COVID-19 has cancelled your annual dealer trip

So, what to do? Customer retention is still enormously important, so why not use this opportunity to introduce an even more powerful and effective customer retention tool? A data-driven B2B customer reward program will boost retention and grow sales - and you can do it all from your home office.

No one will dispute that it's a good idea to spend time with important customers and build relationships while relaxing in the sun or playing some golf, but the reality is these sorts of trips have some serious limitations compared to a well-structured, best-in-class customer reward program.

Consider these top 6 scenarios that build the case for introducing a B2B reward program:

1. Few new relationships. The trips tend to be populated by the same customers every year, so your opportunity to expand your customer relationship universe using this tactic is often highly limited. 
2. No Shows. Some customers dislike these sorts of trips, or they can't attend because they have a conflict, or they don't want to be away from their business for very long, or they don't like the destination, so the trip has low appeal for these customers despite how important they may be to your business.
3. Do Not Disturb. Some customers who attend enjoy the opportunity to talk with vendors or with other customers about their business. But others don't want to talk shop or sit through a workshop at a resort in a tropical climate; they want to relax with their significant other. It's a "vacation" after all, so how much quality face time are you really getting with them on the trip?
4. Limited Sales Impact. The criteria to attend the trip is typically based on some accumulated year-end sales metric, so your ability to use the trip as an incentive throughout the full year is limited. Many trips tend to become top-of-mind with customers and your sales team only in the last couple of months before the reservation deadline. Many companies struggle to do a consistent job of leveraging the trip to drive incremental sales or strategic sales goals the other 9-10 months of the year.
5. Vendor Funding Cuts. Typically vendors have been heavily relied upon to fund or off-set the costs associated with customer trips, but with every dollar being scrutinized for optimal ROI these days, vendors are cutting back on these sorts of expenditures and turning towards data-driven, performance-based tactics that guarantee a better boost to their sales.
6. What about Me? Most trips involve less than 100-200 customers. What about all your other customers – the 95% who don't qualify or don't want to attend? Their business is important too – and a best-in-class customer retention structure needs to include as many customers as possible, not just the same 5% who attend each year.

A far more inclusive and effective way to grow sales is to introduce a data-driven, performance-based reward program that all customers and vendors can participate in, no matter how big they are. Your small to medium-sized customers represent an incredible growth opportunity. Your bigger customers will appreciate being rewarded all year long (not just at the end of it), and your vendor community will love being able to gain added visibility and sales with downstream customers by funding reward offers that are 100% tied to sales of their products – the ultimate measurable ROI opportunity.

Lift & Shift offers a powerful B2B reward platform that can help your company leverage its sales data to drive incremental purchases with customers and channel partners or motivate sales staff. We work with manufacturers, distributors and service providers to analyze sales data, identifying purchasing gaps and other valuable targeting opportunities. 

We create and deliver highly relevant offers to customers, in-house sales staff or sales associates, motivating your target audience to respond, using a wide array of appealing reward options as influencers. Our performance-based reward structures deliver an unparalleled return on investment, with absolutely no wasted budget. 

Our customizable reward platform enables clients to easily benefit from a robust loyalty reward program. It's affordable and includes Lift & Shift’s turnkey professional program administration. We take care of everything so you can focus on your key initiatives.