Do loyalty programs work in B2B companies?
By Zach Links|7 min read|Updated Nov 21, 2024
Loyalty programs aren’t just for consumer companies — but they look a bit different in the B2B world. Business customers make larger, less frequent purchases and care more about long-term value than immediate rewards.
The cost of acquiring a new customer can be up to 7x higher than retaining a current customer. Yet many B2B companies neglect customer retention in favor of acquisition. According to Gartner, only 10% of B2B businesses prioritize keeping existing customers — creating a huge opportunity for companies that get loyalty right.
Loyalty programs help counter the long sales cycles and high cost of business customer acquisition. An effective program can reduce customer churn and increase the lifetime value of your most important accounts.
The key is designing the right program for your business goals. Rewards that work for consumers may fall flat with business customers who care more about service quality and expertise.
This guide will show you how to create a B2B loyalty program that drives retention and growth. We'll cover proven strategies based on behavioral science research and real examples from successful programs.
Table of contents
Why loyalty programs can be valuable for B2B
B2B loyalty programs deliver several key benefits beyond recurring and net-new revenue. They provide valuable data about customer behavior and preferences that can inform product development.
For example, a software company might discover through its loyalty program data that customers who attend product training sessions in their first month are more likely to renew subscriptions, leading the customer success team to prioritize early education initiatives.
According to research from the Journal of Economic Perspectives, incentives work best when they're large enough to matter but not so large that they crowd out intrinsic motivation — a business partner's genuine interest in the relationship beyond just financial benefits. This balance is especially important in B2B relationships where trust and partnership are crucial — and cost savings aren’t necessarily the best motivator.
Loyalty programs also help identify your most valuable customers early. This allows you to provide enhanced service and support to accounts with the highest potential lifetime value.
Well-designed B2B loyalty programs create opportunities for relationship building. They can incentivize participation in training sessions, industry events, and customer advisory boards — activities that strengthen the partnership beyond just transactions.
How to create a loyalty program
Effective B2B loyalty programs require careful planning and strategic implementation. Here's a step-by-step guide to building one that drives meaningful results.
1. Define clear objectives and metrics
Start with specific, measurable goals tied to your business outcomes. Consider whether you want to improve customer retention, increase revenue, or drive adoption of new products.
Your objectives should align with your company's broader growth strategy. Companies that align initiatives with overall business goals see 57% higher program success rates.
Choose metrics that directly demonstrate program impact. Beyond basic engagement numbers, track metrics like customer lifetime value, product adoption rates, and referral volumes. Use reporting dashboards that make it easy to monitor progress across short and long-term goals.
2. Design the right reward structure
You’ve got options when it comes to structuring your program. From tiers to points to spend ranges, there’s a wide variety of loyalty program types to support your customer preferences.
Tiered programs can work well for enterprise clients who value status and exclusive access to premium benefits. Research shows that tiered loyalty programs are especially effective at driving customer retention.
Points programs suit small businesses that make more frequent but smaller purchases. They provide achievable goals and a clear path to earning meaningful rewards. There may also be opportunities for gamification, which can significantly increase engagement.
Consider offering cashback or rebates for high-volume purchases. B2B buyers appreciate financial rewards that help their bottom line, but these should complement relationship-building benefits.
If you serve multiple different customer segments, develop special rewards for each. Enterprise clients might value dedicated support resources, while early-stage startups may prefer educational content and consulting services.
Create a clear value proposition for each reward type to help customers understand what they get and how it benefits their business.
3. Build in personalization and easy onboarding
Create distinct experiences for different customer segments and user roles. For example, a C-suite leader might receive highly customized, infrequent communications, while a regular user receives updates about product updates and reward opportunities.
Design an intuitive onboarding process that quickly demonstrates program value. Those first 30 days are critical — 86% of customers are more likely to be loyal to a business that provides educational and welcoming onboarding content after purchase.
Consider offering guided tours, video tutorials, and quick-start guides tailored to different user types. And make it easy for customers to track their progress and access benefits. A streamlined user experience helps drive consistent engagement.
4. Implement proper tracking and technology
Manually tracking program data and distributing rewards is time-consuming and error-prone. The right loyalty rewards platform can sync with existing business systems like CRMs and survey tools, instantly rewarding your customers when they hit key milestones. It can scale with your program's growth and handle any number of users, locations, and permission levels.
The same goes for program analytics and reporting. A modern rewards platform lets you track individual reward delivery and ensure customer satisfaction.
