Incentive Travel for Wholesalers and Distributors

Incentive Travel for Wholesalers and Distributors

Nichole Gunn

Incentive Travel for Distributors and Wholesalers

Everyone loves incentive travel, including your channel partners! But incentive travel for wholesalers is about more than seeing the world and creating unforgettable experiences with your B2B buyers. For distribution companies, incentive travel is a business investment. Wholesale distributors need to be mindful about structuring their incentive travel promotions to generate a measurable return.

How Is Incentive Travel Different from Other Wholesale Incentives?

Before exploring idea for how wholesalers and distributors can use incentive travel, let’s discuss what makes incentive travel different from other types of wholesale incentives.

Compared to SPIFFs, rebates, incentive gift cards, debit cards, and online merchandise rewards, incentive travel is:

  • More memorableChannel partners will remember their incentive travel experiences for years to come.
  • More personalized – The shared experience of incentive travel creates an emotional bond between participants and your brand.
  • More desirable – Out of hundreds of B2B incentive programs, Travel was the top incentive reward interest.
  • More exclusive – Most retailers, resellers, and partners participate in multiple reward programs that include merchandise, rebates, and cards. Incentive travel is a way to raise the bar.
  • More loyalty-based – Other reward types are more suited toward inspiring sales growth across a wide segment of your audience. Incentive travel, on the other hand, is more suited toward building wholesaler loyalty with top accounts.
  • More expensive – The flipside is that incentive travel for wholesalers is more investment-heavy than other reward types. Wholesalers and distributors need to be very mindful about saving it for the most important (and profitable!) business relationships. When structured the right way, incentive travel is very cost effective due to its high return.

Incentive Travel for Distributors and Wholesalers

Examples of When to Use Wholesale Incentive Travel

Below are several scenarios where wholesalers and distributors might consider launching an incentive travel promotion:

  • You need to build loyalty with a select group of top partners and resellers. Wholesale incentive travel is an effective way to personalize relationships with top accounts and keep them from jumping ship to competitors.
  • Your competitors are already running a merchandise or card program. The average American is a member of 8 loyalty programs and only participates in about half. You need to make your program the most valuable. Wholesale incentive travel can help you do just that!
  • You are attempting to motivate really high value sales reps. The best indirect sales reps receive all kinds of rewards, perks, and bonuses from competitors. They probably won’t be motivated by a run-of-the-mill incentive program. But an exclusive incentive travel getaway to a top travel destination will cut through the clutter.
  • You need to give sales numbers a powerful boost over a specific time period. Offering an exclusive incentive travel opportunity for only the top sales reps is a way for wholesalers to boost sales over a specific time period. You might be surprised with how participants will make huge leaps to qualify the right reward!
  • You want retailers, contractors, and other partners to attend your tradeshow. Annual tradeshows are often the foundation of a wholesale distributor’s marketing efforts. A tradeshow is a chance to truly build relationships with partners and educate them on your products. But you have to get them to show up first! Try offering wholesale incentive opportunities that lead right to your marquee tradeshow.

Treat Your Wholesale Customers and Resellers to Incentive Travel

If you think incentive travel could be a tool to take your business to the next level, it’s important to work with the right incentive travel company. After all, wholesale incentive travel is a reflection of your brand, and you want to give your participants the best experience possible.

Incentive Solutions will give you end-to-end support that goes way beyond just booking a trip. Our incentive travel managers and account management teams will help you:

  • Structure strategic, software driven promotions to maximize your ROI before the trip.
  • Plan, theme, and promote your incentive trip.
  • Manage itineraries and travel arrangements for you and your participants and send timely reminders.
  • Negotiate preferential rates at top destinations all across the world – with free site selection and contract negotiation.
  • Create a custom-built incentive travel package, backed by our network of trusted travel and hospitality vendors.
  • Attend the trip, so that we can be there to personally assure the best possible experience – for you and your incentive travel participants.

Basically, all you have to do is decide what you want your wholesale incentive travel program to accomplish and show up to enjoy the event! We look forward to working with you.

Let’s create a B2B incentive travel program that’s perfect for you.

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