WORLD CLASS
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS BIGGEST SAVINGS HIGHEST ENGAGEMENT
Winner at the Employee Benefits Awards (2008, 2009, 2010 & 2011)
“Thank you” A successful organisation knows how to look after its people: • Through employee benefits that engage • Via programmes that are easy to use • With unlimited choice • Providing benefits to suit your employees’ lifestyles Welcome to Asperity, the home of Reward Gateway: the UK’s leading employee benefits service.
Asperity Employee Benefits Ltd. 90 Westbourne Grove London W2 5RT Tel: 020 7229 0349 Email: benefits@asperity.co.uk Web: www.asperity.co.uk
CONTENTS
Section One: Meet Asperity
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• Who we are • Meet our clients
Section Two: Reward Gateway
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Your employee engagement, driven by our experience, support and extensive retailer network.
TM
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• SuperSavingsWeek™ • Management information - RewardManager™ • Employee communication - Communic8™
Section Five: Ongoing Support
• What is it? • Cashback offers from the UK’s top online retailers • In-store savings • Discounted health club and gym membership & GymFlex • Discounted theatre tickets • InsureCompare™
Section Three: The BenefitsHub
Section Four: Engagement
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• Helpdesk • Dedicated account management
Section Six: Getting Started with Reward Gateway
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• Integrated Salary Sacrifice - ChildcareVouchersPlus™ - CycletoWorkPlus™ • Healthcare Cashplan • Total Reward Statements • Reward and Recognition • Employee Assistance Programmes
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SECTION ONE:
MEET ASPERITY Who we are... Defining benefits Launched in 2006, Asperity Employee Benefits is focused on employer and employee needs. Our flexible employee benefits package is led by the UK’s biggest and most used employee discounts website, Reward Gateway.
It provides real-time statistics so you can monitor your ROI. We also give you regular written reports and in-depth analysis to keep you in the picture and in control.
• Continuous support We have the lowest account manager to client ratio in the industry. We also have • Technology led and the largest account management team. For your employees, we provide a 364 days- employee focused a-year, 7 days-a-week Helpdesk with long opening hours (8am-8pm Mon-Fri, 10am- • Offers that are easy to 4pm Sat-Sun). understand and use To keep your employees updated and • Making sure help and engaged we also provide a full advice is always at hand communications programme - at no additional cost. Asperity’s standards of service for both employers and employees are the highest in the industry.
Our extensive support services offer you full employee engagement no effort and no hassle. Choose your own level of involvement.
Leading features:
We look forward to proving it to you.
Asperity’s solution is based on 4 principles that make it flexible, transparent and effective: • Fixed cost One set-up fee and simple, inclusive, annual pricing delivers fixed cost benefits with no surprises. • Wide choice Asperity is the largest closed buying group in the UK benefits industry. That means we get the best discounts with leading retailers and your employees obtain the best benefits in the market. This all adds up to a great package through which to engage employees through freedom of choice. • Management control Our advanced technology gives you 24/7 access to RewardManagerTM, our online management information portal.
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Best rates We negotiate our offers at the best rates, backed up by the best service and retailer support and leading special offers.
Integrated portal We deliver benefits to your employees through Reward Gateway, our online one-stop shop providing in-store savings, Cashback offers from top retailers, discounted health club gym membership, discounted theatre tickets and short breaks, childcare vouchers, cycle to work, healthcare cashplans, and more.
No hidden extras Asperity is retailer-independent and earns no commission from retailers or other suppliers. This means full transparency for you, and your employees get genuine offers and no third party marketing.
Full service We are the only discounts provider operating Cashback, voucher and reloadable card services entirely in-house.
Over 2 million employee users across more than 650 companies 3,000 available offers Dedicated support staff
Key Factor “The ability to actually see how much our employees are spending and saving was a key factor in choosing Asperity for our programme.�
Dione Mathias - Reward Manager, TUI UK & Ireland
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Asperity processes 50% of all expenditure in the UK employee discounts industry* FSA Authorised
Accredited to ISO standards
Asperity is the only FSA authorised and regulated employee discounts provider in the UK.
Security
Our popular car, home and travel insurance offers are handled in strict accordance with regulator specifications. Whilst other providers are FSA regulated, the scope of their authorised and regulated status excludes insurance in these key areas.
