B2B Rewards Programs

A B2B reward program is essentially the same as a consumer loyalty program, in the sense that it rewards customers for behaviours that are profitable to the business and helps a company build strong relationships that attract and retain the best customers.

]Any business with customers can benefit from a reward program because there is always a person in the process that is making the decisions about who to do business with, as well as what, how much, and when to buy. That includes B2B companies.

What’s different with B2B rewards programs compared to consumer ones is simply the goals the business is trying to achieve or the challenges they face. B2B companies will have goals such as driving sales and revenue, attracting and retaining customers, and standing out from the competition.

What B2B companies can also do with reward offers is:

• Encourage long-term contracts
• Get quicker and more consistent invoice payments
• Get customers signed up for paperless billing or electronic funds transfer payments
• Reactivate dormant clients
• Acquire more market share by winning over competitors’ clients
• Protect margins by reducing discounting or competing on price alone
• And more!

That person who makes the company decisions will always be looking for the best possible value (the best deal) for the business. And when competitors can match or beat their price, a unique benefit or incentive moves the needle.

The B2B reward program that performs best is the one that has strategic offers to achieve specific business goals, offers customers rewards that they care about, and is actively promoted in all relevant marketing materials and via frontline staff.

A business wishing to start a reward program may face an uphill battle in trying to achieve this ideal outcome. Especially if it’s starting from scratch and has never done it before. It’s no wonder some businesses approach the idea with a bit of hesitation.

With AIR MILES, all of this is already taken care of and the program has been proven to drive results for hundreds of businesses for over 25 years.

The AIR MILES® Reward Program has over 11 million Collectors actively participating in the program. This represents more than two-thirds of Canadian households, and as a result, a business can count on the majority of their customers already knowing about and/or participating in, the AIR MILES® Reward Program.

To launch a successful reward program, a business must:

• Decide on the right program structure (buy this/get this, VIP perks/discounts, points, etc.)
• Build strategic offers to achieve profitable business goals
• Determine what rewards will appeal to their customers
• Set up the processes and infrastructure to manage members and the program.
• Sign up participants and build awareness of the program
• Handle customer or program management issues
• Track and assess the success of the program

Launching a B2B reward program as an AIR MILES® Partner is simple because the program is already established, and there is a team of experts behind you to help build a successful program and guide you every step of the way. There is also ongoing support to make sure you get the most out of your reward program.

Best of all, you become part of a coalition of hundreds of AIR MILES Partners with thousands of locations where Collectors can get Miles. And Collectors are always looking to get more Miles.

The biggest benefit of these programs is that you will have something unique that will make you stand out from your competition.

The competition can compete on price, product/service quality, customer service, inventory/availability, etc. But a reward program isn’t something that can be pulled together quickly, which is why it is a unique benefit that is hard to match.

It gives you that extra competitive edge that you need to stand out from the others in your industry and your market. Not to mention online. With endless online options and the acceleration of e-commerce, even in the B2B space, associating your business with a brand that is recognized by 99% of Canadians is a big win.

The little blue AIR MILES logo is recognized instantly, and browsers immediately recognize that you have the AIR MILES® Reward Program. You can get on the list of options quicker, or better yet, make it to the top of the list with this added value to customers.

Increasing revenue is achieved in a number of ways, such as growing your client base, increasing average transaction size, driving repeat business, or reducing costs to boost margins. Any of these goals can be achieved by offering a reward incentive to your customers.

Depending on the lifecycle of their business, the ways to achieve increased revenue will vary.

Some B2B companies have a significant piece of the pie and a substantial client base, and they want to reduce costs and increase profits. Others are looking to acquire new clients by winning customers away from their competition.

Some businesses want to increase the sales of certain products and services or drive business to their slower season to better manage resources. Others meanwhile want to motivate customers to pay early (or at least on time), move to paperless billing (to save costs), or commit to long-term contracts.

The AIR MILES® Reward Program is especially appealing to B2B companies because business customers typically spend much more than individual consumers. This means more opportunities to get more Miles, and the chance to get great rewards.

Our B2B Partners can also use Miles to develop their own employee offers to reward performance, attract top talent, and boost engagement and retention.

The top three things you can do to make your B2B program successful are: creating strategic business-driving offers, effectively marketing your program and offers, and getting your staff on board and excited.

Creating offers that drive profitable behaviours

There are a number of ways to build reward offers and you want to make sure that they will produce the results you want. With AIR MILES, for example, you can:

• Offer 1 AIR MILES® Reward Mile per $40 spent. This is a great base offer to promote across all your channels, and will attract new customers or could even move you to the top of their list of choices.
• Offer 50 or 100 AIR MILES® Bonus Miles to encourage clients to switch over to paperless billing or EFT payments, therefore reducing your costs and improving your margins.
• Offer an increasing number of Bonus Miles for hitting specific spending thresholds or signing a long-term purchase contract.

Regardless of how you design your offers, a great benefit of a reward program is that you only reward the customers after they’ve taken the action that benefits your business. You manage your costs and can tie your investment directly to the results they generate.

Marketing the program and your offers

To make your reward program successful, you need to communicate the offers and benefits frequently to ensure that all potential and existing customers know that they will be rewarded for doing business with your company. This communication can happen through emails, letters, invoices and envelopes, your website, a client portal, email signatures, catalogues, online transaction pages, and more.

Training Your Team

Next, you’ll want to make sure that your customer-facing staff is knowledgeable about your program, your offers, and what you are trying to achieve with the reward program. When your people on the frontlines with customers know about the program and are excited about the rewards, they can convey that excitement to your customers. Ultimately, a win for the business is also a win for them.

To get started with your tailored B2B reward program with AIR MILES, simply reach out to us to arrange a discovery meeting.

This is when we chat at length about your objectives and challenges, and how the AIR MILES® Reward Program can help your business. We will also leverage our extensive knowledge of reward programs to design reward offers that will specifically deliver the outcomes you want.

We will provide training for your team, share our marketing assets and guidance, and offer you access to our 24/7 online program management tool.

You will be able to count on our support every step of the way – with reporting, analysis and offer optimization as needed – to make sure you get the most out of your AIR MILES® Reward Program.