What Motivation Excellence does

Motivation Excellence, Inc. is a privately held B2B incentive program design and management company headquartered in Schaumburg, Illinois, founded circa 1982. The company designs and manages custom incentive programs, group travel experiences, and reward point programs for enterprise manufacturers and distributors seeking to drive sales performance, channel loyalty, and behavioral change among dealers, sales reps, contractors, and distribution partners. Core products include sales incentives, channel partner incentives, B2B customer loyalty programs, reward point programs, personalized rewards, incentive travel, meetings and events, and B2B buying shows, supported by the proprietary Inspire travel platform and the Performance by Design® and DRIVE frameworks for program design.

The company generates revenue through professional services fees, program management fees, and transaction-based pricing tied to participant counts and reward fulfillment, with multi-year enterprise contracts and custom project-based pricing. Its technology stack includes the Inspire platform for incentive travel management, participant activity tracking systems, and secure data infrastructure (biometric datacenter, 256-bit SSL, WAF protection). Go-to-market is consultative enterprise field sales led by a VP of Sales and executive team engaging CFOs and marketing leaders directly, complemented by content marketing, case studies, and participation in SITE industry events. The company serves clients across diverse verticals including construction, HVAC, electrical, healthcare, insurance, agriculture, office products, fencing, and flooring, with case studies reporting ROI outcomes ranging from 430% to 4,762%. In January 2022, Motivation Excellence acquired Viktor Incentives and Meetings to broaden its meetings and incentives capabilities.

The firm operates with a small team (11-50 employees) and has been bootstrapped for over 40 years with no disclosed external funding. Notable customer engagements include evergreen programs exceeding 20 years with electrical distribution and 12+ years with a fencing manufacturer, underscoring high account stickiness and a relationship-driven business model anchored in measurable ROI delivery.

Name

Motivation Excellence

Legal name

Motivation Excellence, Inc.

Website

https://motivationexcellence.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1982

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

B2B Incentive Program Management Services

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)

akta.pro primary industry

Program Design & Strategy (Incentive Concepting, Qualification Criteria, Budgeting) (THAHANAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Participant Qualification, Enrollment & Sales Performance Tracking (THAHANAB), Incentive Travel Programs (Corporate) (THACAFAJ), Incentive Travel Design & Rewards Programs (THAHADAB), Loyalty, Rewards & Incentive Programs (BPAFAMAE), Rewards, Recognition & Merchandise Sourcing (Points, Catalogs, Gift Cards) (THAHANAC), Communications & Engagement (Invitations, Microsites, Mobile Apps, Messaging) (THAHANAI)

Keywords

• B2B incentive programs
• Channel partner incentives
• Sales incentive programs
• Incentive travel management
• Reward point programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Schaumburg

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Custom Incentive Program Design & Management: Full-service design and execution of B2B incentive programs including rule structure development, participant engagement, performance tracking, and program management. Programs include channel partner incentives, sales incentives, and customer loyalty initiatives. Revenue generated through professional services fees, program management fees, and transaction-based pricing tied to participant counts and reward fulfillment.
2. Group Travel Incentive Experiences: End-to-end incentive travel program management including destination sourcing, venue negotiation, logistics coordination, on-site execution, and travel fulfillment. Services include hotel sourcing, event management, and experiential travel awards.
3. Reward Point Program Fulfillment: Points-based incentive programs with online reward catalogs, merchandise fulfillment, concierge shopping services, and personalized reward options. Revenue tied to points issuance volume and redemption fulfillment.
4. Meetings & Events Services: B2B buying shows, corporate meetings, and events management including trade show execution, exhibitor coordination, and event marketing support.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Motivation Excellence is a B2B incentives company that designs and manages custom incentive programs for enterprise manufacturers and distributors, spanning sales incentives, channel partner incentives, B2B customer loyalty, reward point programs, personalized rewards, and group incentive travel. Programs are built using proprietary frameworks (Performance by Design® and DRIVE) and executed through the Inspire travel platform, participant activity tracking, marketing enhancements, concierge shopping, and full-service meetings and events including B2B buying shows and hotel sourcing.

Product overview

Motivation Excellence is a B2B incentives company offering a comprehensive suite of incentive and engagement solutions organized around two strategic pillars: Engagement and Travel. The core product portfolio includes Sales Incentives, Channel Partner Incentives, B2B Customer Loyalty, Reward Point Programs, and Personalized Rewards under the Engagement arm, which focuses on tracking activity, structuring rules, personalizing rewards, and managing marketing. The Travel arm encompasses Incentive Travel experiences (managed through the proprietary Inspire platform), Meetings & Events, B2B Buying Shows, and Hotel Sourcing. Supporting capabilities include Participant Activity Tracking for performance management and Marketing Enhancements for program communications. The company also offers Concierge Shopping for flexible reward redemption. The Inspire platform serves as the technology backbone for travel incentive management, while participant tracking systems enable real-time business intelligence and performance reporting.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Inspire: A proprietary incentive travel platform for managing group travel experiences, participant registrations, and travel coordination for incentive programs.

