When brands go looking for a B2B loyalty provider, I find they tend to fall into two groups.
The first group wants someone to execute. They’ve already designed the strategy, and they need a vendor with the right technology, reward system and support to deliver it. They’re shopping for features and benefits.
The second group isn’t looking for an order taker. They want a partner who understands their business goals, and who knows performance improvement and behavioural design well enough to build a strategy that delivers the outcome, rather than just the platform or the reward fulfilment.
Motivforce can do both. But our greatest value comes from combining strategic expertise, technology and execution to help clients achieve measurable business outcomes. . If you’re choosing a partner now, here’s what I’d look for.
Start with the outcome and work backwards
The biggest difference between a strategic partner and a platform provider is where the conversation starts. A strategic partner starts with the business outcome you need and makes it the North Star. From there they work backwards: what behaviors need to change, who can influence those behaviors, how the program should be designed, and which KPIs, communications and rewards will drive the desired outcomes.
Rewards belong in that design, not at the start of it. Points, rebates, merchandise and group incentive travel are different levers, and the right mix depends on what you’re trying to achieve. Reliable technology, a broad reward portfolio and good customer support should all be standard. It’s program design and execution where you should really be kicking the tires.
A good partner learns your business first
Before anyone recommends a solution, they should understand your industry and how you go to market: what you’ve done in the past, what your competitors are doing and where the market is heading. Then they should map your distribution and channel partners to find the points of influence, the people who will make the biggest impact on the results you want.
That matters because you don’t have the budget to spray incentives and rewards across your whole ecosystem. You have to prioritise, so look for a partner who asks the right questions, does the research and works closely with your team. I'd be cautious of anyone who leads with an off-the-shelf solution before taking the time to understand your business. Speed to market matters, but it shouldn't come at the expense of getting the strategy and program design right.
Discovery should run both ways. You’re the expert in your business, and we’re experts in behavioural design and incentive execution. The strongest programs marry the two, with a partner willing to challenge your thinking and bring a deep bench of technical, data, communications and branding specialists to the design.
Choose for where your program is going
A program is never stagnant. You need a partner who can design for today’s goal and start showing results, but business goals change, so you also want one already thinking about the next chapter. Ask them to sit down with you, understand where you are today and map out a longer-term strategy for where you want to go. The right partner should be able to help you get started, demonstrate results and identify opportunities to build on that success.
Scale matters too. You may need to expand into new regions, or add rebates, group incentive travel, or meetings and events to the points program you run today. Make sure the partner can grow with you. And look for proof: a track record backed by testimonials, case studies, awards or other third-party evidence.
Engagement needs a plan for every stage
A program moves from launch to steady state to acceleration, and each stage needs its own KPIs and benchmarks. Participants have their own journeys too, since new members join at different times and from different starting points.
At launch, that means a clear communications plan that reaches every stakeholder. One group that channel programs often overlook is your own sales team, the people who call on your channel partners. They own those relationships, so give them a role in promoting the program, and ideally an earning opportunity too, from launch through the life of the program.
A good partner also plans for the dip. Launch brings a big push, then often a drop-off around the second or third quarter. Some ebb and flow is natural, but the right promotions and campaigns can keep that dip small.
Measure the behaviours behind the results
Every client wants to know whether the program is working, and rightly so. No single KPI answers that. Measurement has to be tailored to the program’s goal and audience.
I start by separating leading indicators from lagging ones. Then everything ties back to the North Star: define the key behaviours that drive the outcome, and build dashboards and insights around those behaviours and their trends.
Volume is a good example. Many teams treat straight volume as the sign a program is working. We often find that the recency and frequency of purchases say more about how healthy a partner is and where the upside might be. The right measures come from your goal and the historical behaviours that lead to it, and a strategic partner will help you find them.
Don’t get sold by the sizzle
Buyers don’t know what they don’t know, and part of a partner’s job is to help educate them. The first mistake is leaning on the RFP. We regularly get RFPs that are beautifully written, usually as a spreadsheet of dollar figures, capabilities and check boxes. That doesn’t tell the whole story. When the decision is made in a vacuum on features, benefits and price, buyers end up evaluating the wrong things.
The second mistake is buying the demo. Ours looks great and has every feature you’d want, but a buyer who chooses on the demo alone misses the real value of a partner. The same shiny object syndrome kicks in whenever a new AI tool has a lot of buzz.
What you should evaluate is the partner and their approach, and that’s hard to do in a one-hour demo. Spend time with the people. Do you believe in them? Do they have the right expertise and a good understanding of your industry? Are they asking the right questions? Can they share examples of similar situations and how they handled them? Make the decision on that, not on a spreadsheet.
The partnership should keep finding value
The real test comes after launch. As we execute a program, opportunities appear that nobody saw at the start. Take a program built purely around sales growth. The data might show that growth is happening, but possibly in low-margin product lines. That points to a better product mix, and to promotions or campaigns that shift sales towards more profitable lines.
That's what I'd want from any B2B loyalty provider: a partner who doesn't just report on performance, but uses those insights to challenge assumptions, recommend improvements and continually find new ways to create value. When our clients talk about their programs, they name their Motivforce counterpart and talk about the importance of that relationship. When a client knows the individuals behind their program, that’s a strategic partnership.
If you’re weighing B2B loyalty partners, talk to our team about the outcome you’re working towards.
