Do you have a small retail business? Are you trying to run a loyalty program and face hiccups while at it? Probably you are thinking of leaving the loyalty program mid-way?
Wait. Do not make that decision in a hurry. Don’t give up easily; we are sure you must have learned a few things while you were creating and managing the loyalty program.
To make it easier, we have few tricks up our sleeve to smoothen the process for you.
- Create a goal
Starting with a goal in mind is the first step in creating or starting a loyalty program. There are 3 goals you should always focus on:
- Acquiring new customers
- Decrease in the customer churn rate
- Increase in the order size
It is a great idea to create “SMART” goals to make your business a success. Smart goals are:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Relevant
- Time-bound
For example, be specific about a goal – that could be customer acquisition. Maybe your business is acquiring new customers at a rate of 1.5% per quarter. You have to ensure that your smart goal is to improve this rate using the loyalty program and make it 3% per quarter and should not fall below 12% per quarter.
- Deliver value through your loyalty program
“If people believe they share values with a company, they will stay loyal to the brand.”– Howard Schultz
You are doing business to make money. More important is that you make a handsome profit. For that, you need customers.
We are all aware of that!
However, the customers would not pay any heed if you do not make any profits if you are unable to deliver “value” to them. You might be the most helpful person in your town. It just won’t matter to them.
So our advice is to create a campaign that provides and delivers value.
Your loyalty program should go beyond rewards and points, the customers earn. It would help if you focused on long-term benefits like convenience, savings, time, discounts, and other value-added services that would prevent your customers from going to your competitors.
investing in a POS solution that helps you to create the right kind of loyalty program for your retail business.
- Give a name to your loyalty program
My Starbucks Rewards, Jet Privilege, Zomato Gold, Flying Returns are some of the popular loyalty programs designed by the brands.
So probably it sounds ludicrous to create a name for your loyalty program. However, it does make customers feel special and makes them feel like a part of a club, so to speak.
For example, if you have a retail outlet selling gym clothes and accessories, think of something intriguing like Keep Fit, or if you have a dental clinic, you could name it Smile.
- Identify your customers
Even if you run a small retail business, it is very crucial to create a loyalty program that is secure and identifies the customer. It is imperative that you create a loyalty program that is a scam-proof.
If you design a mobile loyalty software for managing your rewards campaigns, you will have to provide punch cards, pin code access, QR codes, mobile apps and bar-code scanning facilities to ensure your program runs without a glitch.
- Train your employees
An additional vital step in promoting the program is to ensure your employees have the proper knowledge of how the program works. Questions will be asked!
They need to know – how rewards are earned, redeemed, and details about the services or products that the customers are purchasing in the first place. Lack of product knowledge will cause chaos and lead to failure in loyalty programs, which affect your ROI.
Hope these 5 tips will help in jump-starting a customer loyalty rewards program that will help you succeed in your small business. In return, you will receive better, free customer acquisition, customer engagement, a lower customer acquisition cost, and excellent customer reviews.
Any tips we missed? Please leave them in the comments.