March 10, 2025
Channel Partner
Giving rewards to your channel partner is a great way to strengthen your relationships with your partners and boost sales. But how do you know if this is actually working?
Just launching a channel partner reward program isn’t enough, you need to measure its success continuously. Without tracking the engagement of your partners, you will not know if your rewards are truly effective to your respective partners.
Measuring how well your reward program is working helps certify that you are getting a good return on investment and your partners remain motivated to sell your products or services.
In this blog, we will discuss why measuring a channel partner reward program is important and how a platform like The Reward Store can make this process easier for you.
Running a channel partner reward program costs money, time and other resources. If you don’t measure its success rate, you might be spending or wasting time on something that isn’t giving any proven results. So, let’s discuss why tracking the success of your reward program is necessary:
1. Helps you reach your goals: Whether you want to grow your partner network, boost sales or keep the partners engaged, tracking KPIs shows your program progress.
2. Shows what needs to improve: If your program isn’t working as on expected level, the data helps you see what needs to be fixed.
3. Gives you better insights: Understanding your partner behaviors actually lets you adjust the available rewards to make the program more attractive.
4. Makes rewards more effective: Tracking results ensures your incentives are actually motivating your partners to participate in it and perform better.
6 Key metrics to track the success of your channel partner rewards
What if you gave a gift to someone only to find out that they never used it? It is quite disappointing, right?
The same goes for your channel partner reward program also. Just offering a reward isn’t enough, you need to know if the rewards are actually making an impact on them or not.
That’s where the tracking of the reward system comes in.
Think of it like the way you check your phone’s battery. You don’t just assume that the battery charge will last all day, you keep an eye on the percentage.
In the same way, measuring the key metrics helps you see what’s working and what needs improvement in the channel partner rewards program.
From redemption rates to partner engagement, keeping track of the right data can help you fine-tune your program and make it truly a rewarding experience for your partners.
Let’s break down the 6 key metrics that shows if your channel partner rewards are successful or need changes to be an effective program.
To check whether your channel partner reward program is on the right track or not, keep an eye on the following success factors:
The first step to knowing if your channel partner reward program is working or not is by checking the participation rate of your partners. If only a few are involved means the program might not be exciting or well-communicated for them to be a part of.
To track the engagement rate of your partner:
• Check the percentage of the eligible partners participation
• See how often they log into the partner portal
• Count how many rewards they have claimed
To get more partners involved in the channel partner rewards program, you should clearly explain the benefits of the program. Keeping the program simple and offering different types of rewards to the partners specific needs can also work.
One of the main goals of a channel partner reward program is to increase the sales of the company. Partners who are encouraged and active will sell more and it will therefore increase the company’s sales as well.
To track the partners are boosting sales, try:
• Compare the sales before and after launching the channel reward program • Check if the partners in the program sell more than those who aren’t • Look at the average deal size they cracked before and after
The boost sales can be increased by providing sales training and product knowledge classes to the partners. Offering bigger rewards can also push them to achieve higher sales targets within the preferred time.
Keeping the partners loyal is the outcome of a great reward program. If your partners are leaving for your competitors, then something is missing out and are making them to leave. The reason should be identified and cleared soon to make it a successful channel partner incentive.
• Check how many partners stick around year after year
• See if the partners who get rewards are staying longer than those who don’t • Talk to the partners who leave to find out the reason
To keep your partners loyal, build a strong relationship with them as a personal engagement and provide constant support to help them succeed in their respective field. These rewards should also offer a long-term loyalty point and some special incentives to make your partners stay longer.
Not all the rewards work the same way. Some partners prefer cash, while others prefer training courses, travel benefits or any other exclusive deals.
To track the effectiveness of the rewards on your partners:
• Ask partners what rewards they actually want
• Check how often different rewards get claimed and whether those rewards lead to a better performance or not.
• Test with different reward types to find out what rewards work best for your partners.
At the end of the day, the program should make sense financially. Spending more on rewards than you are earning is not exactly how it should work. If it is not perfectly reflecting on the ROI, then that means the channel partner reward program is not cheering your partners.
To check if it is actually working, track it by:
• Comparing the total reward costs to the revenue generated.
• Checking the profit margins on the partner- driven sales.
• Test whether increasing or decreasing the rewards changes the performance.
Net promoter rates (NPS) tell you how likely your partners are to recommend your brand to others. It indicates that the partner's satisfaction with the channel partner reward program is not promising.
To make it out, you should run certain surveys asking partners how likely they will recommend your brand on a scale length (scale 1-10). Also, tracking the NPS over time can see if the reward program is making any uplifting satisfaction to your partners or not.
Churn rate shows the percentage of your partners who stopped engaging with the program. A high churn rate means the partners are losing the interest or facing any issues with the channel partner reward program.
The Reward Store is a smart and digital platform that makes it easy to create, manage and track your channel partner reward program. It helps you see what’s working and what’s not, so you can keep your partners engaged and motivated.
Here are some features of Reward Store:
• Personalized Rewards: It suggests rewards based on what your partners actually want.
• Real-time insights: It helps in tracking the key performance numbers and make your program drive better results.
• Easy Interface: It connects smoothly with your HR or CRM.
• Automated Payouts: Rewards reach your partners on time, without keeping them waiting, improving the customer satisfaction.
• Simple Documentation: The documentation process is very clear and transparent. You will get a complete understanding of the costs and processes, with no hidden charges.
• Multi-currency wallet: They provide a multi-currency wallet from which you can seamlessly transfer your money from one wallet to another, without going through the complex steps of bank transfers in multiple regions.
With Reward Store, you can easily monitor your program in real time and make smarter decisions in boosting your partner involvement in increasing more sales and boosting the company’s ROI.
Running a channel partner reward program should be like planning a surprise party for your beloved ones. You put in all the effort, but the real question is, are they actually enjoying the party or is it making them happy?
Similarly, just giving out rewards isn’t enough. You need to know if the channel partner rewards are making an impact on your partners or not.
Are your partners excited about them? Are they staying engaged and bringing in more business? Or are they just ignoring the whole rewards program altogether?
Finding answers to all these questions matters as it will help in establishing a strong base for the channel partner rewards program. That’s why tracking your program’s success is just as important as running it.
For an easy way of understanding, think of it like using a fitness tracker. In addition to exercising, you also check your steps, calories burned and your progress over time on that tracker.
In the same way, keeping an eye on key numbers of the program can help you understand what all are making your partner occupied and what needs to be changed or improved.
However, what is the positive aspect here? It is that you don’t have to do all these processes manually now.
Platforms like Reward Store make it super easy to track these numbers, adjust your strategies and also keep your partners active with interesting and better rewards on store.
By using the right tools and paying attention to the right signs, you can build a reward program that actually works and not just the one that exists without any benefit.
Thus, start measuring your channel partner reward program today and take your partner engagement to the next level.
Because what’s the point of having a channel partner reward program if no one’s excited about them?