Reap the Benefits From Your Loyalty Rewards Program



Posted: Monday, March 15, 2010

by John Stack
ACityDiscount

Loyalty / Reward Programs provide great opportunities to build your company through repeat business, and reward your customers' loyalty. When the common perception that it costs 5 times as much to get a new customer as to sell to an existing one, it is no surprise that companies across a variety of industries have expanded their marketing budgets to include customer Reward / Loyalty Programs. Customers join loyalty programs to receive benefits such as merchandise discounts, free gifts and exclusive offers. The supplier not only profits from customer purchases, but also increases customer retention. Companies like American Express, Sephora, and Delta Airlines have optimized the overall success of their customer rewards programs by providing customers with highly desirable incentives.

One of the best ways to implement a rewards program is by understanding your customer's needs and wants. Customers are often willing to spend a little more if they are guaranteed a benefit like a free product or extra reward points. Tom Merritt, Executive Editor for CNET.com, admits "I've occasionally paid the $5 or $10 extra for a fare so that I could get points from an airline I fly more frequently." Merritt recommends that businesses make loyalty programs more effective by streamlining the overall system of the program. As opposed to starting a program with a lengthy "Terms & Conditions" document filled with thousands of exceptions and penalty stipulations, a Loyalty / Rewards Program should be simple, beneficial and easy to use by your customers.

An example of an excellent business to business rewards program is ACityDiscount's "Peach Points." Started in March 2010, the program awards customers with one point for each dollar spent online or in at ACityDiscount's Restaurant Equipment Showroom. When a customer accumulates 2,500 points, they are eligible to start redeeming points for dream vacations, retail gift cards, charity donations, or discounts off of future purchases.

The points are good for a year and membership is free. Members are also allowed to redeem the points at anytime within the year they joined. For example, if a customer chooses to not redeem his or her points until they reach 100,000 points, they can receive $1000 towards a vacation, charity or future purchase!

Customers are more likely to purchase from a company when the rewards program is well crafted and easy to use. When implemented well, Loyalty / Reward Programs can be a source of increased customer volume and profits for businesses. Make your program accessible and you'll soon reap the benefits from your rewards program!

*Quote taken from Tom Merritt's article, "Rewards programs are their own punishment" http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-3000_7-6343258-1.html

This Article has been viewed 774 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
No comments yet.
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.