PFI Merchandise Specials Debut Online

You’ve asked for it and PFI has delivered. Now, in addition to our all-star online catalog lineup, you can include a new link to the PFI online Merchandise Specials website link. Here you will find one-of-a-kind deals and specials, deeply discounted merchandise as well as limited time offers. The items featured on this site will be constantly changing as hot deals are grabbed up by participants who have points to spend and are looking for a deal. This new feature costs nothing and adds a powerful new motivating feature to existing websites. To add it to your website contact sales@spihq.com 

Catalog Updates for 2005

2005 Deluxe Catalog
The 2005 PFI Deluxe Catalog offers new and exciting enhancements that are certain to make clients and participants take note. PFI buyers have spent the last year researching, sourcing and selecting a new and more popular than ever award lineup. They have added hot new products and new product manufacturers as well as expanded selections of some of the most popular brand names.

2005-2006 Deluxe-Lite Catalog
This popular point-based catalog is currently being updated and will be available in January 2005. The newest version of the “Deluxe-Lite” will again feature hundreds of brand name award selections with the majority of items valued well below $500. This exceptional catalog may look and feel “Lite,” but the award selection is heavy. Hundreds of the most popular selections will again be available as well as many new high-demand products and impressive new brand names.

Specific details and statistics about both catalogs will be provided in the next newsletter. Or, you can visit us at the PPAI Show in Las Vegas this coming January for details and a sample of each new award catalog.

Time For An Annual Review Of Your Business

The end is near. The end of the year that is, and that should mean that it’s time to review your customers, incentive programs, pending opportunities and your overall prospects for 2005. You probably already have some sort of formal or informal system for doing this. However, PFI wants to be sure you remember and include some of our dynamic and customer-driven incentive solutions. Here is a brief list to review all PFI can do to enhance existing programs, add value to programs on which you are currently bidding, and secure your position in your customers’ eyes as a solutions provider.

Catalog Award Flexibility
PFI has the largest collection of stock catalogs in the industry and for you this means award power and flexibility. As you review your current programs and program opportunities you may find some challenges for which the PFI catalog collection provides the right solution. Here are two examples:

Challenge
You are currently using/proposing the Deluxe-Lite catalog and find that many top performing participants are earning on average over $500 in awards.

PFI Catalog Solution
Introduce the Deluxe Catalog for top performers to present them with an even wider range of award value option. Make this a special announcement in recognition of their achievement or automatically send it when a participant’s earnings exceed $500.

Challenge
Your client has thousands of participants but really likes the Deluxe or Deluxe-Lite Catalog. However, the price of the catalog and/or the mailing costs for the catalog, make it nearly impossible to use.

PFI Catalog Solution
Send a limited quantity of the larger catalogs to key client locations and use the Mini-max award brochure for a mass mailing. This offers your client the best of both award vehicles and provides participants with access to the broadest range of award selections.

Custom Merchandise Selection
Even with eight stock award catalogs, you will run into circumstances where a broad range of general merchandise selections is not the best solution. Examples include participant bases where the average age is 18-25 or a majority male or female. Sometimes the client will have a theme-based incentive around health, entertainment or sports. In these cases PFI is ready to help. We have a team of professional buyers who are ready to develop a custom award solution that meets your customers’ goals. In addition to sourcing, PFI also has the capability to produce custom catalogs and brochures as well as websites to feature special award selections.

Incentive Program Communication Enhancements
Keeping participants informed, engaged and active in an incentive program is critical to its overall success. PFI provides several solutions to reach out to program participants in a way that engages them and motivates them to achieve program goals. These include:

• Online participant surveys (about the program, awards, customer service)
• Online knowledge quizzes (about participating products, services or program goals)
• Online mass e-mails (for bonus announcements, updates, winner’s lists)
• Catalog award wish list (get participants to set award goals)

Program Design Consultation
PFI is always ready to help you if you need assistance with developing an incentive application, writing a proposal or responding to an RFP. Please let us help. The PFI marketing department includes experienced incentive professionals who can help you throughout the sales process.

Rock ‘n Run The Warehouse
Are your customers looking for a unique once-in-a-lifetime experience for their top performers? The PFI Rock ‘n Run the Warehouse is a perfect solution. Depending on the budget, a Rock n’ Run the Warehouse can be conducted for one or more minutes. The participants are given a fixed amount of time to race up and down the aisles of merchandise grabbing what they can as fast as they can. At the end of the run, the winners go to a special checkout area where they total up their take. The merchandise is then moved onto pallets and participants can have their pictures taken with their merchandise bounty. Their selections are then processed and shipped to their homes. There is nothing like a Rock ‘n Run the Warehouse to deliver a memorable experience for your customer and their participants.

International Solutions
As reported in this newsletter over the course of 2004, PFI has expanded the scope of its international award fulfillment capabilities. Currently, in addition to Canada which we have been fulfilling for many years, PFI is now positioned to fulfill awards for participants and programs operated in Mexico and Europe. Soon, we will be adding Asia and the far east. PFI has gone global, so let your customers know their participants need not be excluded.

Increase Revenue By Increasing Redemption
Another end-of-the-year house keeping task is to take stock of each of your programs for which you receive your income when points are redeemed. For each program, review the point redemption status, specifically the amount and value of unredeemed points. You can generate valuable year-end revenue or give a quick infusion of revenue in the first months of 2005 by addressing non-redemptions. Here are some simple easy-to-implement solutions that may help you bring in those unredeemed points.


Introduce “Change Makers”
A “Change Maker” is any low value award that enables award winners with minimal point account balances to use up their earnings. The PFI Plateau Level One brochure at $17.50 per selection, or the first level of Reflections ($25.00) could be used to present participants with an enhanced selection of low-point valued merchandise. A special selection could also be created to fit your participant demographics or a specific program theme. Send all participants a copy of the special change maker award collection with a cover letter promoting the incredible value and opportunity to make an award selection NOW.

Segment And Promote Redemptions Based on Point Balances
Take a close look at your database and see how point balances are distributed. Is there a concentration of points at any certain value level? If there is, segment the participants into two or three groups based on the number of points in their account. Send a promotional letter to everyone with a point balance at or greater than the lowest value of award available. (You may need to develop a selection of “change maker” awards.) For those with larger point balances, follow up an initial letter with another promotional offer such as a sweepstakes or discount offer. Continue sending redemption reminders monthly to those with larger point balances and quarterly to those with smaller balances.

Present a Sweepstakes Bonus
Use an incentive within an incentive by offering participants special sweepstakes awards (personal electronics work great). Here are several sweepstake ideas:

• Award entries based on orders placed
• Award entries to the first 100 orders (or other appropriate number) placed

Present a Special Offer
There are several ways to promote redemption through special promotional offers:

• Present a new award catalog or unique award collection
• Offer a special selection of awards at discounted point values for a one or two month time frame
• Add the new PFI Merchandise Specials to your website

Simplify Order Redemption
Make it easy for participants to redeem their points. If the program is on a bank account system make IVR (Interactive Voice Response) orders available, or if it is, promote it. Offer online award selections and ordering.

Communication-Redemption Reminders
There is no limit to the creative ways you can send redemption reminders other than your imagination or the creative talent at hand. What you communicate, how you communicate, and how often depend on your understanding of why the redemption is slow. Here are a few examples:

• Create a series of promotional mailers that remind participants points equal rewards. Use clever or humorous headlines like “You’ve got a point. Use It!”
• Use mail merge to communicate an exact balance or total number of points unredeemed.
• Send a mailer promoting the kinds of awards other participants have redeemed. Include a list of the most popular selections.
• Send a promotional catalog quiz to engage participants in the award selection at hand (see the PFI March 2002 Newsletter available online for an example).
• Send a new catalog or award brochure or plateau brochure.
• Send an order form or send an order form and a pen for filling in their selection
• Point sharing and point transfers
  See if the client will allow their award winners to pool their points or to transfer small balances to someone else.

Why Do Points Go Unredeemed?
Beyond an effort to secure unredeemed points, it may be as equally important to look at the reasons why points are not being redeemed. Here are some of the most common reasons:

Point Evaporation
Employee turnover can have a major impact on redemption. Industries such as retail and fast food have notoriously high rates of employee turnover. In this incentive environment thousands of points are lost as employees leave. If you think this may be the cause of your redemption woes, try to learn more about the turnover rate. What’s the turnover rate after 3 months or 6 months? If it’s significantly lower, then you need to evaluate the average earnings at 3 or 6 months and compare it to the number of award selections that match the 3-6 month average earnings range. Possible solutions: You may need to add more low value awards- “change makers” to provide short timers with more award redemption options. You may also consider implementing incentive programs on a quarterly basis rather than a 12 month time frame.

Earnings Shortfall
Take a closer look at the average per participant point issuance and compare to the value of awards offered. You may find too few points have been issued to too many people and/or the award vehicle features too many selections out of reach of your participants. Possible solutions: You may need to present a brochure with smaller awards or you may need to look at ways to increase the budget or amend the program rules to increase the average earnings.

Point-Hoarding
High issuance and low redemptions could be a matter of participants hoarding or saving points to make larger purchases. If the client has run a program before, find out what the redemption history was. Was there a long period of accumulation with large redemption at the end of the program? Was there seasonal redemption, specifically around the holidays? Point loading is not really a problem as long as the points eventually get redeemed. Possible solution: You may want to consider using some of the redemption communication and promotion recommendations listed later in this article.

Left Over Points
You may find that a large pool of unredeemed points is being held by an equally large number of employees. Many times after participants redeem points for several items or a big ticket item, they are left with a small point balance. This is the most difficult type of point to get redeemed without an opportunity to issue/earn more on behalf of the participants.

The important thing to remember is that incentive programs are not fixtures. They can be changed, adapted, and enhanced to maximize the motivational value and generate the desired performance. Managing point redemptions is an important part of managing an incentive program. Getting participants to redeem their points can be challenging. But, if you correctly identify the factors that are adversely affecting redemption and use an appropriate strategy or strategies, the results will be motivationally rewarding for the winners and financially rewarding for you and your client.


PFI To Be At January PPAI Show in Las Vegas – Booth #2369

It’s a safe bet you will find PFI at the January PPAI show in Las Vegas. Our sales team will be at the PFI booth (Booth #2369) throughout the show. This is a perfect opportunity to spend time with incentive marketing professionals who are there to help you develop your incentive marketing strategy for 2005 and beyond.

Whether your opportunities include distribution channel sales and marketing incentives or employee performance and recognition incentives, PFI will work with you to develop an efficient and effective merchandise awards solution. And one of the most important factors that make us different from every other company in the business . . . we NEVER sell direct!

Stop by and lay your incentive cards on the table. Even though it’s Vegas, there are no “minimums” at our table—all players are welcome.


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