Global Reward Solutions is an online reward management system and the world’s leading source for incentives and rewards on-demand. Global Reward Solutions partner’s with loyalty, recognition and performance companies around the world to help them provide their customers with the greatest possible reward selection and value along with best-in-class service levels.

If you are a provider of global reward solutions and would like more information about our “SaaS” (“software as a service”) solution for global rewards please visit www.globalrewardsolutions.com or call 1-866 451 2225

Global Reward Solutions is an online reward management system and the world’s leading source for incentives and rewards on-demand. Global Reward Solutions partner’s with loyalty, recognition and performance companies around the world to help them provide their customers with the greatest possible reward selection and value along with best-in-class service levels.

If you provide global reward solutions and would like more information about our On Demand, web-based software solution please visit www.globalrewardsolutions.com or call 1-866 451 2225.

Global Reward Solutions is an online reward management system and the world’s leading source for incentives and rewards on-demand. Global Reward Solutions partner’s with loyalty, recognition and performance companies around the world to help them provide their customers with the greatest possible reward selection and value along with best-in-class service levels.

If you are a provider of employee recognition programs and would like more information Global Reward Solutions “software as a service” based solution please visit www.globalrewardsolutions.com or call 1-866 451 2225.

Global Reward Solutions is an online reward management system and the world’s leading source for incentives and rewards on-demand. Global Reward Solutions partner’s with loyalty, recognition and performance companies around the world to help them provide their customers with the greatest possible reward selection and value along with best-in-class service levels.

For more information about Global Reward Solutions please visit www.globalrewardsolutions.com or call 1-866 451 2225.

So, what should you look for when sourcing the right global reward management technology to facilitate your client’s domestic and global reward programs? And what kinds of rewards should it offer? 

When you partner with a Reward Solutions provider you need to have complete flexibility to configure reward catalogues to suit the many and diverse needs of your clients. Look to see that your solution provider offers a full API that enables you to browse, search and order reward catalog items as well as a dedicated portal access with features that include: 

• Full review access to all catalog details, including pricing
• Create unique galleries / stores to meet your client or program requirements
• Control when a catalog is available to downstream systems or program
• Determine the currency for reward costing
• For international programs, how does the solution will manage all the currency conversion calculations – this is key and mistakes here carry a big price tag 

Supplier data should be integrated either through a batch file process or though real-time APIs. In either scenario, the suppliers’ reward catalogs are kept up-to-date and maintained automatically. As additional reward catalogs are integrated into the reward API, they are automatically made available to you and your clients. This means seamless updates while minimizing costly and time consuming out of stocks as well as ensuring all pricing and currency fluctuations are being captured in a daily basis.  

Suppliers should have their own login credentials that provide them access to their catalog, reward and order information. Worldwide suppliers can choose how they want to integrate both catalog/reward management and order management:

• SOAP-based API
• Secure ftp
• Manual 

Your solutions provider should also provide a fully integrated in-bound call center providing Tier 2 support with live chat connections to key suppliers. Tier 2 customer support should be available in multiple languages to ensure you receive timely and accurate responses.  

Program managers should have access a real-time order summary with real-time account balances to easily track the status and payment of their orders. 

So where’s the Steak?  

All this talk about technology and currencies really ignores the real reason we are doing this in the first place which is to motivate and change behavior. While the debate as to what delivers the best results is best left for another day – your reward provider should cover all key reward categories including:

Merchandise

On-Demand integration with leading online retailers provides the latest and most compelling rewards available while delivering the best selection, service and value. 

Digital Rewards

Digital rewards will revolutionize how we deliver rewards especially globally. Music, movies and book downloads  are some of the most popular digital reward options available today but look for some very exciting new entries including:

Mobile wallet – delivering virtual gift cards, Visa and Mastercard 

Event Tickets

Participants can get to see the shows they really want – even the most popular, sold-out ones. Participants can search by show, artist or city and view a map of the venue to locate their tickets before they purchase them.

