November 16th, 2011
The newest insights into loyalty programs reveal the best ways to engage customers
Great companies don’t just win new customers, they bring them back for more. Right now, building relationships with current customers is of the utmost importance, since belt-tightening consumers choose to buy from businesses they know and trust.
What’s a loyal customer worth to you in a year? How about two years, or five, or even longer? Loyalty marketing campaigns are the norm for businesses large and small nationwide. Nearly 80 percent of marketers are committed to maintaining or growing their loyalty programs as primary customer retention and relationship building tactics, according to a recent report from the Chief Marketing Officer Council. And loyalty program members constitute the best and most profitable customers.
Americans hold 1.8 million loyalty club memberships, and the report shows the average US household is enrolled in more than 14 loyalty and rewards programs. But while they may be enrolled in many programs, Americans are active in fewer than half of them. So to keep your customers coming back to you for additional purchases, it’s vital to create a loyalty program they’ll actively use and rely on long-term.
Follow these tips to build a successful program for your business:
- Don’t Abandon Service for Savings Alone
Discounts and savings are on the minds of most consumers, yet don’t overlook other major customer-pleasing enhancements, such as quick or better service or improved customer handling. New research from Genesys and analysts at Datamonitor/Ovum shows nearly two-thirds of consumers have ended a relationship with a company due to customer service alone, and the majority of them take their business to a competitor. Your best customers want personalized service and support that’s accessible instantly–often by phone. This is where your small business can excel over larger competitors whose customers may feel lost in a maze of automated self-service.
- Make Communication a Two-Way Street
With the cost efficiency of e-mail, it’s no wonder it’s the workhorse for the vast majority of loyalty campaigns. Printed mailings and statements are also used by many marketers to remind customers of benefits and rewards. And corporate websites are becoming increasingly important components in loyalty campaigns. For many types of businesses, it’s smart to build interactivity into your company’s site with customer generated content, online customer service, or live chat with a representative. You can also create a site specifically to enhance customer relationships and build loyalty. Just look at the way Starbucks has created a relationship-building environment at MyStarbucksIdea.com, with a reported 180,000 registered users who have played an instrumental role in helping revitalize the company.
- Avoid Loyalty Turnoffs
Too much spam and junk e-mail top the list of what consumers don’t like about loyalty and rewards program membership. While most member communication is monthly according to the CMO Council report, 20 percent of loyalty marketers interact with members on a daily, weekly or biweekly basis. How often do you communicate with your best customers? Daily or even weekly e-mails may be too frequent for many members, particularly if the offers or other communications are perceived as not relevant to their business or personal needs. Other turnoffs include programs that have too many conditions and restrictions, and rewards that lack real value.
- Personalize Contact with Individual Customers
What customers really want are more discounts and savings based on relevant offers or individualized deals, and rewards that are easy to redeem from companies with which they have positive relationships. They want you to learn their buying preferences and offer rewards they truly value. As you expand your customer loyalty program, focus on deeper engagement with customers and personalized contact to build repeat sales. If you and your best customers value the relationship, you’ll both be rewarded.
Tags: loyalty point rewards, loyalty programs, loyalty rewards
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May 3rd, 2011
Chambers of Commerce have helped shape community businesses for years. They bring business and community together beautifully by merging the interest of the consumer with the city’s goals of retention and gaining more business. Chambers everywhere have always used networking meetings, golf tournaments and ribbon cutting to help new members boost their business presence.
While increasing memberships is crucial to the survival of a Chamber, providing members with benefits and incentives is imperative to Chambers of Commerce. If Chambers do not regularly demonstrate interest in their members by educating them, providing services, offering a diverse and active business network, they will find other less expensive ways to marke themselves.
Chambers of Commerce need to break away from the old and provide benefits that will not only provide value to their business, it will benefit them as individuals and their family. Years ago the insurance industry realized that to retain an insured meant that the Insurance Agent had to provide mulitiple life benefits to their customers offering home mortgages, investments and discounts. Not only are Insurance Agents now seen as more than just the guy or gal that “I have my auto insurance with”, they are their expert advisor for life.
