, economist Steven D. Levitt and journalist Stephen J. Dubner wrote a New York Times best-seller called Freakonomics which "changed the way we see the world." Before your eyes roll back in your head at the thought of reading a book about economics, let us whet your appetite. Levitt isn't your typical [...]
Salesperson Incentives and Rewards Programs
Have you ever worked in sales? Perhaps your organization employs a sizeable sales force, and you’re interacting with your salespeople on a regular basis. Whether you’ve had firsthand experience working in sales or not, all it takes is a few minutes spent with a dedicated salesperson to realize that there’s something unique about them. People work different jobs for a whole host of reasons. [...]
Merchandise and Travel Rewards
There’s no reason to simply limit your reward options to cash, though. In fact, we would argue that only offering cash incentives to your employees is a major mistake. While you might think that cash rewards would be the most desirable for recipients, the data actually shows that merchandise and travel rewards provide greater employee satisfaction and lead to higher ROI. We’ll take a [...]
Incentives for Customers: Rebate Programs
Customer Rebates as Incentives Customer rebate programs are without a doubt one of the oldest forms of incentive marketing. They’ve been around forever, and it’s easy to overlook them as a viable option. They aren’t quite as hyped as some newer approaches to marketing and customer retention, and the word “rebate” isn’t exactly a sexy marketing term. They also may not seem like an [...]
Employee Behavior: Incentives Within Your Own Organization
When it comes to increasing revenue with third-party salesperson incentives, the scope of what you’re trying to do is fairly narrow. In other words, your end goal is singular and straightforward: You want to increase sales of a particular product or range of products, and you need to incentivize a very specific type of personality (a salesperson) to make that happen. This means that [...]
Does the IRS Tax Customer Rebates, Points, and Rewards?
Does the IRS Tax Customer Rebates, Points, and Rewards? Mention the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and it's not surprising that you get reactions that range from terror to fear and confusion. To say that the U.S. tax code is convoluted is putting it mildly. Even economists and tax experts agree that "The American tax code is a mess." Is it really necessary for our [...]
Customer Loyalty Programs
Competition is everywhere and it doesn’t matter what industry you’re in either. No matter how niche you think your business might be, any profitable niche will eventually attract competitors. Particularly in the era of the startup, no company is invincible when it comes to potential competitors. Once you lose sight of this reality, you run the risk of being left behind. Regardless of what industry [...]
Branded Reloadable, Prepaid and Virtual Debit Cards
There are multiple options available to you when it comes to implementing an incentive program. In terms of how rewards are actually delivered, you have lots of options, too. You might choose to simply reward a participant with a check, or by transferring funds into their account via ACH/direct deposit. But as we’ve seen, these methods of reward delivery are less than ideal. Debit [...]