Tickets to the world’s most popular events – sports, concerts, theatrical events and more

Includes “sold out” events and hard-to-get tickets 

Travel Rewards

Travel continues to be a top reward item in any incentive program but this category will soon see a major innovation with the launch of a new global travel portal site for loyalty, incentive and recognition companies. Participants will have access to an unlimited number of travel and event options including airfare, hotel, cruises, car rental and attractions all of which will be available through any gateway in the world. It does make you think! 

Experiences

Rapidly gaining in popularity are special activities or fascinating adventures that deliver that unique one-of-a-kind experience of a lifetime. Whether it’s a hot air balloon ride, white-water rafting or swimming with a Great White shark – we can make all that happen and more with the click of mouse and a few well deserved points.

Technology is the enabler and you drive program success through a carefully executed strategic plan that delivers members the rewards and fun that they want. In the end the debate about what drives motivation is as long as a string and as varied as there are participants.

In the end offering the best possible selection will drive results because only I know what I want today!

For more information about Reward Management Solutions and the factors that should be considered when choosing a top-notch rewards solutions provider please call 905-477-3971 or visit www.globalrewardsolutions.com

Take a look at these features and as you do just think about how much your company spends today performing these same services for your clients and then picture a fully automated global supply chain.

In our last article we released our “Top 10 Checklist” of what a Global Rewards Solutions Provider should consider when choosing a Global Rewards Technology to support a Global Rewards Program. Here is a brief re-cap:

1. Superior Reward Selection
2. Global Catalogues
3. Catalogue Management
4. Automated Updates
5. Order Tracking
6. Translations
7. What’s New – Nothing stays the same and this is very true within reward management. One example of this is streaming media which will very soon replace the need for I-pods and MP3’s altogether – all you need is an account and you can build your very own radio station. Your reward provider had better be developing a constant flow of new reward delivery options as well as new sources that provide higher service levels and value.
8. A SaaS based White Labelled Solution
9. A Customer Service Team
10. Global Currency Management

Incentive, recognition and loyalty companies can realize significant cost and time savings by partnering or licensing with a “Reward Solutions Provider”. These companies will instantly expand your domestic and global reward selection while also delivering strong value, centralized procurement all within a scalable reward management solution that can take enable your company to expand on a global scale.

Companies who are able to deliver employee rewards through SaaS technology will offer a more competitive service than companies who do not offer Software as a Service solutions. In a recent survey, Information Week reported that the percentage of respondent companies who use Software as a Service technology climbed 13 points in just 11 months, from 47% in their 2010 survey to 60% in 2011.

In December 2011, Info Tech Spotlight reported that IBM conducted a study with over 3,000 global CIOs. The findings showed that around 60% of organizations were now ready to take on cloud computing over the coming five years, and they have accepted it as a way to expand their businesses and gain a competitive edge.

These numbers are hard to ignore. Companies who have already adopted SaaS technology into their workflow will likely want to deliver their recognition, incentive, loyalty and reward programs through SaaS as well, integrating everything together.

For more information about Software as a Service Solutions for Reward Management as well SaaS based Recognition, Incentive and Loyalty solutions, please call 905-477-3971 or visit www.globalrewardsolutions.com.

Providing global rewards solutions involves many moving variables. A global rewards solutions provider must be able to present their client with a solution that offers accessibility, ease of use, access to a vast range of global supply chain partners, a secure means to store and deliver data, training, support, scalability and more.

Organizations have found themselves investing thousands, if not millions of dollars into IT resources to support third party software applications. Traditionally, the cost to purchase, install, customize, maintain and support these software applications has fallen on the end user. This is in addition to costs incurred when an organization grows.

Your clients can say goodbye to expensive servers and support because SaaS technology solves this problem.

Because the rewards program provider hosts the software centrally, they bear the responsibility of supporting it. This means the cost of support does not fall on you or the end user. They are also left with the responsibility of securing your data, which should not prove challenging if you partner with a company that has a proven track record of offering secure services.

Rewards program providers who partner with a good SaaS rewards solutions partner stand to benefit from an all-in-one solution. A good rewards solution technology partner will offer a total solution that is hosted centrally, is available online and is easily customizable.

