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INSIDER'S CORNER > Loyalty > The Ultimate Guide on B2B Loyalty Programs | Overview

The Ultimate Guide on B2B Loyalty Programs | Overview

Guide to B2B Loyalty Programs

Table of Contents

What are B2B Loyalty Programs?

A B2B loyalty program is a marketing strategy made to encourage repeat business volume and frequency and strengthen relationships between companies, while also encouraging brand stickiness and stability. Like all loyalty programs, B2B loyalty programs are about customer trust and benefits.

Traditionally, loyalty programs weren’t common for B2B businesses, mainly because of the extra time and effort required to manage them.

Many B2B businesses opt to experiment with a loyalty program, once they have the resources to launch them.

The good thing about B2B programs is that it indirectly tells clients that your business is doing well and that they can trust you to be a long-term partner, and encourage collaboration. In short, it helps with your overall corporate and brand image!

A Practical Example of a B2B Loyalty Program (MLM Companies)

Besides big corporate entities, are loyalty programs practical for other types of businesses? Well there is, and you might not expect to see this coming up.

Famous international direct sales companies (aka MLM companies) like Amway, Coway, Herbalife, USANA, etc., use a combination of different B2B loyalty program types with features like commission, referral, tier, team incentives, etc.

If you’re unfamiliar, MLM companies recruit users to become their agents/resellers, or even distributors. Most of the time, these resellers are also product users and earn a commission on revenue or agent recruited. Hence the need for different types of features in their loyalty programs.

Many of these MLM companies have intricate structures, and most of them even have a dedicated app for agents/partners to download to keep track of important data like referrals, commissions earned, sales tiers, and even company news and product information.

So, How Can Normal Businesses Go About B2B Loyalty Programs?

Yes – not everyone is a big corporation or MLM business owner. So let us answer the question, how can normal businesses go about B2B loyalty programs?

Depending on your business, many B2B businesses can benefit from subscription-based or cash-back programs. Let’s take office stationery or an HVAC company for example.

These companies can charge a monthly subscription or maybe a yearly retainer for clients to have a long-term commitment, making sure that they have good cash flow and continuous business.

Of course, make it worth your client’s while. Make them want to subscribe to your loyalty program, by giving perks like free maintenance, free upgrades, early access to new products, or simply giving things like personalized consultation and priority support can also do wonders.

If you’re interested, here’s a great case study that we’ve done for one of our B2B clients:

  • Industry: Office supplies wholesaler.
  • Context: They have their own e-commerce platform and manage transactions there.
  • Challenges: Lack of customer experience, the platform is not user-friendly – low customer retention.
  • Solution: We provided a robust loyalty program with:
    • A proprietary credit system that encourages clients to buy more credit upfront, improving cash flow and user stickiness.
    • Installment capabilities integrated into the platform.
    • Improved user experience (order flow, built-in quotation generator, etc.)
    • Customer service integration with chatbot capabilities.
  • Results: Over 1.5x overall customer lifetime value & 25% better user stickiness.

What are the Other Objectives of B2B Loyalty Programs?

Other than rewarding clients for their loyalty and encouraging long-term business, other objectives might improve customer experience.

For example, having a loyalty app can help your business stand out, especially if you sell products that are similar to what other companies offer. Commodity goods are things like basic supplies or raw materials that are pretty much the same no matter who sells them.

If the price and quality are the same, businesses will stick with the one that makes buying easier and better.

In the B2B space, this might mean making it super simple for customers to buy things—like letting them place an order with just one click and getting it delivered fast.

A loyalty app also gives customers a way to share feedback or get in touch with you. That’s why loyalty programs are so important for businesses like oil & gas companies (millions are invested every year)—they help them stand out from the competition.

Loyalty programs can also help increase how much and how often customers buy from you, this is what we call customer lifetime value. This could mean getting them to place larger orders or buy more often over time.

Most importantly, a B2B loyalty program shows that you’re a trustworthy business that offers value over the long term—not just a name on the quotation.

What are the KPIs & Metrics to Keep Track of For a B2B Loyalty Program?

Contrary to popular belief, the metrics used to measure B2B loyalty program success are very different from B2C ones. Unlike B2C, we don’t typically measure metrics like customer engagement.

