Learn how to get the best return on your investment in the design, execution and management of your programmes, promotions and incentives.
	Channel Development     Outbound provides channel development services to world-leading IT companies: Channel Development Creative Services Outsourced Sales Programs & Incentives     Contact us today and see...     ...how we can help you with your requirements on 0845 634 4070 or email info@out-bound.co.uk     Campaign Profiles     Every client’s needs are different. Here are details of some recent Outbound projects: £500,000 channel incentive programme with partner targets and sales incentives including a sports car End-user cash rebate promotion managing thousands of claims each month Long-term pricing support programme, to provide approval of payment discounts on competitive deals. Helping to close nearly £20m of business over a four year period Sourcing 12 bottles of fine wine in branded cases and shipped to our client’s customer’s Directors     Welcome to the first edition of Channel Insider. Outbound provides a wide range of channel sales and marketing solutions to some of the world’s leading technology companies, and every other month we’re giving you an insight into how you can make your channel marketing work harder for you. Each e-zine profiles an area of channel development, equipping you with useful information and advice for getting the most out of your channel sales and marketing activity. Incentive Programmes A Five Point Plan In this issue, Outbound’s European Programme Manager, Claire Steele, gives advice on the five key points to consider when creating a programme. “All programmes are designed to affect change in behaviour, for instance, a loyalty programme is about getting customers or partners to choose your company again and again. Reward programmes use an incentive to entice potential customers to do business with you.” “In the past two years the channel has moved through a period of consolidation and there has been a slow but meaningful shift from vendors offering soft dollars to their channel partners, to a move to target-based programmes at company level, as well as tactical initiatives to stimulate sales at the individual level.” So what should I be thinking about when developing a programme? The following five principles are critical in the development of any programme: 1. Keep it simple   Try to use a straightforward format, e.g. sell ‘x’ and receive ‘y’   The registrations and claims process should not be complicated   Make rewards interesting but easy to receive 2. Make it strategic   Make the programme part of your channel strategy, not just a tactical implementation   Provide an umbrella framework through which multiple tactical initiatives can be driven   Deliver programmes over the long-term to build loyalty and understanding   Deliver sales and marketing tools to support the promotion 3. Provide predictability   Limit exposure/insure against exposure   Deliver programmes specific to audience and/or budget   Decide how unclaimed funds are managed 4. Demand flexibility   Build the programme around modular components   Target sales, e.g. by product, country, and/or partner type 5. Deliver a return   Decide how you will track return on investment   Structure the programme to be optimised for rewarding incremental sales   Get buy-in from as many resellers as you can - this will increase sales, and give you greater predictability and better budgeting Claire concludes: “Every client's requirements are different, and there are the wide-ranging variants of demographics, timescales, and of course budget. “The five key points for developing a programme are a helpful guide, but equally important to us at Outbound is to make sure we have a full understanding of our clients’ requirements and deliver creative, original solutions. It’s these ingredients which guarantee the best possible return on investment.”           To find out more about how Outbound can help you get the most from your loyalty programmes and incentives, call us on 0845 634 4070       © Outbound 2006   Unsubscribe