If Chambers of Commerce seek to answer their member’s ‘What’s in it for me” question, they will reap the reward with participative members and added sales. Regardless if you are marketing to the President or to the Gate Keeper, everyone appreciates added benefits. Today, Chambers of Commerce can provide discounts for family fun and enhance core insurance benefits with prescription discounts, fitness and more!
Benefits and incentive discounts drive memberships and connect with customers in a deeper personal, meaningful way. Build sustainable relationships and stand out from the other networks and Internet sites. Strategic Concepts will help you deliver products and services tailored to a universe of one, while at the same time costing as little as $2.00 a benefit.
- Over 70 total benefits & incentives to choose from to create your own customized discoums.
- Health provider discounts for Aetna Dental, lab & imaging, vision, fitness, tele-doc, medical equipment and more.
- Discounts to restaurants, 2,000 golf courses, hotels, legal services and theme parks.
- Join 20+ million members and 3,000+ groups
Offer added services to your members or sell benefits and incentives to your membership for the employees. Increase membership and improve the quality of their business and personal life.
Tags: customer incentives, employee rewards, incentive programs, loyalty programs, rewards
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May 2nd, 2011
Having an effective reward program in place can help solve many of your HR issues.
Every compnay needs a strategic reward system for employees that addresses these four areas: compensation, benefits, recognition and appreciation. The problem with reward systems in many businesses today is twofold: They’re missing one or more of these elements (usually recognition and/or appreciation), and the elements that are addressed aren’t properly aligned with the company’s other corporate strategies.
A winning system should recognize and reward two types of employee activity-performance and behavior. Performance is the easiest to address because of the direct link between the initial goals you set for your employees and the final outcomes that result. For example, you could implement an incentive plan or recognize your top salespeople for attaining periodic goals.
Rewarding specific behaviors that made a difference to your company is more challenging than rewarding performance, but you can overcome that obstacle by asking, “What am I compensating my employees for?” and “What are the behaviors I want to reward?” For example, are you compensating employees for coming in as early as possible and staying late, or for coming up with new ideas on how to complete their work more efficiently and effectively? In other words, are you compensating someone for innovation or for the amount of time they’re sitting at a desk? There’s obviously a big difference between the two.
The first step, of course, is to identify the behaviors that are important to your company. Those activities might include enhancing customer relationships, fine-tuning critical processes or helping employees expand their managerial skills.
When business owners think of reward systems, they typically put compensation at the top of the list. There’s nothing wrong with that, since few people are willing or able to work for free. But the right strategy should also include an incentive compensation plan that’s directly linked to the goals of your company for that period. You might want to include some type of longer-term rewards for key individuals in your organization. Historically, this has often included some form of equity ownership.
Benefits are another type of reward in a strategic reward system, and your employees are definitely going to notice the types of benefits you provide. Companies that don’t match or exceed the benefit levels of their competitors will have difficulty attracting and retaining top workers. This is one reason an increasing number of businesses are turning to professional employer organizations like Administaff to gain access to a broader array of company benefits.
However, you can’t diminish the importance of recognition and appreciation as integral components of a winning strategic reward system. These two elements rarely receive the attention they deserve from business owners, which is amazing because they’re the low-cost/high-return ingredients. Employees like to know whether they’re doing good, bad or average, so it’s important that you tell them.
Recognition means acknowledging someone before their peers for specific accomplishments achieved, actions taken or attitudes exemplified through their behavior. Appreciation, meanwhile, centers on expressing gratitude to someone for his or her actions. Showing appreciation to your employees by acknowledging excellent performance and the kind of behavior you want to encourage is best done through simple expressions and statements. For example, you might send a personal note or stop by the employee’s desk to convey your appreciation. Another approach is to combine recognition and appreciation in the form of a public statement of thanks in front of the employee’s co-workers or team, citing specific examples of what they’ve done that has positively impacted the organization.
Now that you know what it should include, it’s time to review your strategic reward system. Does it address compensation, benefits, recognition and appreciation? Is it aligned with your remaining business strategies? Is it driving the right behaviors for your company, as well as your performance goals? If it needs fixing, don’t wait. It can mean the difference between your business’ success and failure.
Tags: customer incentives, donor incentives, loyalty programs, recognition programs, reward programs
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May 1st, 2011
I am trying to develop a non-cash incentive program to motivate and reward production employees for overall safety practices and work ethics. What criteria should I use for initial nomination, and should bi-lateral employees as well as supervisors and area managers be included in the nominating process?
Answer by Penny Morey
Developing safety and work ethics incentive programs is a great idea. The first step is to establish the specific goals you wish to achieve so you can determine what behaviors should be rewarded. This is extremely important, as it will be the basis for all of the other aspects that follow.
Next, you need to formulate how to measure the desired behaviors. Only quantifiable activities can be included in a production employee incentive program.
I recommend that you not develop this program by yourself. Instead, put together a small committee composed of a representative or two each from the supervisor, manager, and line worker ranks. Share the goals you have set and let them propose ideas on how to achieve those
goals, how objectives can be set and measured, and the nomination criteria and process. You can work with them to ensure that they stay on track and so that you hear their reasoning and understand how to maximize the success of the programs.
This group is probably the best source of information on what kinds of recognition will be most welcome and appreciated. You can set the parameters by sharing the budget for these programs and including the frequency that you want to promulgate rewards. We are flooded with catalogs and programs touted to make employees feel valued–pins, plaques, trophies, gift catalog items, etc. And there are literally hundreds of low-cost and even free ways to reward employees for desired behaviors, too: movie tickets, cafeteria vouchers, restaurant gift
cards, choice parking spaces, etc.
But to make your programs meaningful and successful, you want to know what would make the people in your work force feel most valued. The best people to tell you that are the people who can earn these rewards. Penny is a seasoned human resources executive and consultant with over 25 years of diverse business experience in advising enterprise leaders on employment-related matters.
Tags: corporate incentives, incentive, incentive programs, loyalty programs
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April 14th, 2011
Treat returning customers right and they’ll return the favor.
Loyal customers can be an important driver of sustainable business growth. They’re usually much less price-sensitive, can be nearly immune to competitive entreaties, and can become a powerful marketing arm, going out of their way to promote and defend your company online and off — for free.
If you’re looking for ways to foster greater customer loyalty, consider these tips.
1. Anticipate customer wishes. When a customer’s need is met before it has been expressed, it sends the message that you care about the customer as an individual. It doesn’t require telepathic ability, just paying attention and knowing your customers.
It’s well worth the effort. The cared-for feeling a customer gets when her wishes are anticipated is where you can generate the fierce loyalty.
For example: Instead of putting up one of those generic signs saying “If our restrooms need attention, please notify the staff,” Charlie Trotter’s famed restaurant in Chicago long ago decided on a proactive system: They themselves discreetly check the towels and soaps after every use, thus never leaving the next guest’s experience at the whim of the last, nor ever putting a guest in the awkward position of having to ask for supplies or maintenance.
- Related: Building a Business in the “Thank You” Economy
2. Hire with patience. In an organization aiming for superb service, a single disagreeable or unresponsive team member can erode customer loyalty and team morale. That’s why it can be better to leave a position unfilled, rather than rushing to hire someone unsuitable. More broadly, customer service excellence is most fully achieved when a business owner becomes expert at recruiting and training service personnel.
3. Develop a customer-service vocabulary. Create and rehearse a list of vocabulary words and expressions that fit your brand perfectly. Cut out all off-brand language.
For example, the expression “no worries” may sound fine from a clerk at a Portland audio equipment store, but not from a salesperson at Cartier in Milan.
What’s more, search out and replace any vocabulary words that could bruise customer feelings. For instance, avoid telling a customer: “You owe us.” Try instead: “Our records seem to show a balance. . .” Employees of some successful companies carry pocket-sized cards with handy reminders of recommended and discouraged phrases to use in a variety of common scenarios.
- Related: Four Ways to Improve Customer Service
4. Dedicate yourself to acknowledging each returning customer. Whatever your business and its size, get to know each customer as well as a beloved bartender, doorman, or hairstylist would. For example, the kind who would know each customer’s preferences, the name of her pet, when she was in last and other details.
Computer-assisted client-tracking systems — and an attentive staff — can help create that same “at home” feeling in your customers — regardless of the size and price point of your business, and whether it’s an online or bricks-and-mortar operation.
5. Make every hello and goodbye perfect. Psychological studies demonstrate that customers remember the first and last minutes of a service encounter much more vividly — and for much longer — than all the rest. The first and final elements of your customer interactions should be particularly well-engineered, because they are going to stick in the customer’s memory.
