Should You Add a Loyalty Card Program to Your Business?

The dog may be man’s best friend, but for a business owner, nothing beats a loyal customer. It’s easier and often less expensive to retain existing customers than it is to find new ones— six or seven times less expensive according to many marketing experts. So now may be a great time to reward that customer dedication by offering a loyalty program. It’s an effective way to enhance your relationship with your customers and generate those moments of ‘wow’ that keep them coming back.

A loyalty program makes your customers feel appreciated. It’s a way of saying: “Thank you. We recognize what you’ve done for us as a company. Now let us do something for you.” Who doesn’t appreciate being thanked for his or her efforts? A loyalty program also gives customer a sense of belonging to a special group. A loyalty program isn’t just for the run-of-the-mill customer. Instead, it’s for special people like them.

You can use the loyalty program to do more than just make customers happy. You can use it to affect their behavior as well. Why not make a 5 percent discount into a 10 percent discount when you refer a friend? You’re giving a customer an incentive to do some of your marketing for you, and it’s likely to be more effective since it’s coming from a friend.

As time goes on, you can continue to fine tune your loyalty program. By offering different incentives, or combinations of incentives, you can get an idea of what customers really want, not just what they say they want. Actions sometimes speak louder than words, so with a loyalty program, you can see what customers do, not just guess based on what they say on a survey. Do they like discounts? How much do they like them and during what time of year? Would they appreciate coupons for some of your more expensive products? A loyalty program can let you find out the answers to some of these questions.

Maybe instead of coupons or discounts, they’d like to be the first kid on the block to have your new gizmo. Loyalty programs can be a great way to try out new products or services. For example, video game companies will sometimes let their most loyal patrons try out the new game a week or so before anyone else.

Setting up a loyalty program can be a little work, but it’s the gift that keeps on giving. At its most basic form, the idea is to reward your best customers by offering them discounts and rewards for purchasing from you. The more they purchase the more rewards they earn. And the more rewards they earn the more they purchase. It’s a self-sustaining cycle that can pay dividends now and into the future, so give a loyalty program a try.