Why channel partners leave incentive programs (according to them)
New market research from Maritz, a multi-solution performance improvement company, reveals the four main reasons channel partners quit incentive programs: rewards that are too difficult to earn, irrelevant communications, unappealing rewards, and confusing rules. The study, titled “Channel Incentives: Protecting Your Budget, Boosting Your Returns For 2025 & Beyond,” provides valuable insights into channel partner behavior and preferences.
Some incentive programs are magnetic. The experiences feel valuable, and the partners feel valued. But when programs struggle to get engagement, let alone maintain enrollments, there are often clashing strategies doing more to repel partners rather than retain them.
Maritz’s recent market insights study sought to understand how channel partners view program experiences and what impacts engagement. Based on hundreds of responses, there is now insight into what’s really going on behind the scenes when participants leave their programs.
The Top Four Program Pitfalls to Avoid
Regardless of the mission, every partnership starts with a shared purpose: To create win-win opportunities. But when participation is a lift and performance is hard to measure, it could mean certain obstacles outweigh the original value prop.
So – what are the retention killers? Channel partners were asked to explain.
The Maritz survey revealed these four primary reasons for channel partners quitting programs:
1. Rewards were too hard to earn or took too long. This was the number one reason for incentive program dropouts, and it needs to be on every program manager’s radar. Incentives are a great engagement tool, but they can also backfire if partners associate them with a never-ending chase.
The only rewards worth working toward feel reachable and proportionate to the effort involved. Partners don’t expect an effortless path to rewards, but they expect fair earning opportunities.
Finding the reward-challenge sweet spot is part science, part program design. Collaborating with a third-party team can be a big help here. These experts can assist with mapping the right behaviors to the right incentives so companies and their partners get maximum value.
2. The communications and offers weren’t relevant. Program communications can either help or hurt engagement. Partners don’t want messages simply reminding them a company still exists. They want clear updates that keep them in the loop and give them advantages in the program.
Personalized communications are the most effective. If a program’s offers and communications feel copied and pasted, partners’ experiences will, too. Creating distinct partner groups to tailor communications, rewards, and growth opportunities to the right individuals will make opportunities feel hand-selected and boost partners’ interest.
Program managers should also limit outreach to the essentials: product release information, supporting resources, program or company happenings that impact partners’ roles, progress or training notifications, earning alerts, and specific action items.
3. The rewards weren’t appealing. The Maritz survey revealed that variety and choice matter most to partners regarding their incentives. But if competing programs are also aiming to speak partners’ language, companies need to be fluent in their favorite reward types.
High-performing programs go beyond transactional rewards and relationships to write their loyalty story. By offering a mix of monetary and non-monetary reward types, programs give partners freedom and flexibility (i.e., ingredients for a rewarding, long-term partnership).
Letting partners choose their own adventure in a program with various reward options, such as points currency, access-based or business-building rewards, solo or group travel experiences, or other personally meaningful options, can increase engagement.
4. The rules weren’t clear or were confusing. Rules aren’t usually exciting to most people, but they are to channel partners. Earning rules are like a reward treasure map, helping participants know exactly how to navigate and what actions lead them to gold. The trick is defining rules that partners will be able to follow.
When channel participants were asked to describe their ideal program rules, their response was clear: “Very simple sales goals.” If partners can visualize their journey – and know they’ll be able to GPS it with things like progress trackers and clear updates – the benefits of putting a brand first will speak for themselves.
Any thoughts, opinions, or news? Please share them with me at vince@meetingsevents.com.
Photo by Max Brown on Unsplash