- Related: Three Ways to Speak Engaging Social Conversations
6. Speed up your service. Modern customers expect speedier service than did any generation before them. Not only speedier than their parents expected, but even than they themselves expected last year. In the age of iPhones and Amazon.com, you may as well not deliver your product or service if you’re going to deliver it late.
7. Show your personality. When customers choose to interact with a person at your company, they want the transaction to be, well, human — even in an online interaction.
For example, why send emails to customers from a Please-do-not-reply-to-this address? Instead, if possible, invite recipients, even of your mass emails, to respond directly — and, of course, make sure someone answers those replies when they come.
- Related: Making Email Newsletter More Social
Tags: customer incentives, loyalty, loyalty programs, recognition programs
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March 3rd, 2011
Could location-based mobile apps possibly have a beneficial business purpose? Survey says … yes.
I’m not ready to say that this past holiday season was the tipping point for mobile, but I know I found myself doing a lot more with my mobile phone in December. Primarily I checked in to retail stores and locations.
And I wasn’t just advertising to my Facebook friends and Twittering to relations about how much I was spending on their gifts (“Look! I’m in Tiffany’s!”). Mostly I wanted to see what merchants were willing to offer me for simply walking through their doors.
When the right offer came along, I bit–whether on 10 percent off at Radio Shack or a free eggnog latte at a coffee shop in the mall. Then I posted the find to my social graph.
Loyalty programs or lead generation? You make the call. But I know I wasn’t headed in that direction until I checked in to Foursquare, Gowalla, shopkick, Loopt or one of the other geo-location services.
Where y’at?
Location-based mobile services are becoming easier both for consumers to find and marketers to use. Facebook and Google have launched services in the category, but here are the independent hot spots
Foursquare: About 5 million members worldwide check Foursquare regularly to locate friends and to find tips and offers in places they’ve never been before.
Loopt: With more than 4 million users, Loopt recently announced plans to migrate Loopt Star, its standalone rewards-only app, to the main platform.
Gowalla: An admitted underdog, the 600,000-user app has made itself compatible with both Foursquare and Facebook Places (which claims 30,000 users.)
Whrrl: Allows members and brands to set up “societies” based on shared interests; brands can offer real-world rewards for digital actions such as check-ins.
Critics have been quick to point out defects in the location-based strategy. Yes, the incentive to check in is pretty thin when your only reward is a badge or some other sort of honorific. (How hot are you to become “mayor” of your local dry cleaner, anyway?)
And, yes, the number of people who have downloaded the apps to their phones is relatively small. Foursquare, the category leader, has about 5 million downloads worldwide. That’s a sliver of the 60 million smartphone users in the U.S. alone–and doesn’t even take in the much larger U.S. audience (170 million or so) who are still using regular feature phones and can’t access the app.
The question is, are those objections true for your business? If you had customers who would respond to a location-based game and you could find a way to give them something valuable as a reward, would they check in?
They have for Murphy USA, a gas retailer based in El Dorado, Ark., that operates more than 1,000 kiosk-style gas outlets, most located next to or near Wal-Mart’s big boxes. Buying gas is not exactly the kind of activity you’d expect to tweet to your pals, or even enjoy. And frugal Wal-Mart shoppers might not seem a target audience for a campaign that requires a smartphone and some mobile savvy.
Nevertheless, the company ran a promotion last July on the Whrrl location-based social network. Users who downloaded the app could check in at the pump and win instant prizes, from free beverages and discounts to a daily $50 gas giveaway.
Murphy, already active in creating loyalty among brand fans, publicized the campaign on Facebook and Twitter. It also put up a point-of-sale message at the pumps, with instructions on how new users could get engaged with the Murphy community on Whrrl–or “society,” as the groups are known on the platform–and what they stood to win.
The results compiled from the three-month pilot were impressive, says Casey Petersen, senior Internet business specialist for Murphy. For example, the industry average for pump visits is two a month. Customers who checked into the Murphy Whrrl society visited four times a month on average, and almost half of those checking in bellied up to the pump an average of six times a month. What’s more, the average fill-up ticket per visit by Whrrl users was $30–twice the industry average.
