The 4 Reasons Why Channel Partner Loyalty Programs Fail -
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Channel partner loyalty programs play a vital role in channel partner engagement. Securing loyalty can foster longer relationships which can only be achieved with the help of a loyalty program. But for a loyalty program to be effective, it must be well-planned and properly promoted in a way to maximize opportunities to engage more deeply with partners.

But why do channel loyalty programs tend to fail? There are various reasons for this, from poorly designed loyalty programs to lack of long-term commitments offered by organizations. But, here we are going to list down some of the major downfalls that can be avoided when planning a channel loyalty program for your loyal partners.

1) Poor Loyalty Program Design

This is one of the most important factors to be kept in mind while designing a channel partner loyalty program. There are many reasons because of which this can go wrong.

  • Overly complicated registration process
  • Complex program rules
  • Low % of reward incentives
  • Unattainable targets and deadlines
  • No differentiation between different partner types
  • Lack of personalization
  • Unable to understand customer interactions across all touch points.

A good channel partner loyalty program should address all the above points precisely to ensure that the channel partners are comfortable in participating in your program.  Failing to grab your channel partner’s attention here would ultimately lead to an uneventful demise of the program.

2) Lack of Channel Partner’s Perspective

Channel partner loyalty programs usually tend to fail when the partner’s perspective is missing. The majority of loyalty programs does not segregate and differentiate between the various partner types and they tend to target every partner type equally without knowing their needs and motivations.

When planning a channel partner loyalty program, make sure you take overall partner’s perspective into consideration according to the partner types. The perspective of the high performing channel partners has been developed over a long period of time working with your brand and their needs might vary differently from other partners. Similarly, the needs and motivations of the mid-tiered and emerging channel partners will vary based on the period of time they’ve been associated with your brand.

3) Inconsistent Communication

Communication is the key to keeping any relationship consistent and strong. In a similar way, for any partner loyalty program to be approached as a long-lasting commitment requires regular communication as per partner’s preferences and behavior. Excessive spamming of irrelevant content on uncommon platforms may lead partner’s diminished interest and ultimately death of your program.

Channel partners should be kept updated on every current and upcoming product releases regularly to ensure that you are engaged with them at all levels. In this way, partners will be encouraged to stay current, adopt new technology and be supported to keep up with their position as trusted and loyal channel partners.

4) Lack of Clear and Significant Goals, Objectives

Loyalty programs that lack clear goals and objectives for the channel partners tend to fail easily. Therefore, it is important to set significant aims and objectives to create a collaborative environment for your channel partners.

To create a well-established channel partner loyalty program, you must focus mainly on keeping channel partners committed to the program for a long-term. This can be done by encouraging the emerging partners to become the top-tier partners and by building stronger and deeper connections with the existing top-tier partners. Once your goals are set, you must make sure that each goal has a successive plan that reflects the progress towards the goal.

If you are thinking of boosting your sales through a channel loyalty program and want to avoid the above pitfalls, please get in touch with us at talktous@loylt.works for a demo.

Author: Prashanth Maxim.

Title: CEO & Founder Director of Loyltwo3ks Pvt Limited.

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/prashanthmaximm/.

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