HEADLINES
By Leo Jakobson
The technology keeps reward redemption close to time of achievement
MotivAction’s ‘Big Deal’ Platform
Uses Limited-Time Reward Offers
USMotivation Enhances
Service Award Platform
Program managers have
more robust reporting
and communication tools
Performance improvement company MotivAction has launched the Big Deal, a
rewards platform that lets participants in employee recognition,
consumer promotion, and sales
and channel incentive programs
unlock time-sensitive, reduced-priced rewards after they achieve
specific goals.
The Big Deal has what’s called
a dynamic rules structure, which
allows managers to create reward
programs around individual
achievements, team goals, time-sensitive deals, progressive performance awards, chance-based promotions, and other options. The
platform “changes the way companies think about incentives and
ties awards to performance with a
sense of urgency while providing
value,” says Joe Keller, president
and COO of MotivAction, based
in Minneapolis.
“In a traditional points program, participants earn at a rate
that often takes months and
sometimes a year before they
can redeem” for rewards, says
Beau Ballin, MotivAction’s director of marketing. “In the Big
Deal, rewards are unlocked with
achievements, including quarterly
sales goals, employee anniversaries, and, in a consumer model,
“The Big Deal ties reward and recognition
closer to the desired behavior.”
—Beau Ballin, MotivAction
servicing your vehicle three times
at the dealership.”
Another key strategy of the
platform, Ballin says, is that the
rewards are only available for
short spans of time—like limited-
time deals—so participants must
redeem for them quickly. “This
ties reward and recognition closer
to the desired behavior,” he says.
“It’s what I refer to as ‘the golden
moment,’ the time when participants redeem and experience
the benefits or rewards for their
efforts. Contrast that against a
points program, where you earn
over 18 months and then redeem
six months later. Participants
rarely remember what they did to
continued on page 10
USMotivation, an Atlanta- based performance, rec- ognition, and incentive
marketing company, has given
its Enterprise Rewards and
Recognition system greater
functionality to make it easier
for clients to manage their
programs.
The system enhancements
include the ability to send email
reminders to managers about
milestone events such as employee anniversaries; the ability to
send tailored emails to participants
at any time and for any milestone, according to their points
and reward levels; and the ability
to report participant redemption
levels.
“We realize the importance of
helping clients identify and reward
the efforts of high-value employees,” says Scott Siewert, vice
president of sales at USMotivation.
“The enhancements to our service
award module provide greater
opportunities to celebrate employee loyalty. We’ve designed our
system to make it easy for companies to engage and recognize
these employees, thereby boosting
retention and mitigating the cost of
employee turnover.” ■
—Donna M. Airoldi
