How to Fix a Failing Incentive Program

If your incentive program isn’t working out, it can feel a lot like being stuck on a sinking ship: you’ve built it from the ground up with great expectations of increased sales, improved customer loyalty, and strengthened sales channel partnerships. But, somewhere along the line, your ship started to crack.

More often than not, a struggling incentive program is due to a shaky beginning. Perhaps your program goals and mission weren’t made clear from the start, leading to miscommunication and misunderstanding between yourself and your participants.

Maybe your participants aren’t engaging with your program, and failing to activate their accounts or redeem points they’ve earned. Or perhaps, most disheartening of all, your program’s ROI just isn’t cutting it. The money you’ve invested into the program isn’t producing the results you had hoped for, and you’re starting to fear the worst.

But don’t break out the life preservers just yet! It’s never too late to turn around a failing incentive program. Grab a bucket and start bailing, because we’ve put together a list of some of the most common issues that can weaken an otherwise strong incentive program—plus potential solutions, so you’re not left dead in the water.

The most important thing to keep in mind is that there are no instant-fixes for a struggling incentive program. Once you’ve made adjustments to your incentive strategy, it may take some time to see the effects take place. Stay patient and diligent, and you’ll see your program correct its course in due time.