How can a channel incentive program keep generating revenue during a crisis?

COVID-19 has changed life as we know it. So many of us are grappling with a remote working situation for the first time ever. As the work-life balance gets more blurred by the day, we find we have less control over our surroundings.

These unprecedented times are especially challenging for companies trying to keep their channel partners’ engines running and productive. How can they ensure that their channel partners keep generating revenue while working from home?

This blog will walk you through some tips and techniques that can help you leverage your incentive programs to that end. We believe in the Empathy, Engagement, and Innovation philosophy so that you can keep your channel partners anchored not only during the crisis but after, too.

Ensure the health and safety of your channel partners by directing partner-customer engagement online. Emphasize staying home and working from home so that everyone stays safe. We know this is obvious. But to deepen this ask from them, incentivize online events and interactions between partners and customers. Empathy is key here. Encourage social distancing and incentivize behaviors that keep everybody safe.
Engage partners and prospects through new-age tools and techniques. Look into unique engagement tools such as Prezi, virtual whiteboards, online chat options that support polls and gamified content, and such to engage with prospects apart from the audio call medium. You can also provide super incentives for utilizing hologram and virtual reality technology (listen to our recorded webinar for more information on these tools).
Innovation means using what’s right in front of you in new ways. The sale is the final outcome in the channel partner ecosystem. But there are a host of activities that precede the sale. Move away from the revenue incentivization philosophy and figure out what other behaviors you can drive with your channel incentive program. For example – you can incentivize channel partners who are eager to contribute to your ecosystem. Reward extra points to channel partners who offer suggestions on improving the ecosystem. They can use Chatter communities to share ideas about how best to deal with the current crisis or how to aid relief efforts.

Such kind of communication, that strengthens the ecosystem, brings about a marked change in the engagement of channel partners.