But the most amazing result was that the check-in drove new customer acquisition at an astounding rate. During the pilot period, 44 percent of those checking in to the brand’s society on Whrrl had never been to a Murphy station before.
“We’re a low-cost, high-volume chain, and we’ve been careful in everything we do online not just to do something because it’s a fad,” Petersen says. “We really want to provide value for our customers, not just a badge.” In fact, 85 percent of the check-ins said they chose Murphy over a nearby competitor specifically because of the Whrrl promotion.
Going with a location-based strategy was perhaps counter-intuitive. Murphy USA tracks Wal-Mart demographically and geographically, so the average customer is going to be female with a family. According to a Pew Internet survey in November, only 3 percent of women have used check-in services on mobile, compared with 6 percent of men.
On the other hand, an earlier survey by game maker PopCap found that 55 percent of the player base for social games–like FarmVille and Mafia Wars–are women, and their average age is 43. So maybe the best approach is to ignore the polls and the wisdom about edgy tactics and simply go out, see what your target prospects respond to and build a mobile promotion around that.
Tags: employee rewards, gifts, loyalty, loyalty programs, loyalty rewards, point rewards, reward
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June 4th, 2009
You can more learn much more than you thought by watching a day of football.
In case the unpredictability, camaraderie and showmanship weren’t enough reasons to spend a day watching football, there’s also plenty you can learn about managing a business. Fans know the game’s much more complex than it’s often given credit for. After all, sports analysts have no problem spending hours every week discussing the previous weekend’s games and potential strategies for those upcoming.
So when you find yourself scrambling for new clients or having to deal with a notoriously difficult employee, recall these seven management lessons that come directly from the field.
- Have a succession plan in place. In week one of the current season, Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young injured his knee, and Kerry Collins, a veteran quarterback with Super Bowl experience, replaced him, leading them to a perfect record through 10 games. The Titans signed Collins as a free agent in 2006 to back up Young, who was their No. 3 overall pick that same year. Similarly, knowing that Brett Favre would eventually retire, the Green Bay Packers drafted Aaron Rodgers in 2005 and have been grooming him since. He has thrown for nearly 2,400 yards and 15 touchdowns through 10 games. Conversely, in week four the Cincinnati Bengals lost their starting quarterback, Carson Palmer, when he sustained an elbow injury during practice. In his place, the team started newly signed, unproven Ryan Fitzpatrick, who threw three interceptions in a 20-12 loss against the Cleveland Browns. The team has won just one of its 10 games this season.
- Make sure new hires fit in with your organization. Your company may have the chance to hire a talented, well-known executive. But in addition to the executive’s ability, he should also mesh well with your organization and other employees. Despite Terrell Owens’ antics while playing for the San Francisco 49ers, the Philadelphia Eagles still signed him. While his skill helped get them to the Super Bowl, his presence the following year proved divisive and toxic to the team. After being released by the Eagles and forced to pay back a portion of his signing bonus, Owens went on to sign with the Cowboys. As the team has struggled offensively this season, the wide receiver has reverted to his habits of verbally fighting with teammates on the sidelines and blaming losses on not being thrown to enough.
- Even when business is good, don’t stop looking for new opportunities. Despite football being the No. 1 sport in America based on revenue, the NFL is trying to expand. In week seven, the New Orleans Saints played the San Diego Chargers in Wembley Stadium in London, drawing 83,226 fans. Also, the Buffalo Bills agreed to play five regular season games and three preseason games in Toronto over the next five years for a reported $78 million. Some teams are selling personal seat licenses, which give fans the right to perpetually buy season tickets for specific seats, and are using that revenue to finance new stadiums.
- Recognize when it’s time to cut your losses. Following a 31-14 loss against the Buffalo Bills, the 0-4 St. Louis Rams fired head coach Scott Linehan, making Linehan the first coach in 17 years to be fired in the middle of the season without winning a single game for the year. Under his guidance, the team had given up 147 points in its first four games. The Rams replaced him with Jim Haslett, the former defensive coordinator. While the move was potentially risky, the ownership saw it as necessary to prevent another 3-13 season. Under Haslett, the team won two of its first three games, losing to the New England Patriots by one touchdown.
- Don’t overlook special teams. Your company may make the best “whatsit” in the industry, but that doesn’t mean you can get away with an amateurish-looking website or fail to deliver your product on time. Despite strong offensive and defensive showings, teams continually blow games because of special teams mishaps. In a recent game, the Chicago Bears blocked a Minnesota Vikings punt, returning it for a touchdown, and then recovered a fumble on a Vikings punt return for another touchdown, contributing to a 48-41 Bears win. The debacles were enough to override 439 offensive yards for the Vikings and bring the special teams total touchdowns allowed this season to five.
- Figure out what motivates each employee. Some players need their egos fed; others are more concerned with seeing the team win; and for some, a paycheck is the top concern. In 2007, the Patriots traded for wide receiver Randy Moss, who had been so difficult and underachieving while playing for the Oakland Raiders that they accepted a lower-round draft pick in his place. While playing for the Patriots–known for fostering a strong sense of teamwork despite not paying the league’s highest salaries–Moss broke Jerry Rice’s record for touchdowns in a single season. He also has been publicly supportive this season of Matt Cassel, Tom Brady’s replacement.
- The extra point: Know when to “go for two.” You usually can see the anguish on a coach’s face when deciding whether to kick a game-tying extra point or go for the two-point conversion with less than two minutes left in the game. To help, teams have a chart suggesting what to do based on the score, time left in the game and whether they’re playing at home. Of course, there’s also room for a coach’s discretion based on the circumstances, such as unfavorable weather. Plan for potential tense situations to help you make more level-headed decisions. Know what you would do if your largest customer asked to end their relationship with your company, or if a fire destroyed your office or retail location.
The next time you feel guilty spending a few hours–or all day–watching football, just consider it “research.” No, that doesn’t mean your Sunday Ticket subscription qualifies as a tax deduction.
Tags: customer incentives, incentive, loyalty programs, rewards
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May 18th, 2009
We recommend http://growmyrestaurant.com/ for wonderful, easy to use methods to grow your restaurant business. Learn how to provide build loyalty.
Tags: corporate incentives, incentive, loyalty programs, rewards
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August 18th, 2008
In 1644, a child was born. He lived to be 93 at a time in history when the average life span was but 35 to 40. He taught himself his trade and began his career. He often worked alone with primitive tools, but his focus every day was to put the best he had into his work. The man made violins. He labored over each and every process and step to ensure that he had “autographed” them with excellence and the best that was in him. He created his own personal standard of excellence for his craft, and he actually signed his name on each instrument that passed the test.
Today, some three hundred years later, the name of this craftsman who was committed to excellence is the benchmark for the best in musical instruments. His name? Antonio Stradivari! His Stradivarius violins sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars because they are the best.
When Stradivari labored, he did not know of the legacy he was creating. He was doing his best, day in and day out, to reach his standard of excellence. He didn’t spend the extra time and care to get the accolades of upper management or to be the top producer in the company. He did it because excellence was part of his focus, mission, and obsession.
It is easy to do world-class work when a boss is looking or a supervisor is around. But the test is in what you do when no one is looking. High achievers have developed the ability to stay focused when no one else is around. Does your quality or performance fluctuate based on who is in the office or which customer you are serving? Excellence is not something that you can just turn on and off whenever you feel you need it. It is a habit rooted in your attitude about your life and career.
Are you just going through the motions day to day, or are you creating a masterpiece? Autographs are valuable because they are rare and are tied to excellent performance. In today’s world, superior effort and service are becoming endangered species. Is the autograph you place on your work and service each day a Stradivarius or a Michael Jordan or a Tiger Woods? Or is it unknown, with little value? Autograph your career and your life with excellence.
Having a firm commitment to excellence, like Stradivari, has an amazing effect on your achievement motivation. When people who are simply going through the motions or who are just working for a paycheck hit a challenge or obstacle, they often run to their boss and get him or her to do it, or they procrastinate by getting a cup of coffee or shuffling the papers on their desk. On the other hand, when individuals who are committed to excellence hit a similar challenge, they immediately bounce back with energy, and they are actually exhilarated by the chance to stretch themselves to overcome the problem. A commitment to excellence will create focus, and focus will assist you in maintaining your positive motivation and in creating a balanced life.
So, start today and autograph your work with excellence!
Tags: loyalty programs, motivation, rewards
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