Canpages sees strong results with program that ties rewards to sales performance
At the outset of 2008, Canpages, a Burnaby, B.C.-based local search firm, implemented a Visa prepaid incentive card program. The goals were simple: Increase sales, standardize employee rewards and incentives across the sales team and develop a positive corporate culture.
In the place of bonus cheques, gift cards and merchandise, each employee received a Visa prepaid incentive card featuring the Canpages brand and loaded with reward dollars whenever performance goals were met.
Reports from senior management were immediately positive. Employees liked being able to choose the rewards they purchased with their prepaid incentive cards. From an operational standpoint, management found having employees select their own rewards was more cost-effective than management choosing rewards and giving them to employees.
Despite the recession, the Canpages card program contributed to double-digit revenue growth in 2008. The success of the initial launch led to a cross-Canada rollout to about 450 employees and the program is still going strong.
Performance metrics easily adjusted
A prepaid incentive card platform allows a company to adjust performance metrics at any moment to better reflect sales targets and business goals. In the case of Canpages, performance criteria include total sales, total online sales, total new customers won in any given week and longer-term targets related to customer relationships and retention.
On a month-to-month basis, Canpages can adjust performance metrics. For one month, the goal might be centred on the total number of directory sales; in the next, the total number of presentations to prospective new clients.
In addition, the company has implemented team incentives. When each member of a team makes an online sale, the entire team and its manager receive new dollars on their incentive cards. Sales staff can also be rewarded on a biweekly basis and support staff who demonstrate commitment and dedication to their team are rewarded monthly.
By being so inclusive, the card program helps foster a positive corporate culture. In providing the potential for rewards for all employees, including support staff, senior management is sending a clear message it realizes every member of the team contributes to the company’s success. As a result, performance and morale are boosted across the organization.
More money ends up in employees’ hands
Prepaid incentive card programs also include clear operational and marketing components that directly influence a company’s bottom line. With Canpages, the program rests on an integrated software platform so the company can easily set performance metrics and automatically input the corresponding results into a database. From there, the data is translated into a dollar amount that is loaded onto each incentive card.
As a result, the program reduces the administrative and operational costs of implementing a traditional incentive program. And because fewer resources are used to administer this program, a much higher percentage of the program budget ends up in the hands of Canpages’ employees.
Additionally, the software platform allows management to track the success of each program by tabulating sales increases and total rewards distributed. From a marketing standpoint, company brand awareness is increased by distributing branded cards.
As the economy improves and the pace of new hires intensifies, Canadian companies will need to implement innovative ways to reward and retain talent. Employers are looking for cost-effective, compelling ways to motivate employees. Universally accepted corporate prepaid incentive cards can be a less expensive, simpler alternative to corporate incentives such as travel, points programs or merchandise.
Many companies are realizing extravagant, one-size-fits-all employee awards programs are often not appropriate. The optics simply do not work, especially at companies that have suffered layoffs, pay freezes and other visible cutbacks.
At a time when employees are being asked to do more with less, a worker’s perception of how a company is spending its earnings is important and senior management must be sensitive to the way it delivers rewards.
David Eason is the Toronto-based CEO of Berkeley Payment Solutions, a provider of prepaid Visa card programs and services for companies across North America. He can be reached at [email protected] or for more information, visit www.berkeleypayment.com.
Use of prepaid cards
How employees spend money
Consumer spending on prepaid incentive cards moved toward low-cost, everyday items due to the recession, according to a joint analysis by Berkeley Payment Solutions and Scotiabank. In looking at North American consumer spending on Visa prepaid products in Berkeley programs from the first quarter of 2008 to the first quarter of 2009, they found spending at fast food restaurants increased 107 per cent. Consumers also put off big purchases, with spending at home furnishing and equipment stores down by 44 per cent. Reward recipients were using prepaid cards more often at discount stores (up 37 per cent), drugstores and pharmacies (up 26 per cent) and grocery stores (up 20 per cent).
“As economic conditions worsen, spending migrates towards day-to-day necessities, such as groceries or clothes, instead of non-essential items such as luxury vacations or big-screen televisions,” says David Eason, president of Berkeley Payment Solutions.
