Distributors can Earn Fat Bonus and Incentives

Dealer incentive programs differ from other types of incentive programs in one important respect: The recipients are not employed by your company. They either own their own businesses or work for dealers or distributors that resell your products or services. Naturally, this can complicate the effectiveness of any incentive program. Most companies sell through some form of a middleman. Distributors generally take the billing for the products or services they sell to other companies. Dealers, which often buy from distributors or directly from manufacturers, sell products or services directly to consumers or businesses. Agents and independent representatives usually sell to distributors, dealers, or end users and receive a commission from the companies they represent. How your incentive program is structured should reflect the type of middleman you want to motivate and your relationship to the companies involved.

The great advantage of incentive programs versus other types of marketing efforts is the ability to track results precisely. All of the structures outlined in Step 4 can be measured clearly if you track basic sales data. Full-service incentive companies offer tracking programs that not only follow sales activity by dealer or salesperson, but also provide regular updates to the target audience (as well as monthly reports to you). Small companies can track a program with a simple spreadsheet into which is entered each salesperson’s invoices or reports.