A partner of the highest standards We follow best practice procedures in every area of our operations. Our promise of service excellence can be validated and proven. Our accreditations and awards demonstrate leadership.
All of our services are certified to the strict ISO 27001 International Security Standard, and have been since 2009. This is the only standard covering IT, systems, people, processes and practices. In addition, our secure datacentre holds its own, separate ISO 27001 accreditation - so you can rest assured that your employees’ data is totally safe.
Environment We achieved the ISO 14001 environmental accreditation in 2009 and have passed each annual re-accreditation check to date.
Independence is key
A portfolio of over 650 UK clients confirms it.
Awards Over the years Asperity has picked up a number of prestigious awards confirming its reputation in both the employee benefits industry and the wider business arena. Some of our most notable accolades include:
• Three-time winner of the ‘Most Effective Use of a Voluntary Benefits Plan’ at the Employee Benefits Awards (2008, 2009 & 2011)
• ’Most Effective Benefits Strategy in a Public Sector Organisation’ with Kent County Council at the Employee Benefits Awards (2010)
• ‘Outstanding Engagement Strategy’ with McDonald’s at the HR Excellence Awards (2010) * Independent research from cil and econsultancy
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“We were attracted to the transparency offered by Asperity’s 100% independence model. Our staff don’t come to work to be marketed to by retailers paying for advertising - we wanted the programme to be a genuine benefit.” Colin Miller Reward Manager, Kent County Council
Retailer independence Asperity is 100% retailer independent. We don’t take commission from retailers or make charges to list their offer. Instead we pass all available retailer margin back to the employee as the benefit. This means we get bigger and better savings, they use the scheme more and you get higher engagement simple! No conflicts, just 100% employee satisfaction. Your employees are assured of this independence through our partnership with TrustPilot™, the independent consumer watchdog portal. TrustPilot™ uses the latest internet technology to crowdsource consumer reviews from thousands of websites. The service provides a holistic picture of a retailer’s customer service and enables employees to make up their own minds about where - and where not to shop, without their discounts provider trying to push any particular retailers onto them for their own gain.
Meet our clients Since 2006, over 650 organisations across the UK have trusted Asperity’s flexible employee benefits; delivering exceptional and relevant integrated benefits to more than 2 million employees. From charity organisations to multinational blue chip companies, Asperity’s programmes have been tailored to suit any type and size of organisation. With a dedicated team of account managers, clients are supported not only throughout the implementation stages of the programme but for the entire duration of it; by regularly measuring and reviewing performance, Asperity works with clients to develop strategies that drive employee engagement.
Some of our clients include:
To read our case studies, visit: www.asperity.co.uk/our-customers
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SECTION TWO:
REWARD GATEWAY The Flexible Platform for Employee Benefits Engagement, satisfaction and value Reward Gateway is a one-stop shop employee discounts and other benefits all provided through one integrated system.
The biggest savings on the widest range of top-name products and services Your employees at the heart of our programme Our unique, transparent model is 100% employer funded, giving you 100% transparency over our income. Our programme is driven by the needs of your employees, not the needs of retailers. Reward Gateway provides exclusive discounts at hundreds of retailers. Discounts are sourced from suppliers based purely on merit - we take no income or brokerage fees.
One easy-to-use system for integrated benefits, led by employee discounts Reward Gateway is the UK’s biggest Cashback service for employee benefits users, handling over £250 million in employee spend annually. Access for your employees is through your own benefits website which we’ll create for you if needed; this is your front-end into the Reward Gateway portal. This enables your scheme to harmonise with your corporate imagery and to appear as true appreciation of employee effort.
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Easy-focused-engaging • A single website & Helpdesk • A single account manager • A single employee communications plan Reward Gateway enables you to integrate your benefits into one portal. In addition to Asperity modules, this encompasses any other benefits you may offer, such as local offers or concessions, your PMI scheme and holiday trading.
The true value of consolidation Bringing it all together builds engagement. Shopping discounts encourage your employees to engage with your benefits programme. Every time they shop through Reward Gateway, they are reminded of the value of the full suite of benefits that you provide.
