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Dealer Incentive Programs

Guest post by: Zeeman Haus

Article Overview: You hear about them on the television all the time, mostly with cars, but not always. Still, what is a dealer incentive program and how could one possibly benefit you? To be perfectly honest, and I can be because I'm not selling you anything (wink) the term dealer incentive program is a little more broad than getting cash or prizes for buying something. In a very real sense a dealer incentive program can bolster sales, reduce sales costs, reward loyalty to your brand and help launch new products. From a pretty simplistic standpoint, let's look at all four of these.

Dealer Incentive Programs

You hear about them on the television all the time, mostly with cars, but not always. Still, what is a dealer incentive program and how could one possibly benefit you? To be perfectly honest, and I can be because I'm not selling you anything (wink) the term dealer incentive program is a little more broad than getting cash or prizes for buying something. In a very real sense a dealer incentive program can bolster sales, reduce sales costs, reward loyalty to your brand and help launch new products. From a pretty simplistic standpoint, let's look at all four of these.

Bolstering or rallying sales is something we would all like to do and as often as possible. Me personally, I'd like to do this every single day, even Sunday, if I could. Dealer incentive programs inspire your sales team to perform up to their optimum. Nothing motivates people like instant gratification. Depending on what incentive is offered, a good program will move your sales force to move some product and help your business.

For the customer, a dealer incentive program could mean adding something to "sweeten the pot", that is add a perceived value to a new product, or perhaps one that has already been on the market for a bit. In the case of the latter, maybe sales have stalled a bit and the customer just needs that added push. In tough economic times, when customers are more hesitant to make any new purchases at all, value perception is the number one target to achieve in customer sales- even more so than at any other time.

Adding an incentive to a new brand or product will definitely help out with sales. Think about the 2 am infomercial. This is your chance to say "But wait. There's more!" In a very direct way, the "added value" being pitched on these highly entertaining programs is a dealer incentive. These folks are involved in direct sales and the added gift is an incentive. You do not have to run your incentive program like one of these dog and pony shows, but you get the gist. The idea is to motivate someone to try something they otherwise might not. "Free gifts" are definitely a way to move some people in this direction.

How does a dealer incentive program reduce sales costs? A lot of this has do with what the supplier is offering the distributor in the way of an incentive plan. Rebates can be passed on to the customer, which makes your job of establishing a sale rendezvous easier, but they might also offer to defer shipping or to take a little off of the overhead you would normally be paying. Again, this is a big incentive as it gives you an opportunity to either increase your profit margin or improve your business volume.

A good dealer incentive program also gives you a chance to touch base with clients you have had in the past. There's no better lead in to a sales pitch than "We have a promotional going this month and to reward your loyalty..." The only pitch better than this would be "We are giving away ice cream..."

The specifics of a dealer incentive program are pretty varied and it depends on the type of business you are in and the type of suppliers you have or what kind of dealer you are. There are plenty of resources available to help you establish your own incentive programs in relations to customers and your employees, often they are a good investment. As for the incentives thrown your way? The advantages of taking part in these programs are very clear.

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Article Tags: cars, dealer incentive programs, incentive program, prizes, reward loyalty
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