Measuring the success of your incentive or reward program isn’t always easy. That’s why so many companies fail to do so consistently or frequently, if at all. Here are some incentives program ROI measurement strategies we recommend in order to avoid becoming one of those companies.

1. How Do You Measure
Online Rewards Program ROI?

2. Measuring the success of your incentive or reward
program isn’t always easy. That’s why so many
companies fail to do so consistently or frequently,
if at all. Here are some incentives program ROI
measurement strategies we recommend in order
to avoid becoming one of those companies:
60% of those with incentive
programs find it challenging
to measure the program’s
results and achievements.
How you measure matters.

3. Establish clear ownership.
With no one to take clear accountability for the
program, it’s doomed to fail.
Clearly identify a person, team or committee in
charge of overseeing the program, gathering
information and following up with both
leadership and incentive program account
managers on the program’s progress.
Once the program is implemented, the
tendency can be to put it on
‘autopilot.’ This is especially prevalent
when a program is designed by a
team and once it is launched, the
team disperses and no one is assigned
to or accountable for the program’s
operation and ultimate success.—
Rodger Stotz
Chief Research Officer
The Incentive Research Foundation

4. Analyze the pre-incentives situation.
Have an accurate picture of your current situation before you kick off your rewards strategy or incentive
plan. If you’re trying to increase revenue, for example, record what your existing revenue is.
Make sure that, when you analyze incentive program ROI, you compare it to a group or time frame not
impacted by the program. For instance:
Your revenue may be -7% the quarter after you
implement a sales incentive program, making it seem
like the program isn’t working.
But, comparing participating
salespeople’s performance
to non-participants, you see
participants brought in a -2%
average sales revenue and
non-participants averaged -
12%.
That means the sales
incentives still increased
sales revenue by 10%, even if
you didn’t increase sales
overall for the quarter.

5. Set up smart goals.
• Don’t set yourself up for failure with incentive program goals that aren’t
SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, timely). Know from the
start that your goals are and how you can measure them.
• Know when to expect to reach goals. The IRF recommends running the
program for a year or more to reach full impact. So if you’re running monthly
or quarterly promotions or contests, continue implementing those incentives
for at least a year to see the true potential impact.

6. Ask your incentive provider for an
incentive program ROI projection.
The incentive company you work with should be the go-to
source for an ROI calculation. They should be able to:
• tell you how much to invest in incentives
• offer an ROI projection
• provide benchmarks
• cite case studies of companies with similar goals

7. Use incentive
technology that
provides reports,
analytics and tracking.
For a sales or customer loyalty program,
you can use an incentive platform with
documentation uploading capabilities so
sales reps and customers can upload
invoices, receipts and other sales
documents. This makes auditing sales
claims and distributing incentive rewards a
faster and more accurate process.
Activity reports track when and how often
participants are using the program.
Track participants’ engagement in your
program. Send them messages through
multiple communication methods and
analyze the delivery and open rates,
responses, feedback, etc.

8. Conduct regular program reviews with your
incentive company.
The incentive company you work with should be more than a software provider, but a full
incentive, sales and marketing support system. Conduct regular program reviews with
your account managers, who should have the incentive and ROI expertise to help you
locate incentive ROI data you need and interpret it. This will ensure you’re identifying pain
points and growth opportunities early on.

9. Look for signs of incentive program success beyond
just revenue or sales growth.
Look at metrics besides just revenue growth or performance. A few examples:
• Sentiment toward your brand is improving, such as growth in
positive online reviews or social media interactions
• Work environment has improved, with fewer conflicts, complaints
or absences
• Better customer satisfaction ratings
• More engaged salespeople and customers, who express more
interest in new products and promotions
• More referrals
You could uncover some unanticipated benefits to the program and
expand on them in future incentive marketing endeavors.

10. When you prove your incentive program is doing its job, you’ll be at the
top of your game because you’ll better understand your marketing
endeavors and develop new ways to improve them.
Incentive Solutions
770.457.4597
http://incentivesolutions.com
http://www.incentivesolutions.com/contact/