It’s true! Every department in your organization can benefit from corporate reward programs.
Thanks to their fantastic ROI, corporate reward programs do so much more for you than a typical budget line item. That’s because well-thought-out rewards and incentives can help increase revenue while making your employees more productive. Over time, it’s an investment that ends up paying for itself.
Here are all the ways your company can use corporate reward programs to boost your bottom line.
READ MORE: Why a Gift Card Platform Belongs in Every Team’s Tech Stack
Having the ability to offer prospects a gift card or prepaid card to attend a sales demos or pitch meeting is a must-have tool for your reps. It gives sales teams more opportunities to get in front of prospects and wastes less time on no-shows in the process.
Incentivizing attendance is well worth it when you consider that less than a quarter (23.9%) of sales emails are opened by recipients, and it takes 18 calls to connect with a buyer on the phone, according to Gartner.
Offering rebates or a compelling reward with purchase can help speed up the sales cycle, pushing those on the fence to close the deal. In fact, our research with Aberdeen Group shows that 73% of consumers believe rewards provide larger savings than other promotions. It can also create more loyal customers who come back and spend more.
The advantages are clear for sales and marketing teams that use corporate rewards programs to maximize their promotions budget. Our research shows that companies using rewards see:
Rewards are also increasingly being used to help fill the sales pipeline with more leads. Adding budget-friendly digital rewards to your existing marketing campaigns is often more effective than offering traditional branded merchandise as an incentive.
Here are some smart ways to use rewards to get more leads:
Corporate reward programs aren’t just for engaging new customers. Every business knows that it takes more money, effort, and time to attract new customers than to retain current ones. Empowering your service reps to give gift cards and prepaid cards to those who have had bad experiences is far less expensive than losing business.
Data backs this up, with our Aberdeen research also reporting a +99% year-over-year improvement in customer lifetime value and a +174% year-over-year increase in cross-sell and upsell revenue.
Rewarding your customers who refer leads, recommend your products or services to their colleagues, or post online reviews are a valuable resource for increasing your brand awareness in the market. Because it’s organic, brand advocacy is a low-investment, high-return marketing effort.
When you offer your brand advocates a gift card or prepaid card, you’re also letting them know you appreciate their help in growing your business, which can support your customer retention efforts as well.
By now, it’s no secret that engaged employees who are properly rewarded and recognized are more likely to be loyal to their employer. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) reports that the average cost per new hire is nearly $4,700. Contrast that with what your corporate reward programs cost per employee, and you have all the proof you need.
Finally, in addition to supporting retention, rewarding employees who act as company advocates — posting about your company on LinkedIn, for example — can boost your brand for recruitment of new hires.
Using a single rewards platform for multiple corporate reward programs saves time and maximizes your investment. Learn more here.
BHN Rewards puts the power of digital rewards to work for marketers, researchers, and HR managers. Don't forget to check out all the great content in our Resources section!
BHN Rewards puts the power of digital rewards to work for marketers, researchers, and HR managers. Don't forget to check out all the great content in our Resources section!
