Properly Designed Manufacturer and Utility Instant Discount Programs

Posted On: February 7, 2024

An instant discount program is where a rebate is available to the ultimate consumer but is fulfilled at the point-of-installation or point-of-sale. The channel partner or trade ally is redeeming the incentive off their retail sales invoice via a net down, and then requesting reimbursement from the program sponsor. An improperly designed instant discount program prevents the manufacturer or utility from engaging the consumer directly, receiving attribution for the rebate, and collecting valuable selection analytics. There is also the possibility that delayed payments will cause dissatisfaction with the dealer/installer.

Our instant discount solution solves these programmatic flaws. The consumer journey begins with a web-based pre-application that enables customer education, rebate attribution, and capturing of analytics and email addresses. The pre-application portal and email notifications offer multiple touchpoints. The pre-approval process concludes with an approval code being issued to the consumer.

Next, the consumer provides that pre-approval code to their chosen dealer/installer who completes the job and submits an installation notification via one of our mobile apps, SpiffCapture or DSMally. The installation notification is instantly matched up to the customer pre-approval record so the minimum amount of data is asked of the dealer/installer and so the incentive record can be quickly approved, closed out, and paid. The mobile app can include geo-tagged photos using the device’s camera as well as an optional e-signature from the customer to acknowledge a completed job. Post-installation surveys can be issued for additional analytics, satisfaction, cross-selling opt-in campaigns.

An additional incentive opportunity exists for pairing spiffs and/or for utility midstream programs. The participating wholesale distributors provide their shipment data as a reference source. Each installation notification performs a lookup for a matching shipment record using unique identifiers such as model and serial number or pattern and invoice number. Matches are deemed auto validated and can be quickly fulfilled including both the instant rebate reimbursement and the sales spiff.

Please contact us at sales@incentit.com for further information.