5. Focus on education and enablement
According to Forrester, companies with customer education initiatives see 7.4% higher retention on average. Develop comprehensive training resources that help customers succeed. Educational content and certification programs can help customers build expertise and get more value from your products and services.
User groups and community forums are another great way to facilitate learning from peers in similar roles and industries.
Consultation sessions with subject matter experts can also add value. For example, Brex offers billboard advertising consultation services as a loyalty reward option to demonstrate its commitment to customer success.
6. Communicate consistently and measure results
As with any successful program, consistency is key. Once your loyalty program has launched, be sure to:
Develop a clear communication calendar for program updates and achievements
Plan regular touchpoints to keep customers engaged without overwhelming them
Share success stories and best practices from other program members to drive adoption of new features and rewards
Collect quantitative and qualitative feedback to gauge customer sentiment and refine offerings over time
Schedule quarterly business review meetings to strengthen relationships and gather valuable feedback
Use data to demonstrate program ROI to both customers and internal stakeholders
4 examples of B2B loyalty programs
Lading B2B companies are using loyalty programs to strengthen customer relationships and achieve business goals. Here are four examples to get you inspired.
1. Celebrity Rewards
Celebrity Cruises launched its Celebrity Rewards loyalty program in 2015 to strengthen its position amid growing competition in the luxury cruise market. The program rewarded travel agents directly for bookings and offered higher commissions for premium cabin categories, driving more than 12,000 travel agents to participate.
The program used a points-based system where agents earned 500 to 1500 points per booking, depending on cabin class. Points converted directly to cash rewards on a reloadable Mastercard once agents reached the 2,500-point threshold, making the benefits tangible and easily accessible.
2. Lenovo LEAP
Lenovo faced a unique challenge when acquiring IBM's System X86 server division in 2014: retaining IBM's existing business partners who were unfamiliar with Lenovo in the server market. Their solution was the Lenovo Expert Achievers Program (LEAP), which combined education with sales incentives.
The program focused on two key components. Learn & Earn awarded points for completing educational modules, while Sell & Earn rewarded partners for server sales. This dual approach helped partners build expertise while driving revenue.
The results were remarkable. LEAP participants sold 7x more Lenovo products than non-participants, and the program exceeded its educational completion targets by 200% and revenue targets by 40%.
3. HP Planet Partners
HP created Planet Partners to help business customers manage end-of-life technology sustainably. The program offered a comprehensive solution for recycling and repurposing everything from ink cartridges to enterprise hardware.
The program took a multi-tiered approach, offering cash incentives for trade-ins while also providing free recycling options. Partners could choose to extend device life through upgrades, trade in equipment for value, or recycle materials that couldn’t be reused. By helping partners meet their own sustainability targets, HP strengthened customer relationships while advancing its environmental mission.
4. Mailchimp & Co
Mailchimp needed a way to support the growing number of agencies and freelancers managing client email marketing campaigns. Their solution was Mailchimp & Co, a comprehensive partner program offering exclusive training, tools, and support for marketing service providers.
The program uses a tiered approach: members start with access to basic training and multi-client management tools, while partners unlock additional benefits like directory listings and priority support. Top performers receive enhanced visibility and co-marketing opportunities to grow their businesses.
Since launching in 2020, the program has helped Mailchimp strengthen its position in the email marketing industry, with its market share growing from 62.23% to 67.54%. The bottom line? Empowering partners with the right tools and support drove platform adoption and growth.
Loyalty program best practices
While each business has unique needs, these fundamental principles can help you set your B2B loyalty program up for success.
Measure and refine your program continuously. Regularly analyze program metrics to identify which rewards drive the most engagement and where you might need to adjust your approach.
Make rewards achievable and meaningful. The most effective B2B programs balance short-term incentives with long-term benefits.
Create a community around your program. Facilitate connections between customers to increase program stickiness and gather valuable feedback.
Align your program with broader customer success initiatives. Loyalty should reinforce and enhance other aspects of the customer experience.
Summary
B2B loyalty programs require a different approach than consumer rewards. Successful programs start with your customer business needs and deliver value that goes beyond basic points and discounts.
Clear objectives, proper segmentation, and consistent measurement form a solid foundation, while program design incentivizes customers to achieve their business goals while strengthening their relationship with your business.
The key to long-term operational success is making your program easy to manage and scale. Manual tracking and reward distribution create unnecessary complexity that can undermine even well-designed programs. A loyalty rewards platform can save you time and simplify your reporting and optimization efforts.
Up next: Do loyalty programs really work? Here's what the research says.
FAQs
Updated November 21, 2024
