Marketing teams in industries like insurance, automotive, retail and agriculture face a recurring challenge: how to effectively promote bolt-on products and services. This task can feel especially daunting when operating in a financially regulated environment. For internal marketing teams, it’s not uncommon to hit roadblocks when trying to devise fresh campaigns, especially when faced with restrictions, budget limitations, and an increasingly crowded market.
The Campaign Conundrum
Internal marketing teams are often caught between needing to drive sales of high-margin, bolt-on services and navigating the complex regulatory frameworks of industries. These bolt-on products – extended warranties, service packs, or insurance add-ons – can be lucrative revenue streams. However, they are notoriously tricky to promote without coming off as a hard sell, which can alienate customers.
Key challenges include:
- Struggling to develop fresh ideas: The need for innovation is ever-present, yet creating campaigns that break through the noise of competitors can be difficult.
- Campaign limitations: Selling these add-on products in a regulated environment often comes with tight restrictions on how promotions can be presented.
- Budget constraints: Designing a successful campaign that fits within budgetary limits while also delivering meaningful results is a balancing act.
- Reaching retail staff: It’s essential to pique the interest of retail sales teams, who are often the direct link between the product and the customer. Yet, cutting through the distractions of competing priorities is easier said than done.
Incentive Programmes: A Solution
Incentive programmes are a powerful tool to raise the profile of bolt-on products and services. By offering strategic, targeted incentives, internal marketing teams can achieve their goals of driving sales and increasing product awareness without violating any regulatory constraints.
FMI specialises in helping companies design and implement sales incentives that work – even in highly regulated industries. We understand the nuances and complexities of these environments, and we have a proven track record of delivering incentive solutions that are not only compliant but also highly effective.
Our incentive consultants offer strategic advice on how to create tailored incentive programmes that excite retail staff and motivate them to sell higher-margin products and services.
The struggles of selling bolt-ons
Selling bolt-on products and services – think insurance, extended warranties, and service packs – should be a priority for businesses as they offer higher profit margins and can help cement longer-term customer relationships. However, for retail sales teams, they often become an afterthought. Here’s why selling bolt-on products is a struggle and frequently overlooked by sales teams.
- Lack of Customer Awareness
One of the biggest challenges is that customers are often unaware of the bolt-on services being offered. Whether it’s an extended warranty on a household appliance or an insurance package for a mobile phone, customers come into the store with one primary focus: the product. They aren’t necessarily looking for add-ons unless they’re prompted to consider them.
This puts the onus on the sales staff to introduce and sell these services. But this can be a tough sell when the primary goal is to secure the initial sale of the main product. Sales teams may feel that getting customers interested in additional products dilutes their focus, especially if it isn’t perceived as critical in the customer’s mind.
- Competing for Attention in a Crowded Retail Environment
Retail is a fiercely competitive space, with many brands vying for the attention of both consumers and sales teams. This competition extends into the staff room where multiple brands are trying to capture the attention of salespeople through incentives, posters, and internal communications. Whether it’s product training, company updates, or promotional offers, the sheer volume of information can overwhelm retail staff. As a result, bolt-on services often get lost in the noise.
- The Path of Least Resistance
When faced with the pressure to close sales and meet targets, it’s only natural for salespeople to choose the path of least resistance. Selling the main product is already a challenge in today’s competitive retail landscape, so adding a bolt-on service to the conversation can feel like an unnecessary complication.
Bolt-on products and services are not always perceived as easy to sell. There’s the need to explain the benefits, handle objections, and convince customers to invest in something they may not feel is immediately necessary. For a busy salesperson with other priorities, this added layer of complexity might feel like more trouble than it’s worth.
- Customer Resistance to Additional Costs
Many customers come into a store with a specific budget in mind. Once they’ve decided to purchase a high-ticket item, the idea of spending more on extras, like insurance or extended warranties, may not be appealing. The additional costs of these bolt-on services are often met with resistance, as customers feel they’ve already spent enough on the main purchase.
Customers are naturally wary of being “upsold” and may view bolt-ons as unnecessary. Unless they’ve experienced a product issue in the past, they might not immediately see the value. This makes it harder for sales teams to justify why the bolt-on is worth the extra cost.
- Not Critical Until It’s Needed
The reality is many bolt-on products are not considered critical by the customer – until they need them. It’s not until something goes wrong, such as a phone breaking or an appliance malfunctioning, that customers realise the importance of the add-on. This creates a disconnect: salespeople are trying to sell a product that solves a problem the customer hasn’t experienced yet. In these cases, salespeople must help the customer understand the potential value of the bolt-on, the sale becomes more about convincing customers of future benefits.
