• The fundamental principles of channel partner engagement
• Key engagement factors
• Channel partner engagement best practices
• Step-by-step framework for implementing a channel engagement strategy

For more information and to sign up, go to https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/518831408

• How much of your business comes from the top 1% or 2% of your customers/channel partners?
• Is it possible to identify and track your customers’ or channel partners’ individual purchases even without a loyalty program?
• Do your customers/channel partners have diverse needs and preferences? and
• Are you prepared, organizationally, to treat different them differently?

To learn more about CPG and methods to engage your customers, contact Nick Conyngham at nconyngham@cperformancegroup.com

Read the full article at www.fastcompany.com/1822468/when-loyalty-marketing-programs-are-a-waste-of-money

To learn more about CPG’s methods and strategies to engage your customers, sales channel or employees, contact Nick Conyngham at nconyngham@cperformancegroup.com.

Source: The Temkin Group, www.tempkingroup.com

To learn more about CPG and methods to engage your customers, contact Nick Conyngham at nconyngham@cperformancegroup.com. 

To download a copy of the report, go to www.pwc.com/us/en/increasing-it-effectiveness/publications/curing-customer-churn.jhtml

TOOLS AND TACTICS

In many ways, engagement is like advertising – a multi-faceted strategy comprised of integrated disciplines and tactics designed to induce people to buy or feel good about an organization. In the case of advertising, the tools are assessment/research, messaging, delivery (media selection) and measurement. With the goal of fostering the proactive involvement of customers, channel partners, employees, vendors, and communities, engagement also involves these same tools and tactics.

But this is where the two professions part ways. Advertising is about making promises (many often not true); engagement is about delivering them. Advertising can get away with lying – advertisers do it all the time, everybody knows it and no one bats an eye. Engagement, on the other hand, can’t be faked. Since the very purpose of engagement is to create a win-win relationship with all of the people critical to an organization, any attempt to use engagement as a manipulative tool will backfire.

While engagement shares some commonality in terms of communication tactics, it draws from a very different quiver of approaches than advertising. Engagement requires an understanding of all forms of communication; that is, not just selling, but informing. The traditional approach of marketing is to convince people to do something; engagement focuses on helping people make that decision on their own by providing them useful, high-quality information that demonstrates a willingness to help, not just sell.

Engagement leans heavily on learning, which means providing information that helps consumers be better customers or enabling employees to regularly challenge their product knowledge or other skills that can help the organization. The Vice President or Director of Engagement has to understand the myriad ways learning can be woven into engagement.

Rewards and recognition come heavily into play when used within the context of an overall engagement strategy. Considerable research confirms that, when used as part of an overall engagement strategy, properly selected and presented rewards help foster positive emotions and feelings of support, just as they do for top executives and athletes who most frequently receive them. The person in charge of engagement strategies has to understand the art and science of what builds bonds in ways that can’t be confused with compensating employees or pricing to channel partners and customers.

MYRIAD ISSUES

The sheer complexity of it all explains why engagement has an opportunity to become a critical business profession of its own, with its own management consultants and support companies to assist with the myriad issues involved in the same way an industry of specialists grew up around advertising in the last century. The Marcus Evans conferences related to engagement attract high-level management at major companies specifically focused on engagement; all of them tend to characterize their efforts as “journeys” because they have no hand-holding from traditional survey companies or consultants other than those focused mostly on management training.

I am increasingly approached by people in management seeking to learn how they can advance their careers in engagement. Of course, the place to start is to understand the principles and framework required to help an organization cross the threshold from leadership to engagement. These are principles that can be applied in almost any job in corporate communications, internal branding, recognition, sales and marketing management, etc. The good news is that a search on a career site these days will likely turn up a number of postings for management positions in engagement.

The road that lies ahead is wide open.

Source:  Bruce  Bolger, Publisher, Engagement Strategies Magazine

Like all businesses, the incentive industry has its own unique vocabulary and jargon. The Incentive Marketing Glossary defines dozens of terms … not only those used by incentive professionals but also advertising, marketing and general business terms.

A Description of  Terms used in Incentive Marketing

1. Advertising / Marketing
2. Awards / Rewards
3. Employee Performance / Evaluation
4. General Business Terms
5. Incentive Programs
6. Incentive Program Applications
7. Incentive / Recognition Product And Service Suppliers
8. Motivation Principles And Theories
9. Organization Culture, Business and People Strategy and Tactics
10. Recognition

“Example of an Incentive Program” was developed by the Incentive Marketing Association to provide you a fictitious example of how a program might be operated. But, your goals and challenges aren’t fictitious … they’re real. CPG can provide real programs with real solutions to overcome your real-world challenges.

Download: Example of an Incentive Program

“The Art of Motivation” is an incentive primer developed by the Incentive Marketing Association. It is designed to provide a step-by-step guide into every aspect of motivation program planning from the psychology of motivation through program execution.

1. The Basic Psychology of Motivation
2. How to Motivate
3. The Incentive Program
4. Types of Incentive Awards and Incentive Promotions
5. Choosing the Award
6. Executing the Incentive Program

Download: IMA – Art of Motivation

Incentive programs are a proven tool to motivate participants to improve performance.

“How to Develop an Incentive Program” was prepared by the Incentive Marketing Association to lead you through the steps in program planning and development, starting with establishing objectives through analyzing the success of the program.

There’s no better way to ensure the success of an incentive program than by partnering with professionals. The CPG Team has decades of experience in developing and operating successful programs for a wide range of industries: automotive to healthcare … financial to office products.

Download: How to Develop an Incentive Program