So, you’ve decided to launch an incentive program. An initiative like this is no small undertaking, especially when it takes getting all the necessary stakeholders on board, accompanied by their focus and support for its launch. How do you tackle this? There needs to be a logical and sequential methodology to ensure everyone is engaged and that there are no delays or bottlenecks in the program rollout. A good way to get all key stakeholders engaged and make them aware of their responsibilities, accountabilities and timelines is to follow an implementation process designed to get them excited and on board – and stay there – with your incentive scheme.

Here are the eleven key steps you will need to follow to ensure success:

• Try to mandate one person to form basic parameters and business rules for your incentive program before inviting stakeholders to buy in.
• After you have internally socialized the project, identify who is on board and who isn’t and address any questions or concerns.
• Outline what timelines you want to follow. Use a lot of visual tools to keep stakeholders engaged and informed.
• Identify and approach stakeholders outside the immediate team and even outside of your organization that should be included in the plan, such as IT, Finance and Legal.
• Empower all stakeholders, aligning them with your corporate strategies, incorporating their questions, concerns and expectations in the process.
• Segment information according to what is important to individual stakeholders and stakeholder groups.
• Use visual aids, meeting notes and checklists to keep people engaged and informed according to what is important to them.
• Get stakeholders to stick to the agreed upon timelines during status meetings, but remain flexible and offer solutions to deadline challenges.
• Nurture the stakeholder spirit. A collaborative team working together to a common goal will work together to stay on track.
• When there are multiple stakeholders or business units involved, hold roll-out meetings to go through the project before it goes live.
• Use mock-ups along the way. If stakeholders can see samples and demos, they will remain enthusiastic and on board.

Incentive programs require sound business valuations. Work with a program partner that takes the time to understand the roles and responsibilities of your stakeholders, and collaborates with you to get them on board. ChannelAssist has a philosophy of white glove service that is used as part of our onboarding and implementation process. Every program rollout is supported by our dedicated Success Team whose members bring a diverse skill set and viewpoint to every custom project. We help you identify and involve key stakeholders, gather their feedback and get their buy in and address any challenges in order to ensure your incentive program is a resounding success.

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