We’re excited to officially announce that incentive industry executive Jim Costello has joined Incentive Solutions as Executive Vice President. If you’re familiar with the incentive industry, you know that this is a huge addition for the Incentive Solutions family – not just for our internal strategic direction and performance improvement, but for the value we’re able to provide our clients in helping them win their wars.
Jim Costello is one of the few people I know who has been in the incentive industry as long as I have. He brings a breadth of knowledge and an illustrious track record of helping companies leverage behavioral economics to build loyalty and improve sales, profitability, and shareholder value. Additionally, his extensive background in telecommunications and insurance brokerage channels will be a valuable resource as we continue to expand into those verticals.
Jim Costello is a talent that we’ve had our eye on for a long time. In fact, my predecessor, Steve Damerow, tried recruiting Jim to Incentive Solutions in the late 90s. According to Jim, although he was impressed by the company’s entrepreneurial spirit, the timing was never right. But like they say, better late than never!
Jim Costello’s Career in the Incentive Industry
Jim Costello began his career in the incentive industry at Maritz. His brother, who worked for ITA at the time, would call Jim from limos in Paris on incentive travel programs. Jim decided he wanted to make a career of something you could have a lot of fun doing – and there’s no better place to do that than the incentive industry! Working in sales, Jim ascended rapidly through the ranks, landing a spot as VP of Sales and Marketing at Meridian just four years later.
From there, Jim Costello moved to Carlson Marketing, where he was Executive VP of the Southern Sales Division, before moving back to Meridian. His second stint at Meridian, as EVP and GM of the Incentive Division, spanned 17 years. When Meridian was acquired this past summer, Jim Costello found himself with the opportunity to pick his new landing spot.
It’s not often that people of Jim’s caliber hit the open market in the incentive industry, and we knew we needed to make a play.
Why Jim Costello Chose Incentive Solutions
With 29 years in the incentive industry, Jim Costello is well-acquainted with trends in the incentive industry. One of the biggest changes he has seen over the past few years is that companies have begun partnering with incentive companies for their technology, instead of the awards
In choosing a new company, Jim Costello wanted to be somewhere that had the platforms to serve the needs of modern B2B sales organizations. Incentive Solutions’ investment in technology, our emphasis on incorporating client feedback, and our modular approach to cloud-based SaaS applications, made joining us a no-brainer.
To quote Jim: “What I love about Incentive Solutions – and it’s truly a breath of fresh air – is that its incentive technology is best in class and ever-evolving, and its speed-to-market offers a huge advantage to clients. Incentive Solutions already has the scalable, plug-and-play platforms that other incentive companies are trying to duplicate, which creates vastly enhanced opportunities for speed, flexibility, and creativity. I’m more excited than I’ve been in twenty years.”
Needless to say, we’re excited, too! We would like to welcome Jim Costello on board as our new Executive Vice President.
Yours,
Mark Herbert
![B2B Customer Experience Stats that Will Help You Increase Revenue [Infographic]](https://incentivesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/B2B-customer-experience-stats-header-400x250.png)