customer loyalty

Are Loyalty Programs A Marketing Gold Mine?

Annie Mueller — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 22:24:01 +0000

Link:

http://www.openforum.com/articles/are-loyalty-programs-a-marketing-gold-mine

Customer clubs can dramatically increase customer loyalty and give you targeted feedback on your marketing. Or they can be a gigantic waste of time. How do you know whether it will work for your business?

Do a Little Self-Analysis

If you're running a customer club of any kind, have you taken a good look at it lately? It can be a valuable tool, a way to get cash in the door, increase customer loyalty, gain targeted marketing information, get customer feedback, improve customer service, and make more sales. Too often, though, small businesses settle for something much, much less than that: a sad excuse for a customer club, with a meaningless membership card and uninspiring perks.

Here's what you should be giving and getting with your customer club:

You should be giving value to the customers.
You should be giving a reason for customers to be loyal.
You should be getting customer information.
You should be getting targeted feedback on your marketing.

Are You Providing Value and Increasing Loyalty?

First, examine your customer club for value to the customers. What do you provide?

The most common (and, often, most useless) customer club is a free, opt-in system. For a little information, customers get a basic reward like one free coffee after you buy 10. What the business gains from these is merely a bit more information. The program doesn’t really provide value or give customers a reason to be loyal.

What if, instead of schlepping together a free but low-value customer club, you put together something really worthwhile? What if a customer had to pay to be part of your club, but in return they always got a 10 percent discount (retailers) or they always got free shipping (online sellers) or they always got a $5 lunch special (restaurants) or they always got rush status (service providers)?

A club that people have to pay to be part of conveys exclusivity, which is something customers tend to like. We all want to be somebody special. A club anyone can join without charge or consideration, and with very little effective value, is not going to give your customers a feeling of being special.

Are You Getting Information and Feedback?

Having a little extra cash up-front is nice for a small business, but that's not the sole purpose of your customer club. A customer club, full of loyal members who love being part of your business because you make them feel special is a gold mine of customer information and targeted feedback.

Your membership form should gather basic information and various methods of contact (address, phone, email). It can also ask lots of questions. The questions can be optional, of course, so someone in a hurry can skip them; you don't want to deter potential members with a lengthy questionnaire. Give them a bonus if they fill it all out.
A customer club is an automatically created mailing list. You've got a list of people who want to do business with you and several ways to contact them.
You can periodically send out surveys regarding your business and products to your customer club members. Offer an additional coupon or discount for customers who complete the surveys.
You can invite a limited number of customer club members to come in as "secret shoppers." You comp them a meal or a service or a product, and they fill out a detailed response or survey. You are getting feedback from the type of customer you want to have.
You can host customer club parties and special events (including online events and sales for "members only") that will help you get to know your best customers and their buying habits.
You can test out new product ideas on your customer club first; let them know it's an exclusive offer for members only and track how they respond.

That's just a beginning.

If you're not getting valuable information and targeted feedback from your customer clubs, you're doing it wrong. And you're wasting a huge opportunity to get valuable marketing help without having to a pay a PR consultant or marketing firm.

So, grab your pickax and start mining.

This article is from Annie Mueller of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

4 Keys to Creating Loyal Customers

Annie Mueller — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 18:53:55 +0000

Link:

http://www.openforum.com/articles/4-keys-to-creating-loyal-customers

What are the elements of a successful relationship? (Just remove "loyal customer" from the equation for now; we'll get back to that.) Successful relationships require:

Trust;
Communication;
Shared Interest;
Time/Togetherness.

Now, if you'll humor me, let's just get very basic here.

A relationship is a relationship is a relationship. Creating loyal customer relationships starts with creating strong relationships.

We can translate those touchy-feely relationship terms into something more comfortable for the business world, but the concepts are the same. (Telling your customers you want more "togetherness" will probably hurt rather than help that relationship...)

4 Keys to the Business-Customer Relationship

1) Be Trustworthy

Say what you'll do, then do what you say. This is called having integrity and is a cornerstone for lasting business.

2) Communicate

Be clear about the purpose of your business. Let people know who you are. LISTEN to your customers. Find out who they are and what they care about. This is not a monologue.

3) Establish Common Ground

Where is the common point between the mission of your business and the needs/demands of your customers? Communicate that and you will attract the people who will be your best customers.

4) Stay Front-of-Mind

This is the business version of time and togetherness. Stay in touch. Make customer outreach part of your regular schedule. Don't just sit there and expect your customers to think of you on a rainy day. You bear the burden of reminding your customers that you exist.

The Business Relationship Difference

Here's where the business-customer relationship model diverges from other relationships.

In B2B or B2C relationships, there isn’t the same strong moral or cultural obligation to remain loyal that there exists in a romantic relationship, or even in a friendship.

That's why, even though building a strong relationship is essential to keeping your customers, it is not sufficient in and of itself. Your customer might love you, love your business, love every employee you have and every product you make; but your customer will still love you and leave you for a better deal, a more attractive offer, something new, shiny, and discounted.

Making Customers Loyal to Your Business

Reward the behavior that you want your customers to repeat. In this case, the key is to reward loyal behavior.

We're not talking about printing up another batch of customer loyalty punch cards. To be effective,rewards or incentives of any kind have to have actual, significant value for the recipient in order to be effective.

Your job is to think of rewards that your customers will actually value, and then offer them at the right time in order to reward loyalty.

3 Features of Valuable Rewards

No matter what business you're in, good incentive rewards include three common features.

Immediacy
Convenience
Monetary Worth

And, generally, customers value the features in that order. Immediacy is nice, convenience is even nicer, and actual money, or perceived monetary value? That's the best.

A basic reward will include at least one of these features. A better reward should involve two or provide a greater advantage (i.e., immediacy plus convenience is great, immediacy plus more convenience is better).

The greatest reward will meet all three requirements and thus will be most highly valued.

Immediate Rewards

A reward that gives immediacy is something like a tangible trinket; you hand it to the customer right away. It could be cheap, but useful, or funny, or interesting in a small way. The point is that the gift is a tangible reward in the now. Your customer buys, or signs up for the mailing list, or brings a friend, or refers someone, or joins a customer club, and walks away with an immediate reward.

Convenience Rewards

A reward that offers convenience might be pick up or delivery service, free gift wrapping, a personal shopper, exclusive late-night or weekend shopping hours. Rewards of convenience make life easier and simpler for the customer. Lucky for you, convenience rewards usually make it easier and simpler for the customer to buy.

Monetary Rewards

A reward that gives monetary worth could be something as simple as, well, money. Try returning a $5 or $10 bill from a customer's most recent purchase and see what happens. There's something about cold, hard cash, even in small amounts. Of course, worth isn't in cash alone. Discounts, freebies, and package deals all provide worth; the key is that they must be worthwhile to the customer.

The Greatest Rewards

The greatest reward is one that provides immediacy and/or convenience as well as monetary worth.

For example, free delivery. You're providing convenience (the service of delivery) as well as monetary worth (the value of delivery, since the cost is waived as part of the reward). If you can add immediacy (we're leaving now to deliver this to you), then you have a reward people will remember, a reward that will turn one-time customers into loyal customers.

This article is from Annie Mueller of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

5 Ways to Earn More Every Week

Elaine Pofeldt — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 23:46:33 +0000

Link:

http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/money/article/5-ways-to-earn-more-every...

In baseball, a base hit single is nice, but a homerun brings the crowd to its feet. We’re a culture that celebrates big wins — in sports and in business. But often, the most important victories for entrepreneurs are the small daily ones that, added together, result in a company’s long-term success.

There’s no place where this is truer than in sales. If you work on selling just a little more each week, you’ll find yourself racking up some pretty impressive cumulative results by year’s end.

Looking for ideas on how to add to your revenue this week? Stop swinging for the fences and focus on putting together a few singles.

Focus on Your Ideal Client

Many small business owners make the mistake of trying to go after too many different types of clients at once, diluting their efforts. You can ramp up revenues significantly if you focus your sales and marketing efforts on the customers who are the most rewarding for your company, says Bert Martinez, founder of Houston based sales and marketing strategy firm Bert Martinez Communications. Say Dell is a very profitable client for you, and you already do some business with one department there. Ask your contact there for a referral to another department that might need your services, Martinez suggests. It’ll be easier and less expensive to win another internal account than it would be to approach a brand new company. “You already have credibility,” he says.

Start a Letter Writing Campaign

The cheapest and quickest way to build brand recognition with ideal prospects is to send them a sales letter every week and follow up with them by phone regularly, notes Martinez. “Repetition builds brand recognition,” he says. “You will probably double or triple your sales with this one idea.” (U.S. mail and email are fine, says Martinez, but you may want to try sending letters to an important prospect in an overnight mail envelope to ensure that they get opened.)

Of course, your sales letter has to grab readers by the lapels. If you don’t know how to write a compelling one, hire a direct marketing firm to create one for you. An engaging sales letter will cost you between several hundred and several thousand dollars, estimates Martinez. It’s money well spent. “A good sales letter will open tons of doors, get people to call you back and help you set appointments,” he points out. And you may be surprised at how little competition you have from other companies on this front. “A good sales letter is the number one most overlooked asset that companies don’t use,” he says.

Improve Your Customer Service

It’s next to impossible for a small company to compete with big retailers on price alone, says Paula Rosenblum, managing partner of Retail Systems Research, a retail industry research firm in Miami, and a retail expert on Focus, an online network of business and technology experts. “Amazon is probably selling it cheaper,” she says.

“Where the small retailer can often do best is on customer service,” she says. The more you exceed customers’ expectations, the more loyal they will become. That doesn’t always mean a big investment of time or money. Simply following up on a purchase with a personal email to make sure the customer was happy can go a long way, she says. Bear in mind that a very satisfied customer is likely to recommend you to friends and family, providing invaluable word-of-mouth marketing.

Offer Free Shipping

“Customers love free shipping,” says Rosenblum. “That’s why Amazon Prime is like crack,” she jokes. Of course, the trick is figuring out how to offer free shipping without eroding your profit margins. Some retailers build the cost of shipping into their pricing or offer free shipping for purchases above a certain dollar amount.

Use Your Social Media Pages for Market Research

They can be great places to float ideas for new products or services, so you can act on them quickly. “Engage your community in what you should sell,” advises Rosenblum. She points to designer Tory Burch. Last year, while waiting on an airport security line, Burch used Twitter to send out a message saying, “Is it me, or is everyone grossed out by having to go through airport security? Should I design a line of travel socks?” Getting a positive response, Burch forged ahead and unveiled the stocking stuffers in time for the holidays.

Got an idea for a new product or service? Follow Burch’s lead. Who better to tell you if your latest brainstorm is a winner than the customers who already like your business enough to follow you on Facebook, Twitter and other social sites?

Follow up these singles with a few of your own, and the runs will start piling up.

This article is from Elaine Pofeldt of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread: