Cash Motivates – But Keep the Choices Simple

Motivating customers to buy and sales team members to sell can be made so much easier with the proper incentives.

What we have found over the years is that prepaid incentive cards work best at all levels. But which cards?

Basically, there are two types of prepaid cards, “open cards” and “closed cards.”

An open card, such as a VISA, Discover, or American Express prepaid card can basically be used to make any type of purchase, although there may be some limitations, such as use at gas pumps.

“Closed cards,” however, can only be used with specific retailers. Good examples of “closed cards” are Amazon, Target, and Wal-Mart.

We have used VISA, Amazon and Target very successfully and sales team members and customers preferred these three brands because of the flexibility they offered. Amazon especially has wide appeal because of its ease of use and virtually unlimited product availability through their third party supplier network.

Fees and Fulfillment

When constructing your gift card program, carefully analyze the costs. There may be fees associated with prepaid cards such as VISA. If you are doing self-fulfillment, you may have inbound shipping costs, administrative costs, and outbound shipping costs, particularly if you want tracking services. Another area to consider is 1099 tax forms. Generally, anyone receiving over $600 in non-employee income must be issued a 1099. Consult with your CPA for details and clarification.

E-cards can eliminate a lot of the fulfillment costs. However, many prefer “plastic” because it can be co-branded with your logo and has high visibility.

When selecting gift cards for sales incentives, consider surveying your sales team to gauge their preferences. Remember that the appeal of a gift card lies in its flexibility, so aim to offer a variety of options to cater to different tastes and needs.

Gift Cards are Ideal BtoB Incentives

In the business to business environment, gift cards can be used as strong incentives to promote specific products or total purchases over a period of time. Unlike consumer gift cards, BtoB gift card incentives can amount to substantial rewards for the receiving business. They can also be used to incentivize dealer or distributor sales teams to promote and sell your products over competing product lines.

Checks are Not Dead

Receiving a check in the mail is a powerful incentive because checks are the same as cash and easily negotiable. They can be written to a specific individual, so there is less chance of misuse. Plus, they can be personalized with your logo and easily fulfilled.

Don’t Forget the Spouse

We have found that sending prepaid cards and check incentives to the individual's home can have an additional benefit. The spouse may open the mail or observe it and therefore he or she becomes another interested party in the incentive process and helps motivate participation.

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