Incentive payments provide a proven way of increasing reseller sales pipelines. Successful funding programs can yield returns as high as 3,000%, but managing this kind of program can be an administrative challenge. Until now that administrative challenge prevented many companies from providing direct funding for their resellers. EcoSoft 5.0™ helps manage all aspects of funding programs—including MDF, Co-op, and deal-based incentives—from reseller contract management through proof of execution (POE), with performance metrics reporting throughout.
The user interface for management of Co-op, MDF and Deal Incentives, as with other EcoSoft 5.0™ features, is easy to use and consistent with other partner-facing modules, easing the path to partner adoption.
Different types of funding programs are used for different purposes. Market Development Funds (MDF) are issued to partners in advance of sales. They are discretionary since they are awarded based on predicted or expected behavior. They fit best with dynamic markets where a partner’s past sales are not necessarily the best indicator of how funds to promote products should be awarded.
Co-op Funds accrue based on a percentage of partner sales, essentially awarding partners that are already performing. In contrast to MDF, this type of funding is usually better suited to channel partners that are consistent large-volume distributors.
EcoSoft 5.0™ supports both Co-Op and MDF funding. It can help solve the most common issues affecting these types of funding programs, including allowing development of preconfigured marketing programs for channel partners to opt-in to spend their promotional allowance and providing automation for processes for fund request, approval, and preconfigured program enrollment.
Deal Incentives are awarded for each deal in a predetermined amount—based on the size of the sale, for example. They are typically used to induce partners to notify the channel of a sales opportunity early in the process as well as increasing reseller sales pipelines. EcoSoft 5.0™ also supports deal incentives, with a variety of configuration options for determining the amount of the incentive.
Using EcoSoft 5.0™, you can establish any number of preconfigured Co-op, MDF, and deal-based incentive programs. Co-op and MDF programs work in essentially the same way. Deal incentive programs are a little different.
Co-op / MDF: You can set a budget for each partner for each program, setting a period during which fund applications will be accepted. (Where integrated, typically Salesforce.com will be the database of record for these budget values, which will be imported into EcoSoft 5.0™.) Then partners log in to your EcoSoft 5.0™ partner portal and, using a workflow configured to your rules, request funds for your acceptance. Request acceptance can be accomplished either in the portal or in Salesforce.com. According to your requirements, the partner will submit any documentation you require for proof of execution (POE) and submit the request for final approval and payment. Throughout this process, the partner’s remaining budget is decremented by the amount of accepted and approved requests.
Deal Incentives: You set a budget for a deal-based incentive program on an overall basis, not per-partner. Each program is configured with its own method of incentive determination—from partner requested amount to calculation based on deal price, number of units, or a fixed value. Your resellers log in to your EcoSoft 5.0™ partner portal to register specific deals and request incentives. Once the deal is registered and the fund request is made, your channel managers review and approve or deny the incentive fund request. If approved, the automated workflow tracks the deal and captures key milestones and documentation to insure timely payment and appropriate audit controls.
You can also use our EcoSoft 5.0™ deal-based incentives module to calculate performance rebates for your resellers. Using the same user interface, partners register deals and qualify for rebates based on closed deals. Automated rebate calculation can be based on deal value, number of quantifiable units or as a fixed value.
As with other EcoSoft 5.0™ features, you have dashboard access to your campaign metrics. EcoSoft 5.0™ automatically collects the data to ensure that you have the business intelligence you need to determine the success of your marketing and sales programs. ROI is calculated and displayed for deal incentive campaigns in the performance dashboard, tracked by partner and by program.
