Businesses are quickly learning that being the best is no longer enough. Every consumer demands the highest quality goods or services at the best prices, conveniently delivered to them through whatever means and at any time they choose. So you do everything you can to meet those demands. At the same time, you invest time and resources to hire and train your staff to be courteous, friendly, helpful and trustworthy when facing customers. But just when you thought you gained an edge, it seems your closest competitor has somehow done one better!
85% of Americans belong to at least one loyalty program.
Today's customers have more choice, are better informed and are more demanding of value and return for their spending dollars. They look not only for the products and services that meet their needs at the price they are willing to pay, but for the merchant that recognizes, appreciates and rewards their patronage. So what is beyond price, convenience and service?
Given this wide acceptance and popularity of reward & recognition-based loyalty programs, merchants have leveraged, and continue to employ, programs to compliment their traditional efforts in responding to a variety of challenges.
Quite simply, a well designed and applied loyalty program can play a significant role in all these critical areas:
Rewarding your customers with points, discounted products or services, or free merchandise may just be the edge your business needs to keep your customers from switching their business to your competitor. Don't just reward them though, build a recognition component into your program that offers customers preferred service levels, and create that next level of loyalty that every program operator desires.
Every business is continually challenged with the ever increasing costs and decreasing effectiveness of their new customer acquisition campaigns.
Apart from simply discounting your prices or offering free trials, how else can you attract customers who currently patronize your competition, without compromising the satisfaction of existing customers who continue to buy at regular prices?
A loyalty program can help you recognize a new customer, and apply the right strategies to make them a returning customer. At the same time, staff can now identify an existing customer and acknowledge their importance to your business in a personalized manner.
Profitable customers that keep coming back are a merchant's dream. Not only are they critical to the financial success of your business, they are probably the best ambassadors for you! They reach prospects that are most like them and that are most likely to need your products. Talk about a marketer's dream-come-true!
The obvious strategy here is to build a strong relationship through your loyalty program to protect them from the competition's advances. Recognize them for their contribution and importance to you and your future success. Reward them appropriately for their business.
No matter how many new customers you acquire from the competition and how large and fast-growing the group of returning customers is, if they don't positively and consistently impact the bottom line - well you complete the sentence. A loyalty program provides businesses with:
This rich pool of information can be developed over time inside your program so that you can draw upon it to gain that business edge.
But these four things can only happen if you have program members… and to have customers that sign up for your program you need to offer them a reason. Remember that loyalty marketing is a two-way street, you offer your clients some benefit in exchange for them being willing to identify themselves to you.
Repeat business is the lifeblood of every business. Successful operators are increasingly turning to electronic frequency and loyalty programs to deliver targeted rewards and incentives that increase store traffic.
Help your business:
This allows your organization to quickly design, roll out and manage effective loyalty programs that will not only attract new customers, but also turn your existing customer base into "ideal customers" who have the purchasing habits that will drive topline growth for your business.
Key features and benefits include:
