What dealers want from tire incentives (and what they ignore)

With so many tire manufacturer incentives vying for dealers’ attention, delivering the program experience they actually want can be the difference between boosting engagement and getting ignored.

We know from our tire manufacturer incentive programs that dealers have similar wants across the board: more personalization, easy-to-follow processes, clear rules and rewards that recognize their hard work. Sounds simple, right? And yet most projects resort to one-time promotions to boost sales without increasing long-term engagement.

Let’s explore how to create a tire incentive program that achieves the revenue and growth you’re looking for.

Related: 3 signs it’s time to re-evaluate your dealer incentive program

Driving engagement at every stage of the dealer journey

Tire dealers need different things throughout the life of the program. What’s exciting at launch can feel stale weeks or months into working toward your reward. That’s why momentum matters for long-term success.

I like to break the key engagement elements of a program into four areas: activation, engagement, training and claims. This breakdown makes it easier to motivate dealers throughout their journey, looking at what’s working and what’s not element by element.

Activation: Create excitement for the incentive program 

At this early stage, you need to convince dealers that participating in your program is worth their time and effort. Highlight what makes your program unique and why it’s valuable.

• What dealers want: Easy-to-understand incentives that inspire immediate action and foster long-term commitment to the manufacturer’s programs
• What dealers ignore: Complicated programs with vague rules or difficult-to-achieve rewards
  

Successful strategies

1. Bonuses for new counter sales reps (CSRs)

Reward new CSRs with a bonus once they reach specific milestones to accelerate their engagement. Timely rewards create an immediate sense of value.

2. Tiered earning formats

Implement a multilevel earning structure so participants get small rewards early but unlock higher rewards as their sales volume increases. This makes sure there isn’t too large of a gap between rewards while also incentivizing growth.

3. Role-relevant rewards

Design meaningful incentives and messaging that speak directly to the unique role, customer base and business model to increase buy-in and program participation.

4. Engagement and recruitment elements focused on field teams

• Inspire the field team to recruit new CSRs and encourage current program participants. Providing tools, such as overviews and FAQs, equips territory managers to answer questions efficiently.
• Offer attractive rewards for those facilitating new CSR enrollments. Expanding the program’s reach to include service and support roles encourages a culture of advocacy and widens reach. 

Related: Generating enthusiasm for a revamped channel incentive program

Engagement: Personalize the dealer experience

To keep dealers and CSRs engaged long term, your incentive program must be memorable and personalized. Programs that don’t have timely communications are easy to forget.

• What dealers want: Clear communications sent at key touchpoints to keep up the program’s hype, especially as they work toward higher rewards
• What dealers ignore: Generic messaging that makes the program blend in with all the other incentives they’re enrolled in

Successful strategies

1. Personalized promotions

Tailor promotions and communications based on individual preferences, engagement levels and dealer profiles. Developing personas based on common dealer behavior patterns you’re seeing can help you start personalizing your promotions without feeling overwhelmed.

2. Recognition programs

Establish recognition and top performer programs to highlight exceptional achievements and foster brand advocacy among the most influential dealer groups.

3. Dynamic communications

• Launch exciting promotions at key touchpoints when engagement starts to falter.
• Send due date reminders to maximize participation.
• Provide status updates to keep participants informed of how close they are to meeting their reward goals.
• Automate personalized emails to go out when claim submissions decrease or if a participant has not logged in for 30 days.

Training: Reward the behaviors that grow sales

Data shows, on average, dealers who complete five or six courses have more successful claims than those who don’t. Incentivizing training and education is a key part of successful incentive programs, but it’s often overlooked. When your dealers have a strong knowledge base, they achieve their sales goals faster.

• What dealers want: Resources to help them understand and sell more products (benefitting both you and them)
• What dealers ignore: Incentive programs that don’t invest in their personal development—caring for their needs shows that you value strengthening your relationship

Successful strategies

1. Targeted education incentives

Identify dealer groups with lower course completion rates and offer targeted bonuses for completing key training modules. This lifts overall competency and participation. 

2. Progress tracking

Make it easy for dealers to see what training courses are available and how many they have completed. Learning and development is often one of the first things to be de-prioritized during busy periods, so trackers keep it top of mind. 

3. Recognition for ongoing education

Badges on the platform give recognition for training milestones, encouraging others to develop their skills and emphasizing how training is a valuable use of time.

Claims: Make submissions fast and simple

Claims are a necessary step for dealers to turn their hard work into rewards, but submitting them can feel tedious. Make the administrative part quick so dealers remember the emotional impact of recognition, not the frustration of entering their data.  

• What dealers want: Streamlined, transparent and fast processes for submitting and managing claims  
• What dealers ignore: Unclear and tedious submission requirements that lead to frustration and wasted time 

Successful strategies 

1. Automation (with human oversight)

Use AI to streamline as much of the claim submission process as possible, but make sure you have safeguards in place and human oversight to address any claims the system flags. 

2. Timely reminder

Send reminders if dealers haven’t submitted a claim in a while or if they have documentation to provide. Administrative tasks can be easy to forget, especially on hectic days. 

3. Clear status updates

Make sure the dealer is kept aware of each claim’s status so they aren’t left unsure why it hasn’t been paid yet or when to expect payment.

Personalization matters at every stage of the incentive journey

If there’s one takeaway about what tire dealers want, it’s that personalization goes far in making the experience feel worthwhile. If you need to differentiate your incentive offerings from others in the market, that’s the first step I recommend. Remember, while dealers are your business partners, they’re also people. And putting them first, showing that you value their contributions and want to give them the best experience possible, is a sure way to motivate them to do more business with you.

Dive deeper into what’s possible when manufacturers’ incentive programs deliver what dealers are looking for in this example from one of our tire incentive programs.