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Some Plain Talk about Merchandise Award
Programs...
By: Wayne B. Hodges
Co-Founder and Senior Vice President - Director of Client
Technologies
Director of Marketing
You're here, no doubt, because you already know that in today's
marketplace, lifestyle awards - merchandise and individual travel is hot-hot-hot.
And you probably know also, that even hotter, are on-line
catalogs with on-line tracking, redemption and real-time
reporting.
We do it all at World Incentives, including local in-country
fulfillment for international award programs.
Whether (or not) you choose to place your
award program with us, here's some plain
talk that will help you make wise decisions about your merchandise
program provider.
Many of our competitors charge client
companies up-front dollars for points. Sounds logical, you say. In our
industry, they call that "banking the breakage". But, as we all know,
not all points awarded are going to be
redeemed by those lucky enough to have earned them. Ta-daaa....that's
profit for those other companies. Instead of working to increase the
success of your program, your dollars are turning into pure profit
for your incentive house.
Rule 1: Only work with companies that don't charge upfront for
points, or with companies that credit back un-redeemed points to
your points bank. With World Incentives: you never pay for
unredeemed points.
Rule 2: Only work with companies that direct-ship.
Direct-ship means the incentive company maintains a warehouse and
ships out of their inventory...as opposed to companies that
drop-ship, which means the manufacturer ships directly from the manufacturing facility.
You might ask, what the difference, and really...who cares?
When one of your top participants doesn't get delivery on an item she
redeemed points for 4 weeks ago, or discovers the item is
back-ordered for 6-8 weeks...or the shipment is just plain missing
and your participant has no advocate to help trace it because it was
"drop-shipped", believe me you will understand and care
about the
difference. Drop-shipping has soured many a program and damaged more than a
few client/participant relationships.
Direct-shippers are manufacturer's distributors and get the good
stuff first, in large quantities, and typically ship faster.
Drop Shippers wait in line behind you and me, and everyone else for
their items to ship from the manufacturer. Why? Who
gets a shipment of new merchandise first... the company who, as a
distributor, orders consistently, in quantity, or the drop-shipper
who typically orders in ones and twos? You guessed it...
As a direct-shipper, we control the redemption and the shipping,
we not only ship
faster (within a day or two usually), we have a vested
interest in seeing that your participant -and you as the client- are
happy. Should something go wrong with the shipment - it happens
occasionally - a live, sympathetic person is there to own the
problem until it is solved.
Suffice it to say that the great majority of our
merchandise is direct-shipped. And unlike most drop-shippers,
you'll always have your own program manager on hand - with an 800#
for quick and easy assistance, who is nearly always
able to answer questions or solve
any problems that arise on the first call.
Got international divisions or employees that need to be granted
awards? No issue for us - we can handle most industrialized
countries of the world, and we even service them with in-country
warehouses to provide that extra level of social or economic
sensitivity - so no, we're not going to be offering Omaha Steaks to
your employees in India, or alcohol-related products to
predominantly Muslim countries.
World Incentives and direct shipping is a win-win situation for
you...
So that's the skinny. I've given you some solid information
that will give you the edge in eliminating problems before they
begin, and ensuring that your company's incentive program meets with
winning success.
We've "got the goods"...literally...over our
competitors, and it's important that you understand what that means,
and how that can mean the difference between success or failure for
your company's program.
From on-line points tracking and plateau programs to direct-ship redemptions;
to real-time reporting with
generic or customized / self-branded, on-line catalogs, we
simply do it all, better. We even do some pretty amazing
group-incentive travel programs - you can view some sample proposals
upon request.
Our on-line catalog offers 3500+ first-tier manufacturer items* and
hundreds of destinations on our concierge-level travel awards... and growing every day.
A demonstration site with your logos,
graphics and colors can be ready for your approval in an hour or
less. And with more time, we can provide a seamless customized award
site to perfectly match your corporate site, so your employees or
customers never need know they've left your site.
Once you award us your business, your cost is a single (and
surprisingly small) one-time fee to customize and host your on-line
award center. And on-line sites are secured via a Secure Socket
Layer with 128-bit encryption. You can select which items, categories, or
prices of items you wish to include. Your custom website
also contains space for news stories or program details, leaderboard,
quizzes, surveys,
etc. That's it. Simply furnish us with your participant
names and their point totals updated daily,
weekly... whatever...and we'll do the rest.
For more information on how we can help make your program the
success you hope for, please
e-mail us.
*Our
merchandise selection is composed of only name-brand items like
Apple, Panasonic, Bose, Braun, Nikon, Phillips, Olympus, Casio, Compaq, Bulova, West Bend, Braun, Presto, Toastmaster, Oneida, Whirlpool,
Oreck, Makita, Panasonic, Sony, Troy-Bilt, Thermos, John Deere, Polaris, Callaway,
Fisher Price and literally hundreds more.
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