Are You Watering Your Merchant-Funded Loyalty Program?
Watering Your Merchant-Funded Loyalty Program Merchant-funded loyalty programs are not fire and forget All too often we see brands go to great lengths to design a best-in-class merchant-funded loyalty program, focus a lot of energy on the program design and launch strategy and then completely flounder when it comes to ongoing consumer engagement. Why go through extensive processes of competitor analysis, concept design, rounds of creative revisions, platform optimization, hand-selecting merchants to appeal to your Read more …
Casinos and the Loyalty Experience
Casinos and the Loyalty Experience As consumer behavior evolves, loyalty and rewards programs must change their ways. Nothing is static. Every touch point needs to be dynamic and interactive. For the customer, the loyalty program is becoming about the experience … the loyalty experience. People like having a voice that is heard with customized and tailored interactions. A good program also has to reach people across all channels, providing a unified experience. Although push marketing is Read more …
Thank You, Loyal Patient – The Doctor Will See You Now
Thank You, Loyal Patient – The Doctor Will See You Now Medical care is a business like any other. There are goods and services exchanged for money. There is the supply and demand of healthcare services. Most importantly, people ask others for recommendations before they choose a doctor, hospital, lab, or other medical service. Because of these things, loyalty is just as important to the medical field as it is to any other industry. It Read more …
Loyalty Isn’t Always About Frequency
Loyalty Isn’t Always About Frequency I spent a good part of my weekend getting ready to send my son back to school next week. He is going to be in second grade this year. I asked him what he was most looking forward to. His answer was a two-parter. First he was excited about recess, so he could see his best friends. I asked him who his best friend was and he proceeded to name Read more …
How Loyalty Drives Giving
How Loyalty Drives Giving When we think of loyalty programs, our first thought is usually of airlines. Then we think of hotels and retail stores. These are companies who want us to buy their goods and services, be loyal to their brand, and return to make more purchases. This makes perfect sense; loyalty is the lifeblood of most for-profit companies, because loyalty drives sales. What we don’t often consider is that loyalty is also Read more …
Why Do Customer Loyalty Programs Fail?
Why Do Customer Loyalty Programs Fail? Engagement is the life blood of any loyalty program. The higher the engagement, the better your program looks to those from the outside. You could hire consultant after consultant and do focus groups all day and night to build the greatest program ever. Next, you could spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to build this shrine to loyalty. Imagine, you get excited as the launch grows near. You are about Read more …
Merchant-Funded Malls Are Better Than Ever
Merchant-Funded Malls Are Better Than Ever I often speak with companies whose merchant-funded malls have not worked as well as they would have hoped. They are at a loss as to why that is. They tell me things like people just don’t want to use these types of programs anymore or that their customers tell them it is too hard to find what they want. Others complain about lost tracking or members clicking out to Read more …
Even With Loyalty, Timing is Everything
Even With Loyalty, Timing is Everything In the past, I have talked about using merchant-funded rewards to both reward your members and to make your program profitable. I have also spoken of goals and budgets for your program. Now let’s talk about how we tie all those things together. Timing is EVERYTHING When I say timing is everything, I do not mean the timing in which you give the reward to the member. That is important, Read more …
Does It Pay to be Loyal to Your Company?
Does It Pay to be Loyal to Your Company? Welcome to 2015. I know we are halfway done with the year, but today is a new day. We have come to a point in the war for consumer loyalty that a good product, fair price, and friendly service are no longer enough. Consumer Benefits These days, everyone now has a loyalty program and most of them look the same. Most people I talk with would not Read more …
What Is Your Budget?
What Is Your Budget? This is a question that gets asked in some form in just about every sales conversation. Sometimes the question is never asked. A good consultant will always ask. I know it is uncomfortable to ask, but it is something that must be asked. Even though it can be hard to say, it is one question that should always be asked. My wife watches a ton of HGTV. She is always complaining about the Read more …