Special treatment You can rely on Asperity to make your employees feel special. Our experience shows that first-class treatment of your members reflects well on your organisation. For that reason, every aspect of Reward Gateway is employee focused. Every contact point has been designed to be hassle-free.
a world of offers Reward Gateway is the entry point to a world of offers:
• Cashback • Reloadable cards • Instant SMS vouchers • Discounted gift vouchers • Discounted health club & gym membership & GymFlex • Discounted theatre tickets • InsureCompareTM
The BenefitsHub™ • Integrated Salary Sacrifice • ChildcareVouchersPlus™ • CycletoWorkPlus™ • Healthcare Cashplan • Total Reward Statements • Reward and Recognition • Employee Assistance Programmes
Engagement • SuperSavingsWeek™ • Management information - RewardManager™ • Employee communication - Communic8™
It Is our job to make the shopping experience a pleasant one.
Saving made easy Reward Gateway - key methods of discounted shopping combined in one place. Cashback
Reloadable cards
Instant SMS vouchers
Asperity pioneered the use of Cashback in employee discounts in 2006 and we are still the leader with the only genuinely integrated Cashback scheme in the UK.
The UK’s biggest range of fast-loading reloadable (top-up) cards.
Your employees earn money while shopping online
Simple savings, swiftly done
Back in Autumn 2009, Asperity quietly instigated a mini-revolution in vouchers: a discounted retail voucher that is sent by SMS text message instead of paper or plastic. This allows instant discounting as it is sent moments after the order is placed.
When employees shop online through Reward Gateway, their Cashback savings collect in their online account within Reward Gateway. Savings can then be transferred direct to their bank account at any time. • • •
No withdrawal charges No minimal withdrawal amounts Many of our offers give a discount with Cashback on top, resulting in a double saving
Top Cashback rates Our unique employer-funded business model means that any commission or click through payments from the retailer go directly to the employee - we take no payments whatsoever from our suppliers. This helps us keep our Cashback rates the highest you’ll find anywhere. Guaranteed. HIG E ST CASHH BA
FastCashback™
Sometimes there is nothing better than shopping in-store and we make savings easy with reloadable payment cards. Cards are ordered online or through our telephone Helpdesk. Users top up at a discounted price (usually between 5-15% off ), and then use the card to pay for in-store purchases at checkout. They are free of charge to issue and have no usage, delivery or transaction fees. Running a fully in-house service means we can offer an excellent standard of service. Reloadable cards topped up by 11am are available to spend in-store the next day.
Our most popular reloadable cards include:
CK GUARA NTEED
Cashback from hundreds of retailers are confirmed overnight and withdrawn by the user just one day after purchase.
Financially sound All Cashback owed to members is fully funded and held in a secure, ringfenced account.
Cashback offers from the UK’s top online retailers, including:
Asperity guarantees that you’ll save more with our reloadable card offers than any other employee discount programme. If you find any better offer now or in the future we will beat or match it.
We pioneered this initiative with popular electricals store, Comet. For the first time, employees could spot a bargain in-store and make the price 10% better instantly by calling our Helpdesk and paying for an SMS voucher over the phone. An instant text message is sent to the user to confirm payment and this is shown at checkout in-store as proof of purchase. We are the only company with direct fully automated links to Comet systems. We handle over £1million in Comet SMS vouchers every month, making it one of the most popular offers in Reward Gateway.
Discounted gift vouchers Staff can get an in-store discount at many high street retailers, which can be used in addition to already reduced prices and sales items – making a genuine saving. Our service is unique in that the whole operation is run in-house – from order to dispatch – with guaranteed high standards of service and include features like: • • • •
No minimum order quantity Free, insured delivery on every order Same day dispatch for orders received before 11am Free replacement for vouchers lost via post
Popular retailers on Reward Gateway offering discounted vouchers include:
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Discounted health club and gym membership & GymFlex Discounted Membership
GymFlex
• Competitive membership rates at a choice of health clubs and gyms across the UK • Asperity offers your employees the UK’s largest network of discounted health club memberships • Over 2,500 gyms and health clubs • Supporting employee health and well-being
If you want to go further with your gym membership benefit offering, you can upgrade to GymFlex with Asperity, in partnership with Incorpore. Fully integrated in Reward Gateway, with GymFlex employees can sign up to an annual gym membership - choosing from a vast network of gyms including all Fitness First, LA Fitness and Nuffield Health gyms - and the employer pays the upfront cost, subsequently taking monthly deductions from the employee’s net salary.
Local independent gyms and national brand names Something to suit everyone - from the national operators such as Fitness First and LA Fitness, to the prestigious Nuffield Health, to local independent gyms all over the country.
No more excuses To find their nearest participating gyms your employees simply type in their home or work postcode (for example). The results are presented in list format and on a Google Map in order of distance.
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The saving comes from better negotiated rates paid upfront annually by the employer. So the employee gets a great rate, and the bonus of an annual (cheaper rate) without the need to pay the whole cost upfront.
It’s like a season ticket loan, but for the gym.
Discounted theatre tickets Offering the UK’s lowest cost theatre tickets service to your employees
Engagement Satisfaction Value
Going to a top theatre performance is often a performance in itself, particularly when it comes to tracking down decent tickets at a decent price. Asperity has partnered with the UK’s biggest wholesaler of discounted theatre tickets to give your employees the best prices available. So now your staff can simply log on to their rewards site and make a leisured selection from the world of entertainment in the knowledge that they will get their tickets of choice at the best price possible, without having to go trawling through other ticketing sites. And, to make sure your employees are saving as much as possible, we give the full 10% commission from the ticket wholesaler back to the employee as Cashback.
InsureCompare
TM
Insurance price comparison, plus Cashback Compare dozens of policies without leaving our secure website. • Asperity helps tens of thousands of employees to find cheaper insurance every year • We offer the UK’s first insurance price comparison site with integrated Cashback • Policy cost and related Cashback amount are clearly laid out in one easy-to-read table
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SECTION THREE:
THE BENEFITSHUB
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Integrated salary sacrifice ChildcareVouchersPlus™ Childcare vouchers are a government supported initiative designed to help employees pay for registered childcare such as nurseries, registered nannies and childminders. By reducing their salary in exchange for childcare vouchers, employees pay less tax and NI, therefore making a saving of up to £933 per year (based on a lower rate tax payer). As an employer, you make a saving which exceeds our administration fee, so the whole process makes a positive impact on your budget.
Easy transition We are experienced in transferring schemes from all major childcare voucher providers. We have the tools and processes to make it easy for payroll teams and employees.
Delivering higher engagement If we can increase your childcare vouchers take-up by just 50 parents, an extra £11,372 in employers’ NI savings is generated for you even after you have paid an average of 6% in administration fees.
The unique add-on: ‘Plus’ No other childcare voucher scheme provides long-term discounts. This is a unique Asperity feature ChildcareVouchersPlus™ offers working parents extra special, guaranteed exclusive discounts on 8 key child-related discounts. These discounts are not available to nonsalary sacrifice users and not available anywhere else in the market.
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The programme includes: • Deals for parents with young children, from retailers such as Mothercare and Early Learning Centre;
Great savings when you align your benefits programme with your environmental and healthyliving objectives.
• Deals for parents with older children, from retailers including WH Smith. These offers enhance the value of the savings made through salary sacrifice and make the deal even more attractive to employees.
Asperity runs the only Childcare Voucher system in the UK accredited to the ISO 27001 Information Security standard by BSi.
CycletoWorkPlus™ The HMRC-backed cycle to work programme allows employees to lease a bike from you with payments deducted from pre-tax salary. Asperity’s CycletoWorkPlus™ module is fully integrated into Reward Gateway. Employees have no need to login to a third-party provider website. This makes it easier to use and improves engagement across your entire benefits package.
No additional employer charges or costs – this is a nocharge addition to your Reward Gateway employee benefits service.
Additional discounts With genuinely exclusive, market-beating discounts on cycle and safety accessories, CycletoWorkPlus™ users get the benefit of enhanced discounts for the duration of their hire period.
EASY AND SIMPLE
“Despite having two different payrolls to manage, the processes FOR CHILDCARE VOUCHERS are easy and simple. Engagement is above our expectation and feedback has been positive.” Tim Pearson Head of Reward and Resourcing, Arla Foods
“Our previous in-house pilot of TRS had been a resource-intensive and time-consuming project, but working with Asperity successfully produced a more professional-looking TRS for the whole organisation.” Darren May HR&D Manager-Reward, Scottish Water
Healthcare Cashplan
Total Reward Statements
Simple, accessible and affordable - for people previously excluded from private healthcare
Asperity’s simple Total Reward Statements demonstrate to your staff the value of their overall reward package.
