Incentive Publications PM40801507 User Manual
Page 15
CANADIAN
IN
CENT
IVE
MAGAZINE
BUYERS’
GUIDE
W W W
.
I M A C A N A D A
.
C A
2007
15
By Judy Owen
with a one-year term and 1,000
points for the Level 2 unit with a five-
year term.
It was also important not to over-
sell the luxury unit at the expense of
the Level 1 unit, so the points were
calibrated between the two products
and raised to 400 to 1,200 points,
respectively.
The next step was choosing the
type of reward a dealer could get –
cash, gift certificates or something
from a points catalogue system.
“We evaluated it based on the per-
ceived value of the reward, the choice
participants have in redeeming them
as well as the brand touch points that
we’re
able
to
attach
to
those
rewards,” Roth says.
“What we found is that with a
points catalogue they have to go
online, register and claim online. Then
when they get material, it’s all brand-
ed with the program, so we found the
maximum number of brand touch
points, as well as the perceived value
and choice, was best having an online
points catalogue system versus gift
certificates or cash.”
A catalogue also seemed better suit-
ed to the wide-ranging pool of dealers,
which included young adults, single
mothers and people in their 60s.
“Choice was a big thing,” Roth says,
adding items range from a Cineplex
movie package for two (412 points) to
a mini Cooper car (330,000 points).
PUTTING IT IN “GEAR”
Boomerang rolled out its incentive pro-
gram in three phases. First it was done
by paper – mostly by fax – to get the
program up and running. Next, the pro-
gram went online. The third phase
addressed the age-old battle of cash
versus points.
Boomerang decided to also offer
participants a cash card, which was an
American Express card branded with
Boomerang that could be loaded with
an amount based on the number of
points a person had in their account.
“That would allow us to have the
benefit of the wallet collateral – so
every time they opened their wallet
they’d see our brand – and the ability of
some users who wanted it to just go out
and pay for dinner or pay for gas or pay
for something on the fly,” Roth says.
This spring, Boomerang did another
survey with members of its incentive
program that focused on four major
facets.
Their
motivation
to
sell
the
Boomerang product because of the
incentive program: Ninety-one per cent
said they were more motivated to sell
it since the program began.
Up-selling: Seventy-eight per cent
said they were motivated to up-sell
the unit or the service, and 45 per
cent of that 78 per cent said they’re
likely to up-sell both.
Claim time: Ninety-two per cent said
they were satisfied, and 54 per cent
said it was fast or very fast. (When the
program was paper-based, it took 7.4
business days from the time a unit was
sold until points were in an account.
When the program went online, the
claim time dropped to 4.8 days, just
under the company’s five-day goal.)
How the Boomerang program com-
pared to other programs in basket:
Thirty per cent of dealers said it was
more motivating than any other pro-
gram while 60 per cent said it was at
least as motivating.
In the end, the incentive program
produced
two
major
bottom-line
impacts, Roth says. One was as a
habit changer for salespeople, the
other as a sales driver.
Twenty-five per cent of dealers shift-
ed their sales behaviour, he notes.
And when he looked at the average
unit sales per salesperson per month,
the salespeople in the Boomerang pro-
gram sold an average of 12.3 units per
month compared to 4.7 units per
month for dealers who opted not to be
part of the program.
“It gives me a good indication that
we’re certainly on the right track as
far as having understood who we’re
selling to, understanding how they
sell and then fitting in an incentive
program that really matches those
two things,” Roth says.
CIM
Judy Owen is a freelance writer living in
Winnipeg.
➤
RESEARCH PUTS BOOMERANG TRACKING
IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT