How Columbia Bank Drives Strategic Growth with
Varicent’s VIP Program

 Banking   |     North America

  Varicent Incentives, Varicent VIP Program

Columbia Bank

Self-Sufficiency

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 teams
now trust their compensation—
and the people managing it.

Table Of Contents

A Strategic Extension of the Team

Impact: More Efficiency, More Insight, More Momentum

Advice to Others Considering VIP

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. 

“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

Thanks to VIP support, Columbia’s team was able to roll out high-impact changes across multiple business units, with less internal strain:

Faster implementation
of key features like inquiries and plan acknowledgments
Modular customization
for multiple incentive plan types
Streamlined collaboration
between dev, testing, and admin teams

Increased internal knowledge 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:

  • 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.” – Kimberly Hauze

Advice to Others Considering VIP 

Columbia now views VIP as an essential part of their long-term incentive strategy. As Hauze states, “It largely advances the strategic initiatives without consuming internal resources.”  

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.” 
Columbia Bank

About Columbia
Columbia Banking System, Inc. (Nasdaq: COLB) is headquartered in Tacoma, Washington and is the parent company of Columbia Bank, an award-winning western U.S. regional bank. Columbia Bank is the largest bank headquartered in the Northwest and one of the largest banks headquartered in the West with locations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. Columbia Bank combines the resources, sophistication, and expertise of a national bank with a commitment to deliver superior, personalized service. The bank supports consumers and businesses through a full suite of services, including retail and commercial banking, Small Business Administration lending, institutional and corporate banking, and equipment leasing. Columbia Bank customers also have access to comprehensive investment and wealth management expertise as well as healthcare and private banking through Columbia Wealth Management. Learn more at www.columbiabankingsystem.com. 

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