A lot of companies are still having trouble getting it right where delivering on their rebate program promises is concerned.
Forbes has published a listicle detailing the top 10 consumer complaints of 2015, and rebate program dissatisfaction is cuddled up squarely with a slew of retail-related complaints at number four on the list.
The most common complaints that people still have with consumer rebate programs are the same you have heard before: missing rebate payments, programs which are too complex or even that consumer rebate programs are “a tax on the disorganized.”
The fact is, consumer trust is still very low when it comes to rebate campaigns and with low trust, comes a much lower chance of repeat business. With the advent of the social web, built-in breakage is no longer a best practice. As the reach of individual, private citizens begins to grow (in some exceptional cases even matching or surpassing the reach of professional news outlets), the measurement of customer lifetime value (CLV) becomes an ever-more elusive calculation.
It is simply no longer worth the risk of annoying an otherwise perfectly happy customer and no company wants to direct resources into doing damage control on a PR nightmare that was created by what started out as a sales incentive plan.
The average consumer rebate process has as many as six touch points with the consumer, so let’s look at how you, the modern sales incentives visionary that you are, can reduce breakage and slippage from your campaign, untangle your terms and conditions and make your consumers into fans, not foes.
The Next Best Thing To Being There
This article actually started out as a simple reminder piece about the importance of offering telephone support as part of your incentive fulfillment. I’m a lifelong technology guy – no question about it – but there is no substitute for offering person-to-person support for the users of your sales incentive or rebate program.
It’s still incredible (and gratifying!) to me the sheer volume of positive feedback that my team receives on this point each week. People take time out of their lives to write these amazing emails back to our communications team because they are simply astounded that they can call a toll free number, reach an actual person and then get great service.
The takeaway here is simple: if you want to build loyalty, you need to build connectivity. Offering personal assistance via phone is a great way to deliver unexpectedly great service – and based on the feedback we receive each week, the bar is being set very low by your competitors.
Stop With The Slippage…
Slippage refers to rebate checks that, for whatever reason, are not cashed. A common historical practice has been to send out rebate checks in a fashion where they look like junk mail. The consumer assumes the worst and disposes of the unwanted mail, the check is eventually stale-dated and cancelled and the rebate is never paid out.
Slippage can easily be reduced simply by changing the appearance of the payment in how it looks when it lands in the customer’s mailbox. It’s easy to make a check look like a check, right?
How about eliminating slippage completely?
It starts with digitizing your rebates: stop with the tree-killing snail mail and get your redemption process online – your consumer should be able to apply for their rebate claim via Internet. Most consumer rebates are still handled through traditional postal mail; digitizing your program makes you a leader and helps you do a much better job of measuring how your programs are working as well as delivering on your promise to the customer.
Offering digitized payments such as virtual cards and pre-paid/loadable cards (branded with your company logo anyone?) allows everyone to know where the rebate payment is at all times. This sort of visibility into the process right from claim entry through payout gives the consumer a greater feeling of control; they know what is going on with their payment, they can add any missing info…they can relax and enjoy the product that they actually purchased from you knowing their rebate is on the way.
Break Up With Breakage…
Traditionally, the story behind complex terms and conditions has been that they were necessary to prevent fraudulent claims but it is really no longer acceptable or necessary to make the policing of the few into the burden of the many. With technologies available right now, auditing and fraud reduction should easily be built into your program right from the outset. (For more on this, feel free to download our free e-book Fraud: The Most Overlooked Opportunity)
So be honest: is your program focused on building breakage or building loyalty?
No brand actually wants to make enemies of its consumers, so let’s have a look at a few simple ways you can provide smoother rebate processes:
**Instant Rebates – Keep your end of the deal right there on the spot at point of sale by moving to an instant rebate program. Rebates are a simple “buy this get that” contract so why not hold up your end of the deal as soon as the consumer has help up theirs.
**Express Rebate – If the rebate you are offering is of a significant amount, perhaps it is not viable for your retail partners to offer it right at the point of sale. Remember, if your programs don’t work well for your retailers, your mutual customers and you then they then really don’t work at all!
Express rebates are a relatively new offering as technology has been built out and express delivery has become more accessible. Our data has shown that on a rebate of $200 or more, most people are willing to forfeit a reasonable amount of their rebate money in order to receive their payment faster. When you make this offer, you show that you care about the consumer’s experience and they will appreciate this.
**Consider User Experience – This is the principle that simply must drive all of your planning. Complex terms and conditions are going to frustrate people and frustrated people will not complete their claim. Their problem, you say? Perception is reality in sales and marketing and so if they perceive that your program was the problem, then their problem is your problem. Could your grandparents easily understand your offer and complete your process? You don’t want to frustrate your grandparents, do you?