• For just £10 per month employees can benefit from reimbursements towards dental, optical and consultancy costs. • For an extra £5.50 per month employees can add cover for 60 common non-urgent surgical procedures including hip replacements, varicose vein treatment and slipped disc surgery. Asperity partners with Westfield Health, one of the most successful and secure health insurers in the UK - covering more than 300,000 policyholders. The product is available seamlessly from within Reward Gateway with no additional cost to employers.
Employees frequently overlook the value of their wider reward package and focus on salary. A Total Reward Statement widens their perspective and highlights the value, and cost, of your non-cash rewards; ensuring that the value is recognised by your staff. Our online statements are a simple, low-cost and effective benefit. Our design team will make sure your statements are ‘on brand’ and work hard as a benefits communication tool for your staff.
Reward and Recognition Asperity’s eCard system is a simple peer-to-peer reward and recognition tool offering all the key benefits for the lowest possible cost. It can be implemented on its own or in addition to your existing reward and recognition programme, and is integrated right into the heart of Reward Gateway for maximum effectiveness. Asperity’s eCards are quick to implement, high profile, low cost and highly effective. Your employees will be able to choose from a selection of eCards which have been designed to reflect or illustrate your company’s core values.
eCards are a proven way of engaging a workforce with new or refreshed company values and a great way of re-promoting existing messages. As the eCards have no monetary value and are sent peer-to-peer rather than ‘top down’, they require very little work from HR to setup and no ongoing management. And, as you’d expect, Asperity’s RewardManager™ management information system gives you real-time statistics and information on employee usage of the eCards tool.
Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs) Asperity is partnered with Employee Assistance Programme specialist, Validium, to provide an EAP for employees and people managers. An EAP enables employers to provide varying levels of cover to employees, to match individual needs and budgets. Part of this tailoring includes an option to specialist legal, financial and debt helplines. From predictable challenges - such as buying a new home, relationship milestones, having children and managing money - to less predictable crises of a personal or family nature, an EAP can provide the right help at the right time for your staff. Structuring an EAP into a wider voluntary benefits package gives employers real choice and flexibility in this aspect of benefits.
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SECTION FOUR:
ENGAGEMENT Measuring success SuperSavingsWeek™ First full week of every month, it gets even better • Double discounts on 15 top retailers • A key feature we promote to staff - they can rely on it • Engagement boosts up to 300% SuperSavingsWeek™ runs from the first Monday to the first Friday of every month. We’ll make sure that all employees know that is the time to look at your employee benefits site for extra special discounts. As Asperity is retailer independent, our main focus is helping your staff save, rather than encouraging them to spend. We ensure that our featured discounts are dependable and employee-focused.
Management Information RewardManager™ We understand it is essential for any company to be able to constantly track and measure the effectiveness of a benefits programme. Bundled with your Reward Gateway package is an exclusive online Management Information (MI) system that tracks ROI in real time: RewardManager™ – the most advanced MI and reporting tool in voluntary benefits. Track engagement from multiple perspectives from a range of up-to-theminute graphs, tables and charts. • View statistics on registration and spend through RewardManager™, available 24/7 • Track number of logins and most popular offers
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• Receive regular in-depth reports on engagement performance from us This transparency enables us to work with you to build real employee satisfaction with your employee benefits and measure success. We report performance against SLAs, transactions, most popular offers and more, much of it independently verified by Google Analytics.
Employee Communication Communic8™ The employee engagement system. Experience has shown us that the optimum annual communication plan for stimulating and maintaining staff engagement in any programme comprises of eight pieces; hence the name of our communication system Communic8™. All communication is individually branded to suit your company.
structured annual communications plan. Your dedicated account manager will ensure the plan is implemented and followed through.
Integrated Communications Plan
“The integrated communications plan has been really well designed to reach all groups of employees.” Sara Davies Reward Director, Ladbrokes plc.
We build a 12 month Communic8™ plan in one go.
We will undertake employee communications on your behalf to show your staff the real benefits at their disposal and the ease with which they can take advantage of them.
All staff email
High engagement is the key to delivering return on investment for you as an employer. We use a specially developed programme of direct messaging to overcome barriers to drive engagement as high as possible. As well as the core mail-outs, we send offer update emails to registered employees. Early adopters will engage straight away but the Communic8™ system is developed to help you convert all employees using a
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All staff email Payslip flyer
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Integrated model “Asperity’s integrated model was really attractive to us as we have previously had separate salary sacrifice scheme providers; keeping it ‘all under one roof’ helps our employees get their heads round the voluntary benefits scheme as a whole and we think this will boost take-up significantly.”
Neil Macleod - Employee Benefits Manager, West Lothian Council TUI UK & Ireland
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SECTION FIVE:
ONGOING SUPPORT Helpdesk Helping your employees every step of the way We focus on maximising use of your benefits scheme by your employees. We make the website and offers easy to use - with videos, buyer’s guides and help in almost every area relating to Reward Gateway and its many features. Online or offline, your staff will have our in-house telephone Helpdesk to help them get the most out of all parts of the benefits scheme.
Who? Where? What? Why? From our London office, the Asperity in-house team handles every query; from a password reset to a question about childcare vouchers or advice on where to buy a laptop and get the best deal. The same team also handles gift vouchers and cards, from ordering to dispatch (which is free, regardless of order size).
Open every day Our employee Helpdesk is open from 8am to 8pm, Monday to Friday and 10am to 4pm, Saturdays and Sundays. Run fully in-house, our friendly team is on hand to help 364 days a year to reflect retail trading patterns.
Excellent Reputation “Asperity’s excellent reputation iN THE marketplace, along with their Professionalism in handling the programme’s implementation, was a confidence-booster for us... the Wessex Water Reward Gateway programme has already proved a success with our employees.” Jane Ginnever HR Advisor, Wessex Water
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Dedicated account management The prime role of your dedicated Asperity account manager is to ensure that your programme reflects your brand and delivers on your investment. Each of our account managers is responsible for 20 corporate clients. Delivering the success of your programme by: • Meeting you for regular reviews, working to maximise engagement and keep the programme fresh, keeping you informed about new products or features;
First Class Service
“The team at Asperity deliver a first class service and product to our employees which have delivered value to our business.” Ken Steers Cordant
• Delivering your communications; • Providing you with the management information you need; • Conducting a client feedback survey 6 months after launch to ensure you are completely satisfied with our service; • Advising you on roadshows, childcare voucher ‘surgeries’, cashplan options and Cycle to Work choices.
Asperity account managers are client focused, not sales driven
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SECTION SIX:
GETTING STARTED WITH REWARD GATEWAY Tailored and branded to your organisation From the website address, to the use of your own images in the design, we tailor Reward Gateway to your employer brand. If you do not have an employee-facing brand, we will design one for you. We integrate the website and all related communications to your corporate imagery. The website becomes your company’s unique and secure entry to the Reward Gateway portal.
With simple, inclusive, annual pricing you can expect no surprises. There are no consultancy or design fees and no separate charges for communications planning. You only pay for a one-off setup fee and a fixed annual fee. Optional printing costs, roadshows and travel costs are charged separately. Contact us today to find out how your company and your employees could start taking advantage of the leading employee benefits programme in the UK – Reward Gateway by Asperity.
Example start-up timeline
We assign your Account Manager
Implementation call or meeting
We build your website
Draft website ready for viewing
Website branding, offer selection. Build Communic8TM for the year.
Designs ready for sign off and printing
Final website testing, offer tailoring, registration setup
Week 01
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Week 02
Week 03
Week 04
Week 05
Week 06
Ready for launch
Call us now to see how we can help Phone 020 7229 0349 to arrange a meeting and discover how easily Reward Gateway can create a positive impact on your workforce. If it’s easier email
benefits@asperity.co.uk and we’ll give you a call.
www.asperity.co.uk © Asperity Employee Benefits Ltd 2011
Asperity Employee Benefits Ltd. 90 Westbourne Grove London W2 5RT Tel: 020 7229 0349 Email: benefits@asperity.co.uk Web: www.asperity.co.uk