Incentive Program Study and Benchmarks

At the end of 2006, Loyaltyworks surveyed 434 senior sales and marketing executives at Fortune 1,000 companies about their channel distribution incentive programs. Almost 70% of programs were aimed at channel partners (such as wholesale distributors and resellers) and in-house salespeople. Fifty-six percent had 100 or fewer participants and 44% had more than 100 participants - up to several thousand participants.

Most were directed or administered by C level or senior sales executives and 40 percent changed or adjusted the targets or program rules for participants to better align with business objectives annually. 42% of those beginning a new incentive program intended to use points to create a branded currency for maximum motivation.

8 out of 10 expect to see results after 12 months of operation. The biggest challenge was measuring the business impact and assessing the ROI of these incentive programs. 20% reported they have no formal way to measure the value of investments in incentive programs, which compares favorably with 37% who reported the same frustration to the Institute of Corporate Productivity.

Annual Spending Levels Per Participant

A majority of successful firms spend $500 or more per person annually on their channel incentive programs.