FMI has helped increase sales performance for brands in financially regulated industries such as finance, insurance, automotive and agricultural sectors. For insurance provider SquareTrade, we helped scope and design customer and sales agent promotional campaigns suitable for use across European retail partners.
Marketing bolt-on products and services specifically in the insurance industry comes with significant challenges. Teams must find ways to keep campaigns fresh, motivate sales staff, and engage customers, all while navigating strict regulatory constraints.
- Stale Product Offering, Fresh Campaigns
Marketing teams struggle to create new, engaging campaigns when the core products remain unchanged year after year. Keeping both customers and sales agents interested in familiar propositions is a constant challenge. To stay competitive, teams often look for external partners with creative expertise from other industries, helping inject fresh ideas and perspectives into campaigns.
- Compliance Constraints
Insurance is highly regulated, and marketing teams must carefully design campaigns that meet legal standards. Re-inventing campaign mechanics for every product or market is not feasible due to compliance. To work efficiently, teams need pre-approved strategies that work within these constraints, but still allow for creativity and customer engagement.
- Motivating Sales Agents
Sales agents often focus on high-ticket items, leaving bolt-ons like extended warranties or insurance as an afterthought. In a crowded retail environment with multiple competing promotions, getting agents to prioritise bolt-ons requires clear, compelling campaigns and effective incentive programmes.
- Customer Resistance
Customers tend to resist bolt-on products, viewing them as unnecessary expenses unless they’ve experienced an issue before. Marketing teams must help sales agents communicate the long-term value of these products, emphasising peace of mind and future protection.
Promotional mechanics that drive engagement
Driving engagement, especially for bolt-on products and services, requires creative and strategic promotional mechanics. The right incentive can grab attention, motivate sales teams, and encourage customers to see the value in add-on products.
Here’s a list of effective promotional mechanics that can help boost engagement and sales:
Prize Draws
Incorporate prize draws to incentivise both customers and sales teams. By offering exciting and relevant rewards—whether it’s tech gadgets, gift vouchers, or exclusive experiences—prize draws can motivate participants to take action. For sales teams, it adds an element of competition, driving them to promote bolt-ons with greater enthusiasm.
Gift with Purchase
A classic, but effective, promotional mechanic. By offering a free gift with the purchase of a bolt-on product (e.g. a free accessory with an extended warranty), you create an additional hook for customers. This strategy can attract those who might be on the fence about purchasing extra services, turning the gift into a deal-closer.
Cashback Offers
Cashback incentives can be a great way to sway price-sensitive customers. By offering a rebate on bolt-on products you add tangible value that can make the purchase more appealing. Cashback offers also give companies flexibility to adjust timing and amounts to suit strategic objectives.
Loyalty Programmes
Offering loyalty points or rewards for purchasing bolt-on services keeps customers coming back. Loyalty programmes encourage long-term engagement by providing ongoing benefits for future purchases, which can build deeper customer relationships and increase lifetime value.
At FMI, we specialise in creating tailored incentive solutions designed to maximise engagement and boost sales. We work closely with sales and marketing teams, operating as an extension of your business, offering everything from strategic consultancy to full incentive design and implementation. Our focus is on helping you find the most effective mechanics that not only excite customers but also drive profitable revenue streams—like your bolt-on products and services.
Incentive programmes from FMI
FMI’s incentive programmes provide:
- Expert incentive design: We specialise in creating promotional mechanics that are both engaging and compliant. We help teams develop campaigns that excite and inspire retail staff while working within industry regulations.
- Sales incentive strategies: Our consultants offer strategic guidance on designing sales incentives that drive the uptake of bolt-on services and keep the customer coming back for more.
- ROI-focused customer promotions: We offer a robust selection of incentive strategies designed to boost revenue streams while also keeping a close eye on return on investment.
- Budget-conscious solutions: We help marketing teams stretch their budgets further by designing promotions and incentives that provide value for both the business and the customer. FMI’s tangible solutions help you cut through the noise and give retail staff the tools they need to promote your most profitable products and services.
Whether you’re struggling to come up with new campaign ideas, working within regulatory constraints, or trying to find cost-effective ways to engage retail teams, FMI’s expertise in incentive mechanics can help you reach your goals. With expert recommendations and a clear, compliant approach, we make sure your campaigns not only fit your budget but also deliver results.
Discover how FMI can transform your sales strategy with targeted, compliant, and effective sales incentives.
