Siemens’ tagline is “ingenuity for life.” Repeated incentive innovations powered the Siemens Industry Software Partner Rewards Program to be named a Motivation Masters Award Finalist by Incentive Magazine.
Challenge
A long-time client, Siemens, sought to increase channel sales with a new rewards program. With major territories in EMEA and Asia Pacific and their headquarters in Germany, global reward options suited to each local culture was a must.
Additionally, Siemens asked Brightspot to develop robust, direct, 1-to-1 communications with channel reps using the rewards platform. In subsequent years, Siemens set goals to increase loyalty and enhance sales enablement. Every time Siemens set a new goal, Brightspot innovated improvements, and success metrics rose year-over-year.
Project
Channel Partner
Incentive Program
Client
Siemens
Goals
Boost Channel Sales
Increase Partner Loyalty
Enhance Sales Enablement
Solution
Needing international flexibility and strong internal controls, a points-based merchandise reward program was launched with in-country award fulfillment around the globe. Elite status tiers, similar to frequent flyer programs, have been added to offer increasing benefits for on-going participant loyalty and point-multipliers for higher revenue deals.
Automated API data interfaces, with Salesforce and the Siemens online order system, send over weekly transactions to Brightspot’s Ignite incentive platform which validates eligible transactions and calculates points.
To keep the program fresh and create a buzz with participants, Siemens added overlay contests. Trip-of-a-Lifetime grand prizes have been awarded to lavish getaways such as Monte Carlo, Switzerland, New Zealand, and London – with leaderboards playing up the competitive aspect.
To improve channel partner enablement, training and certifications now earn points too. In 2017, a new push for certifications triggered a customized direct mail highlighting an updated certification program and thus resulted in 300 new certifications.
Personal success stories have been chosen and featured on a “shout-out” web page extra recognition and personal endorsements.
The Brightspot incentive support team makes sure each partner rep feels truly valued. Monthly email statements and individual correspondence are translated to their native language and are personalized to reflect not only their name but cultural interests and etiquette as well. At Brightspot, we understand we are brand ambassadors for Siemens, and we take that responsibility seriously. We ensure customer service that is not merely expected, but something extra.
Benefits
The Partner Rewards Program has seen steady growth in participation, engagement, and global diversification, and Siemens attributes 70% of their annual license revenue to partner reps in the program.
Siemens Rewards reached milestones never thought possible with quantifiable ROI metrics. Active participants rose from 300 in the first year to a current count of 1,600 reps at 600 independent partner companies around the world.
Even after many years of growth, the most recent year’s license revenue still grew more than 30%!
Participants reside in 63 countries around the globe with 67% of all current redemptions coming from APAC, 26% of redemptions from EMEA, and 7% from the entire Americas Zone. How is that for global?
Email communications achieve an impressive open rate of 46% when most e-marketing efforts average 10%-20%.
Together, Brightspot and Siemens have seen new license revenues grow – along with increased levels of engagement, loyalty, and motivation – to keep Siemens top-of-mind and prompting partners to lead with Siemens products.
46
Siemens Email Open Rate vs. 15% Avg. Open Rate