Accessibility is an important consideration. SaaS is an “On Demand” method that involves delivering software online so it is accessible from anywhere there is an Internet connection.

Not only does SaaS remove expensive infrastructure costs but it is also a major asset to global enterprises operating from more than one location.

Working with a SaaS Solution provider who offers rewards solutions should involve an easy to use point-and-click customizable interface that can be customized to meet your client specifications as well as top-notch training and support. This results in reduced expense for IT resources because it reduces the need to hire high level IT staff to provide your clients with rewards solutions. Pursuing a solution that offers scalability will enable the SaaS rewards solution software to grow with the organization without the time and expense needed to source new supply chain partners as your company grows internationally.

Your Reward Management Solutions provider should provide not only a strong domestic reward solution but also enable your company to instantly add new reward solutions for any country around the globe. We are seeing more and more global RFP’s which means that if you cannot meet this requirement you are no longer in the game.

Partnering with a SaaS Software solutions provider who specializes in Global Rewards Solutions truly does enables you to instantly meet the global needs of your clients. Global Solution providers deliver a turn-key, all-in-one solution that creates more time for you to focus on building your business while offering your clients superior service and support on a global scale.

For more information about Global Rewards Solutions delivered through SaaS or Software as a Service, please call 905-477-3971 or visit www.globalrewardsolutions.com.

Here is our “Top 10 Checklist” of what a Global Rewards Solutions Provider should consider when choosing a Global Rewards Technology to support a Global Rewards Program.

1.  Reward Selection: Start with the fact that you no longer need to source, select and aggregate data from many suppliers, with RMS you get one central data feed that includes every major reward category and all invoicing is centralized and paid on-line. Finally paperless accounting!

2.  Global Catalogues: Few solution providers get beyond their own border but there is a growing number of Global Reward Solutions that offer a fully built out global solution. Reward delivery on a global scale through one simple API connection…now that Rewards on Demand!

3.  Catalogue Management: Most Reward Management Solutions include robust catalogue management tools enabling your account team set up, filter and design client specific reward catalogues.

4.  Automated Updates: Possibly the most important feature of a good RMS is the ability to automatically update all reward data but you must look for a RMS solution that offers daily and even real time data updates which ensures your clients are viewing the latest and most accurate reward selection; this feature will dramatically reduce out of stocks.

5.  Order Tracking: Your RMS provider must provide you with a robust order management dashboard enabling your Customer Service team to track and verify all orders including courier tracking ID numbers.

6.  Translations: Again, good RMS’s provide all data in the language of the host country, for countries like Canada and even across Europe you may need multiple languages for a single country. This is often a deal breaker for most providers since this requires specialized applications to manage dialects such as Russian and many Asian languages.

7.  What’s New! Nothing stays the same and this is very true within reward management. One example of this is streaming media which will very soon replace the need for I-pods and MP3’s altogether – all you need is an account and you can build your very own radio station. Your reward provider had better be developing a constant flow of new reward delivery options as well as new sources that provide higher service levels and value.

8.  SaaS White Labelled Solution: You should make sure your provider offers a SaaS solution that is fully white labelled; fully data API’s also allow your company to add your own reward display design ensuring a higher degree of personalization over i-frame solutions which are static and cannot be customized.  

9.  Customer Service Team: Your reward partner will also prove Tier 2 customer service support which is a dedicated team who trouble-shoot any order escalations. This is vital service and this team will be your one-stop-shop when escalations occur; be sure to ask for their Service Level Agreements.   

10. Global Currency Management: When you evaluate your provider you must make sure they can also calibrate your points based on each country’s currency; this must be done on a daily basis as most currencies fluctuate daily and several countries like Venezuela have 25%+ inflation rates. Products and services that are bought locally one day are then sold to you by your provider who will convert the reward cost to your local currency and then you will in term convert this displayed your cost based on your point calculation. Your solution provider must be able to convert all costs globally to a single often US dollar equivalent and update these costs everyday!

For more information about choosing a Global Rewards Technology to Support a Global Rewards Program please visit www.globalrewardsolutions.com or call 905-477-3971