Customer Rewards & Loyalty: A Primer

No matter whether you own a restaurant or a retail shop, you want your customers to be loyal to you and your business and to choose you over your competitors. Sometimes, you can incentivize your customers to return (“Buy 10 cups of coffee, get the 11th free!”), but a reward program alone won’t create loyal customers.

In our new Customer Rewards & Loyalty Guide (available to LSMGuide members), we walk you through how to create a valuable reward and loyalty programs, and show you some examples of companies that are doing them right.

Here are some key tips…

1. Be loyal to your customers.

You see, loyalty is defined as faithfulness or devotion to a person, country, group or cause. We want this from our customers – but are we offering it to them?
Think about loyalty in terms of your friends. A loyal friend knows your birthday, your favorite foods, and your shirt size (amongst other things). Wouldn’t it be a nice surprise if you knew some little things about your customers to make their experience with your business special?

2. Make your rewards program fun.

Most rewards programs (punch cards or cards swiped at checkout) are based on a points system. It’s easy and trackable. However, instead of just offering a reward for every 100 points (or whatever), how about entering these “high-scoring” customers in a raffle to win something fun? Or, if they are due for a reward, let them choose a reward at face value, or select a “mystery” reward that could be worth more. Keep it interesting so they’ll keep coming back!

3. Try a low-tech loyalty program.

While there are plenty of fantastic rewards and loyalty programs or apps out there, it doesn’t take more than a stack of index cards or a binder to keep track of what’s important to your customers or what their preferences are. Keep tabs on what your regular customers say – they like this type of wine, they don’t like coming in on weekends when it’s busy, they have a big holiday party they’re planning for, etc. All it takes is a note on an index card, or in your customer binder to keep these little facts top of mind. Then, when a new product arrives that you think they would like – you can easily reference their card (or page in the binder) and give them a call. Simple (and personal) as that!

Click here to become a LSMGuide member today!