In B2B, the most important metric to measure is how smooth and quick the operational processes are. If clients have deadlines to meet, they won’t have time to stick around and engage in your loyalty program.

Here are the different metrics that B2B businesses use to measure their loyalty program success:

  • Types of Consultation (new product introduction & showcase sharing).
  • Sales Pipeline Duration (how quickly can clients make a decision/how long does it take to complete a deal).
  • After-sales Service Intensity (how frequent/how many resources are needed to service clients).
  • Recurring Orders (usually tracked by B2B companies that sell goods).
  • Spending Per Client (usually tracked by B2B companies that sell services, like marketing agencies, etc.).
  • Upselling Frequency/Value (for both goods & service-based companies).

How to Get Started on a B2B Loyalty Program

Make Sure Your Rewards Match Industry Needs & Wants

The rewards are what make your B2B loyalty program attractive to clients. Usually, to determine the best rewards, you should look at what’s working for other companies in your industry.
Big players often have dedicated teams that understand customer behavior and industry trends, so it’s a good idea to observe their strategies.

Here are examples of what works for different industries:

  • Manufacturing/Wholesale: Volume discounts, early payment incentives, good payment terms.
  • Tech & SaaS: Subscription upgrades, extended trials, or access to early features
  • Logistics/Shipping: Priority service, free shipping on bulk orders
  • Professional Services (Consulting, Legal, etc.): Personalized consultation

The goal is to offer rewards that make your clients feel valued and incentivize them to keep coming back.

Implementing Your Loyalty Program

When you’re ready to launch, choosing the right tools and systems is key. As we’ve mentioned before in the B2B space, customer experience and smooth operational processes are the most important factors.

Ideally, you’ll want your B2B loyalty program to reflect that, and include intuitive things to make everything flow smoothly – like having an automatic invoice generator like we talked about before.

A closed-loop system works best for B2B businesses because it integrates your backend operations while providing a seamless experience for your partners.

Tracking, Tracking, Tracking

Tracking data efficiently is probably the most important thing you can do in a loyalty program. If you’ve been reading the article thoroughly until now, you should already know what type of data is important to track by now.

Remember, client data is important in B2B (not really engagement metrics). As a result, we’d highly recommend you get a CRM system if you don’t have one in place already.

A CRM, alongside other data collection technology, helps you keep all data in one place – keeping track of every single client touchpoint (like contacting customer service, upsells, etc.).

Having it all in your CRM, instead of it being fragmented in multiple databases makes sure that you have a ‘single customer view’, helping to build a persona of your clients.

This allows you to personalize your strategy for each client, helping you retain and reward them.

Prioritize Strategy Over Technology

A successful B2B loyalty program is built on a solid strategy, not just the latest technology. While advanced tools and platforms are important, they won’t help you if you don’t have a clear strategy in place.

Think about your short-term goals (like upselling or decreasing customer service load) and also long-term objectives (like strengthening partnerships).

Invest time in understanding your client’s needs and behaviors, and then use the right technology to support that strategy.

A loyalty program is a long-term investment, and without a clear roadmap, even the best tools won’t deliver the results you need.

Optimize Your Program Over Time

Once your program is up and running, make sure you continuously optimize it based on the data you collect.

Look at which clients are the most satisfied, upsell potential, and where you can improve.

With the right reporting tools, you’ll be able to track all of this and adjust your approach as needed, creating a program that evolves and delivers ongoing value.

Feedback is probably the most important thing in this category, as this usually shows what your clients are feeling. Other than a feedback form, you can also use NPS (Net Promoter Score) as a metric to track satisfaction.

The whole point of data is so you can optimize and improve your program over time. This makes sure that you can stay competitive in the market and don’t give clients a reason to switch to competitors.

Looking for a B2B Loyalty Program Provider?

If you’ve made it this far, we’re guessing you’re considering a loyalty program for your B2B business.

Whether you’re just getting started with CRM, or you need expert advice on loyalty programs, KlikNGo can help at any stage of your digital journey.

Check out our loyalty program product page, or if you’re feeling bold, reach out for a free consultation! We’re here to help.

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