Easy Does It!
Has
this ever happened to you? I received my car registration
renewal in the mail this week and, as advised, went to the website
to complete the requisite information and pay the fee. It was
a ten-minute process and I dutifully checked the box on my "to
do" list with satisfaction. It was all so simple that
I wanted to hit the Easy Button™.
Not
so fast! Ten minutes later, I received an email from the
Registry informing me that, in fact, my online registration
was invalid. The email advised me to call an 800 number for
next steps. After calling the number, I sat "on hold"
while the interminable recorded message told me how important
my call was, but due to heavy call volume, I would need to wait
my turn. When the harried representative finally answered the
phone, I learned that my renewal required a physical "insurance
stamp," as well as a Power of Attorney from my leasing
company. I dutifully called the leasing company, who agreed
to overnight the appropriate forms. I then called my insurance
agent who told me to send everything to her; she would stamp
the form and send it all to the Registry. The coup the grace
was her advice that I do so quickly, as time was running out.
That was NOT easy!
You
know where this is going, of course, so I should probably cut
to the chase now in the interest of simplicity. When was
the last time you tested your partner programs for ease of use?
Instead of piling on additional benefits (and commensurate requirements),
it may be time to reconsider how effective those benefits are
in engaging and motivating your partners.
As
a starting point, you may want to review the top three most
commonly over-engineered partner program offerings:
1)
Rebate Programs - Notoriously complex and challenging to track.
Ask yourself:
If the shoe was on the other foot, do the additional dollars
compensate
for the hoops the partner (and your reps) must jump
through
to get the rebate? Would your partners benefit more from end
user
demand generation programs instead? If your partners are spending
more
time complaining about the rebate program than they are selling,
the program
is likely too complex.
A
well-architected rebate program is clear in its objectives,
automated
for simplicity
in execution for both the partner and vendor, and rebates
are paid
on time, as committed.
2)
Deal Registration Programs - Paranoia at its worst. Deal
registration
as
a best practice has come a long way, but if your process requires
significant
time investment from the partner to register the opportunity
without
an effective way to track and support the sale, then your deal
registration
program isn't working hard enough for you.
The
most motivating deal registration programs align vendor sales
resources
to the deal in order to support the partner, as well as tie
to rebate
and
other incentive programs.
3)
Marketing Development Funds (MDF) - So much money, so little
time.
There's a reason why millions of MDF dollars remain unspent
each
year. First, does your program provide enough funds to enable
the average
partner
to execute a worthwhile marketing program? Then, how much effort
(time, resources, approvals) must the partner expend to actually
get the dollars?
The
best designed MDF programs concentrate funds on partners that
have
marketing capacity and expertise, allow partners to readily
assess
how much
money they have to spend, and offer rapid approval and
reimbursement
processes.
As
stated aptly by Albert Einstein, "Everything should
be made as simple as possible, but not simpler." And,
at the risk of over-simplifying, therein lies the art of staying
easily ahead of the curve.
email:
jwilkinson@thoughtwav.com