Driving customer references and employee engagement are both large endeavors — and boosting these programs with rewards shouldn’t make them harder.
Bitfocus, a leading Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) software and consulting services provider, helps communities coordinate housing and care while providing actionable data to support informed decision-making. With the important mission of helping end homelessness, the Bitfocus team needs to spend their time where it makes the biggest impact.
“We were running our employee and customer rewards programs manually before BHN Rewards and struggling with all of the challenges that come with that: a labor-intensive process with poor tracking and analytics,” says Jeff Ugai, Chief Operating Officer at Bitfocus. The team was wasting hours “compiling distribution lists manually or purchasing rewards one by one, with little understanding of impact or return on investment.”
When your employees are working to make life-changing social services possible, it’s key to keep their morale high. Bitfocus accomplishes this through incentives for recognition and spot rewards. The employee programs that Bitfocus runs include a “dinner on us” campaign, which is used to recognize those who go above and beyond and distribute annual holiday gifts for the team.
“Some departments also use BHN Rewards to facilitate quarterly team lunches,” says Ugai. “We’re entirely remote, so everyone can order their favorite delivery and get together at the ‘Zoom table.’”
On the customer side, Bitfocus already had HubSpot for their Customer Reference Program. But “the integration between BHN Rewards and HubSpot made all the difference,” Ugai says. “We send rewards automatically using HubSpot workflows, and BHN Rewards seamlessly links rewards with customer data for reporting and analytics.” Thanks to this integration, the Bitfocus team has a comprehensive timeline of their relationship with their customers. “It’s helped us better understand our engagement with each customer over time,” Ugai adds.
All told, Bitfocus spends, on average, about $15,000 per year on customer and employee rewards combined. Since using the BHN Rewards platform, the team has sent out $50,000 in rewards and — even more importantly — has “been able to demonstrate that reward recipients are more engaged.”
In addition to seeing benefits for the business, Ugai has heard great things from customers and employees alike. “We receive great feedback about the selection of rewards, recipient experience, and ability to deliver meaningful recognition quickly,” he says.
And it’s not just a delightful experience for the recipients — managers and team members who work directly with customers are now empowered to send rewards directly. “This allows us to strike while the iron’s hot and quickly recognize customers and team members.”
The Bitfocus team spent several hours on each rewards campaign before BHN Rewards. “We were manually compiling lists, tracking (as best we could) who claimed what, and aggregating all of that in Microsoft Excel spreadsheets,” says Ugai. “Beyond being a time suck, it was repetitive and unstandardized, which felt like reinventing the wheel each campaign.”
BHN Rewards removes these manual processes while improving the team’s ability to report on the impact of their campaigns. Plus, they can track redemptions and receive 100% refunds on any unclaimed rewards. To date, they’ve recouped over $1,000 in expired reward funds.
“In the rare event rewards go unclaimed, redirecting those funds offers significant savings and the confidence to try something new,” Ugai says. His team reinvests the refunded money to expand their recipient list or offer higher reward values for certain programs. And if those new initiatives don’t pan out, Ugai is confident knowing any unused rewards in their campaigns will be returned to their account.
Among all the great features that BHN Rewards offers Bitfocus, “the HubSpot integration, selection of rewards, and return of unclaimed rewards are at the top of my list,” Ugai says.
By automating rewards with integrations, saving time on rewards administration, and getting refunds added directly back to their account, the Bitfocus team can concentrate on what is most important — working to end homelessness in the communities they serve.
Want to see how BHN Rewards can help YOUR team save time and money? Request a demo today!
Chelsea is a multifaceted marketer with nearly 10 years of experience spanning strategy development, product marketing, and content. She now focuses on customer engagement and success.
Chelsea is a multifaceted marketer with nearly 10 years of experience spanning strategy development, product marketing, and content. She now focuses on customer engagement and success.