Products and services

• Sales Incentives Customized B2B sales incentive programs that motivate internal sales organizations — sales representatives, counter staff, and branch managers — through goal-aligned reward structures and SPIFF-style programs for manufacturers and distributors.
• Channel Partner Incentives B2B incentive programs targeting dealers, distributors, and channel partners to build loyalty, drive incremental sales, and gather channel intelligence through behavioral economics-based rule structures.
• B2B Customer Loyalty Loyalty programs designed to strengthen long-term relationships with B2B customers and channel partners through strategic engagement initiatives.
• Reward Point Programs Points-based incentive programs where participants earn points redeemable for name-brand merchandise, travel, or experiences from an online catalog; backed by concierge shopping and an extensive reward catalog.
• Personalized Rewards Tailored reward selection allowing participants to choose rewards aligned with individual preferences and lifestyles, used as the fulfillment mechanism within incentive and loyalty programs.
• Incentive Travel End-to-end group incentive travel experiences for top performers — destination sourcing, venue negotiation, logistics coordination, on-site execution, and travel fulfillment, supported by dedicated hotel sourcing and concierge services.
• Inspire — Incentive Travel Platform Proprietary technology platform powering the Travel arm — manages incentive travel programs end-to-end with participant registration, performance tracking, real-time dashboards, reporting, and travel coordination.
• Meetings & Events Corporate meeting and event planning services including B2B buying shows, trade shows, and multi-day conferences with full-service execution and on-site management.
• B2B Buying Shows Invite-only trade and buying show experiences for top-performing channel partners, tied to incentive program participation and performance goals.
• Hotel Sourcing Travel strategy and hotel sourcing services for incentive travel programs and corporate events, backed by long-standing supplier partnerships.
• Marketing Enhancements & Support Marketing campaign support for incentive programs including communications, engagement touchpoints, and promotional materials to keep programs top-of-mind with participants.
• Concierge Shopping Personalized shopping service allowing participants to redeem award points for items beyond standard catalog offerings, providing flexibility in reward redemption.

Quantifiable outcome

• 430% ROI delivered for office products manufacturer in first year with enrolled participants growing 2.1x faster than non-enrolled reps
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Viktor Incentives and MeetingsmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 January 2022Acquisition completed in January 2022, expanding Motivation Excellence's capabilities in incentives and meetings services.

Scale indicators13 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Maritz: Maritz is a major incentive travel, meetings, and engagement company with overlapping capabilities in sales/channel incentive programs and global incentive travel execution. It is a direct competitor for enterprise channel incentive RFPs.
• Brandmuscle: Brandmuscle provides channel marketing and incentive programs (BrandMuscle IntelliCentives and through-channel marketing) for manufacturers and distributors. It targets the same channel sales incentive use cases and competes for similar enterprise budgets.
• BI WORLDWIDE: BI WORLDWIDE is one of the largest global incentive, loyalty, and engagement solutions providers with a similar full-service model covering sales/channel incentives, incentive travel, and reward fulfillment. It competes for the same enterprise clients and verticals.
• ITA Group: ITA Group is a B2B engagement and incentive travel company that designs custom channel sales, employee, and customer loyalty programs. Like Motivation Excellence, it offers full-service program design, rewards fulfillment, and incentive travel with consultative enterprise sales.
• Hinda Incentives: Hinda Incentives specializes in channel sales incentives and recognition programs, including SPIFFs, dealer loyalty, and reward point fulfillment. It targets the same B2B manufacturer/distributor buyer as Motivation Excellence with a comparable engagement model.
• Allstar Incentive Marketing: Allstar Incentive Marketing designs channel sales incentives, SPIFFs, and loyalty programs for manufacturers and distributors. It is comparable in offering B2B channel incentive program design, program management, and reward fulfillment for enterprise clients.
• Incentive Solutions: Incentive Solutions provides channel sales incentive platforms (CSM™) for manufacturers and distributors with SaaS-driven program design, tracking, and reward fulfillment. It is comparable in targeting B2B channel partner incentive programs, though with a more platform-centric model.

Broad incumbents

• Blackhawk Network: Blackhawk Network is a large, established gift card and payments network offering prepaid and incentive reward solutions at scale. It overlaps with Motivation Excellence on reward fulfillment and merchandise sourcing, but operates more broadly across consumer payments and corporate incentives as part of a much wider portfolio.

Emerging players

• Tango: Tango (formerly Tango Card) operates a digital rewards and incentives platform for employee recognition, channel, and customer loyalty programs. It competes on the reward fulfillment and points program layer, with a more SaaS/tech-oriented model than Motivation Excellence's custom service approach.
• 360insights: 360insights is a technology-led channel incentives platform (Supportsplit) that competes for channel sales and partner incentive programs. It overlaps with Motivation Excellence's core offering but emphasizes configurable SaaS over custom agency services.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCXhoay5-rt0s4BRiKpTvPqg
• Facebookfacebook.com/motivationexcellenceinc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/motivationexcellence
• Instagraminstagram.com/motivation.excellence
• Xx.com/motivateme

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Motivation Excellence