Ensuring your loyalty programme really delivers can pay result in big rewards for your business. A study by Bain and Harvard Business School has shown that just a 5% improvement in customer retention can increase profit by up to 95%.

However, it’s not enough to just have a loyalty programme, you need a process that is built on understanding your customers’ needs. Then you can effectively engage with them and make sure customers keep coming back.

So how do you make your loyalty programme really fly? Here are 5 top tips to get you started:

1.  Offer multiple programme channels

59% of people would be more likely to join a loyalty programme if it offered them a choice of format i.e. a digital option such as a smartphone app. People can lose, damage or simply forget a traditional card, but are likely to always have their phone on them.

2.  Engage effectively

Understand what is likely to interest customers as this means they will actually use your programme. The more you and your staff engage with customers in your loyalty programme, the greater the rewards to your bottom line.

3.  Stand out and be different

A free coffee is fine but research shows that by offering something different as a reward can often be valued more highly by customers and will help to retain them for longer.

4.  Avoid hoarding rewards

Encourage redemptions by offering a range of rewards from big ticket `show stoppers’ through to little treats that can be achieved with relative ease. More frequent redemptions encourage more frequent interactions with your programme. Also, track what rewards are popular and give people more of the same.

5.  Monitor, assess and review

Understanding how your customers interact with your loyalty programme is critical to its on-going success. Measure how many of your customers are members of the programme, how many come back and how often. Understand what their favourite rewards are and how all of this differs by customer type.

 

For more help on improving your business’ interactions with clients, or for help to find out what your clients want from your relationship and how they feel about the service they receive, please get in touch.