The Scope
A leading distributor of HVAC and refrigeration products serves contractors and businesses across North America. To strengthen customer loyalty and increase revenue, the client partnered with 360insights to implement an innovative incentive program designed to reward and motivate contractors based on their purchasing behavior.
To ensure strong program adoption and engagement, the client launched a comprehensive marketing strategy that included teaser emails, branch kits, posters with QR codes, and social media announcements. These initiatives helped drive awareness and early participation among contractors.
The Challenge
The existing incentive program was facing some issues. Namely, their one-tier approach was ballooning rapidly, cutting into the ROI as more and more contractors were earning costly incentive travel trips as recognition for their work. The client needed to pivot to a system that continued to incentivize top earners with once-in-a-lifetime trips while finding a more cost-effective option for mid-tier earners that was still enticing and effective.
The Solution
To drive engagement and revenue growth, the client implemented a personalized, points-based incentive program that encouraged contractors to meet and exceed their annual purchase goals. The program assigned individualized revenue targets to each participant, introducing a tiered points-earning structure that scaled with performance.
360insights collaborated with the client to design and execute this strategy, leveraging its platform to track engagement, manage point allocation, and provide real-time visibility into progress. A key program feature required participants to hit their purchase goal before activating their points, ensuring rewards were tied to measurable business impact.
To further boost engagement and year-end excitement, the client introduced a Christmas-themed Campaign in December 2024, awarding 50,000 bonus points to one winner per day from December 3–14. These points were available immediately and served as an additional incentive outside of the core program structure, reinforcing ongoing participation.
Key Features:
- Structured points system: 1 point per $1 up to the goal, 3 points per $1 beyond the goal.
- Tiered segmentation: Participants grouped by revenue goal for targeted engagement.
- Real-time tracking: A platform for monitoring purchases and point accumulation.
- Strategic communication: Focused outreach to boost enrollment, especially among lower-tier participants.
- Comprehensive marketing support: the client deployed branch TV loop images, program overview PDFs, mini-catalogs, and welcome email series to educate and onboard participants effectively.
- Seasonal engagement: The Christmas-themed Campaign reinforced engagement with additional bonus points and promotional outreach.
The Results
The program demonstrated a strong impact on revenue growth and goal attainment. Enrolled customers outperformed non-enrolled customers significantly, achieving 107% of their goal versus 79% for non-enrolled participants. The initiative generated over $6.6 million in incremental revenue, with high-engagement participants (50+ logins) achieving 179% of their goal. Additionally, the program delivered an impressive 614% projected ROI, turning a $280K investment into nearly $2 million in additional gross margin.
