The Company

Habitech is a trade-only audio-visual distributor that has been operating since 2006. The company supplies equipment for residential and commercial projects, including AV systems, CCTV, home cinema, and lighting solutions.  

In addition to supplying equipment, Habitech offers comprehensive pre- and post-sales support. Their technical teams possess in-depth knowledge of the products and work closely with customers to specify the most suitable solutions for individual projects. The team also provides assistance after purchase, addressing queries related to product installation, troubleshooting issues, or arranging returns to manufacturers when necessary.

Habitech’s approach goes beyond simply delivering products: they offer value-added services to support their customers and ensure successful project outcomes. Lee Nicholls is the Finance Director, managing the finance team and rebates alongside two other people.

Establishing a Rebate Function

Habitech initially explored Enable as a solution to implement a rebate function. As they assessed the landscape, they recognized that unlike some of their competitors, they weren't offering rebates to customers. This realization prompted action, as they wanted to ensure loyalty across their customer base. As Nicholls tells us, "The purpose of rebates isn't just to reward loyalty—it's to drive growth, attract customers, and build enduring relationships."

Utilizing Growth Rebates

Growth rebates have proven successful for Habitech because they support the company's goal of helping all customers grow their businesses in partnership with Habitech. When the rebate agreements were first established, a standard spend threshold of £60,000 was set. Even for customers spending between £20,000 and £40,000 annually, this target served as an incentive to increase their spend.

The approach was grounded in detailed calculations to determine the number of customers required to meet this threshold for the program's viability. Larger customers, on the other hand, received higher initial rebate incentives based on their volume. As Nicholls says, "A well-structured rebate isn’t just a financial incentive—it’s a strategic tool to drive mutual growth." While one agreement is structured differently, the growth rebate model has been largely effective in fostering growth for both customers and Habitech.

The Challenge

The manual processing of rebates using spreadsheets created significant challenges for Habitech, with errors being the most pressing issue. This approach was highly time-consuming and had a lack of consistency. Despite having a templated rebate agreement, variations frequently arose in start dates, durations, rebate amounts, and the inclusion or exclusion of specific brands or discounted items.

As Nicholls explains, "Manual processes don’t just slow you down—they introduce risk and inconsistency, which can erode trust and efficiency." Transitioning away from manual systems has been essential for ensuring accuracy and maintaining consistent rebate practices.

The Platform

NetSuite and Enable Integration

Enable emerged as the only provider capable of delivering exactly what Habitech needed. Although alternatives like NetSuite were considered, it quickly became clear that Enable was the preferred choice. Even NetSuite itself recommends Enable as a trusted partner, underscoring the value of a specialized third-party solution for managing rebates that is capable of integrating seamlessly with the ERP.

As Nicholls notes, "By integrating Enable with NetSuite, we eliminate the risk of human error—data is automatically pulled from the system and seamlessly fed back into NetSuite, ensuring accuracy and efficiency."  

High Level of Functionality

Enable offered automatic tracking of rebates, automatic credit notes, and the flexibility to manage multiple brands. This allowed Habitech to customize agreements by including or excluding specific products based on their needs.

Nicholls tells us, "Enable stands out because it can handle discounts with remarkable precision—whether applied to individual line items or entire orders. It’s clever enough to exclude discounted lines or orders while accurately processing the remaining ones. I couldn’t find any other provider that offered this level of functionality."

Comprehensive Support and Onboarding

Nicholls comments, “The support and onboarding process from Enable has been comprehensive. We had regular weekly or biweekly meetings, and sometimes more frequent check-ins when needed. Particularly during the go-live phase, additional resources were dedicated to ensure a smooth transition.”

Standardizing Rebate Agreements

Implementing a standardized system has been a game-changer, ensuring greater consistency across agreements. At the same time, as Nicholls highlights, "A robust rebate system should provide structure without sacrificing flexibility—allowing for tailored approaches where needed." This balance enables Habitech to standardize rebates while still accommodating unique customer requirements when necessary.

Growing Rebate Agreements by 2000%

Before implementing Enable, Habitech managed just five rebate agreements. Today, they have scaled that number to an impressive 105 active agreements, reflecting a 2000% growth.

With 3,000 customers on their books and approximately 1,400 making purchases each year, their customer base spans a wide range—from those spending a few thousand pounds annually to top customers contributing £700,000-£800,000.

Rebates primarily target the middle ground of customers, aiming to elevate those spending around £30,000-£40,000 to higher tiers. "The power of a well-designed rebate program lies in its ability to motivate and grow the customers who have untapped potential," Nicholls explained. By focusing on this segment, Habitech has effectively expanded their rebate program and driven growth across their customer base.

Saving Time Every Month

Habitech estimates that Enable saves them up to three hours every month. This time savings primarily comes from the automation of processes that they previously handled manually, such as tracking rebates, generating credit notes, and updating rebate agreements. Without Enable, these tasks would have required extensive time spent cross-checking data, managing spreadsheets, and manually adjusting calculations.

As Nicholls pointed out, "The ability to automate routine tasks frees up valuable time for more strategic activities. Instead of focusing on administrative work, we can now devote our efforts to driving customer engagement and growing the business."

Automated Rebate Accruals

With Enable, Habitech can check rebate accruals any time, thanks to the system's automatic accrual feature. Right now, they have about £80,000 accrued in rebates, and by year end, those rebate credits will be automatically raised. This level of visibility and automation is invaluable for them.

Nicholls says, "One of the main reasons I wanted the rebate management platform in place was to eliminate the need for manually calculating rebates every month. With Enable, it’s done automatically, and it’s nearly real-time, which is even better."

Visibility Into Rebate Tiers

Many of the Habitech sales team have reached out to ask about the status of rebate agreements, and Nicholls has been able to direct them to NetSuite, where they can view the information directly, thanks to the integration with Enable. "It’s not just about visibility for our team—customers are also more engaged. If they believe they’re close to reaching a target, we can provide them with the information they need in a timely manner”, says Nicholls.

He continues, "There’s been a noticeable push from our customers to increase their spending to reach the next tier of the rebates, whether it's the first or second tier." This visibility has driven greater customer engagement and spending, contributing to the success of the rebate program.

Driving Purchasing Behaviors

Habitech has experienced noticeable growth among some of their mid-range customers. Some customers have switched from competitors to take advantage of products included in the rebate agreement. For example, some have moved to Habitech for networking gear or speakers because those purchases contribute toward their rebate.

Nicholls pointed out, "It’s been interesting to see how some customers, who were previously unaware, now purchase things like fiber or speaker cables from us. They’d been buying them from a competitor specializing in cables, where we can’t compete on price due to their higher volumes. However, we've been able to show them that if they buy from us, those purchases count toward their rebate, which has successfully driven some of that business our way."

Leveraging Data to Drive More Sales

At the end of October and November, Nicholls extracted some of the data and presented it to the sales team, showing them where they currently stood with their rebate agreements. Nicholls says, "I pointed out the customers who were close to reaching their targets and could be brought over the line with a few more orders.”

However, Nicholls added, "It’s not always straightforward because a lot of our business is project-based. A customer might place an order this month, but it may not be fulfilled for another three months, so we need to give them enough time to reach those targets." Despite the challenges, having this visibility allows the sales team to focus their efforts on the customers most likely to benefit from the rebates.