Customers • Columbia Bank
How Columbia Bank Drives Strategic Growth withVaricent’s VIP Program
Banking
North America
Varicent Incentives, Varicent VIP Program
Table of Contents
Columbia Bank set out to create a self-sufficient, internally driven compensation function that could evolve with business needs. To accelerate that journey, they turned to the Varicent VIP (Value, Innovation, Performance) Program. This move became a catalyst for scale, speed, and smarter operations.
Joining VIP gave Columbia direct access to a dedicated Technical Account Manager, weekly strategy sessions, and ongoing hands-on support that made change not only possible—but sustainable.
Key Results at a Glance
Self-Sufficiency
125 plans
Eliminated third-party development dependencies and now manages its entire incentive process internally, enabling faster innovation.
Costs cut
by 35%
Streamlining operations and automating core processes reduced total incentive compensation support costs by more than a third.
Trust restored at every level
With clean data, clear audit trails,and full transparency, sales teamsnow trust their compensation—and the people managing it.
Our Technical Account Manager, Phaedra, didn’t just tell us what to do. She helped us understand our build and identify ways we could improve the system.
Eric Schuler
Financial Planning & Reporting Director, Columbia Bank
A Strategic Extension of the Team
Through Varicent’s VIP Program, Columbia gained access to a dedicated partner who helped accelerate recovery, build better processes, and introduce new features through hands-on support.
VIP support includes:
-
Proof of concepts for plan documents, inquiry workflows, report data models, and goal reporting
- Strategic weekly sessions on best practices
-
Hands-on guidance for modular builds and scalable solutions
“She points out builds that might be relevant or that we could or should consider.” – Kimberly Hauze, Production Incentives Director, Columbia Bank
Impact: More Efficiency, More Insight, More Momentum
Faster Implementation
of key features like inquiries and plan acknowledgements
Modular Customization
for multiple incentive plan types
Streamlined collaboration
between dev, testing, and admin teams
Knowledge
Increase
Internal Knowledge increase and reduced third-party dependency
“We’d say, ‘Here’s where we want to go,’ and she’d give us a head start. Phaedra became an extension of our development team.” – Eric Schuler
The numbers tell the story of how Columbia scaled smarter, with fewer resources and greater output:
The numbers tell the story of how Columbia scaled smarter, with fewer resources and greater output:
- Efficiency Gains: Columbia increased the number of payees supported per FTE by 50%, while reducing total FTE. After implementation, they now outperform median benchmark FTE ratios—an upgrade from previous underperformance.
- Cost Savings: The total cost to support incentive administration dropped by 35%, unlocking major operational savings.
- Plan Document Automation: What once took weeks now takes days. Plan documents are delivered 1–2 business days after hire or promotion, saving 5 hours of manual work per month and improving the associate onboarding experience.
- Email Reduction via Inquiries: By streamlining the inquiry process, Columbia is on track to divert 800–1,000 emails in 2025, freeing comp admins to focus on higher-value work, while giving sales teams real-time transparency into their pay.
Hauze adds, “We see the VIP like a partnership. We solve current problems for our team, plus go faster to get started on the things that we can't do yet. Phaedra helps us go faster and grow.”
Advice to Others Considering VIP
For a team focused on self-sufficiency, VIP support was the accelerator. According to Schuler, “Our Technical Account Manager ends up being kind of an extension of our training resources for us, too. That has accelerated the team’s adoption of best practices.”
The Columbia team’s advice?
“If you’re considering VIP—do it.”
