Cathy Stucker - The Idea Lady

Attract Customers and Make Yourself Famous

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Shop
  • Work with Cathy
  • About
You are here: Home / Marketing / Rewarding Loyalty

Rewarding Loyalty

September 21, 2004 by Cathy Stucker

Airlines offer frequent flyer miles, grocery stores have customer loyalty cards, and the local sub shop gives you a free sandwich after you buy ten. Each of these programs rewards customers for patronizing a business on a continuing basis. Although the most sophisticated of these programs are costly to administer, you can start a loyalty program that is inexpensive and simple to run.

How you run the program depends on your business. Do customers buy from you at your retail store? At the most basic level, have some business cards printed with areas to punch, stamp or initial each time a customer makes a purchase. This may be based on simply making a purchase, or it could vary based on the number or type of items purchased or the amount spent. When the card is full, the customer gets a discount or free item. If customers buy from you online or via mail order, you may track purchases through an automated system and offer rewards when cumulative purchases reach certain levels.

In addition to encouraging customers to buy from you regularly, loyalty programs can also be a source of information about your customers. Ask customers to sign up and give you their contact information (e.g., name, address, phone, email) and perhaps fill out a brief survey. In return, you might offer a free gift or a discount on a purchase. Use this information to keep in touch with customers and let them know about new products, sales and other promotions.

When you design the rewards, consider what you want your customers to do and what rewards they value. The reward may be a discount, a specified free item, or an item of their choice (within certain limits). Although you don’t want the program to be so complicated that no one understands it, you may offer “bonus points” for purchasing certain items, for purchases over a certain amount, or to reward other customer behaviors you want to encourage.

A related idea is offering a membership or fee-based program. Customers pay to belong, and in return qualify for discounts and other special promotions. For example, Barnes & Noble sells a card that gets holders 10% off most purchases. These cards not only encourage customers to buy from them instead of another store, they may also generate larger sales. After all, the more you spend, the more you save!

Your loyalty program should result in more sales, while keeping administrative and other costs to a minimum.

print

Related Posts :

Need Customers? Borrow Some!
When You Don't Know What to Write
100% of Nothing
Enough About You - Let’s Talk About Me

Filed Under: Marketing

Search

Join Me! (Get Free Stuff!)

Get useful tips and techniques to build your business, plus member-only exclusives such as free webinars, as an IdeaLady Insider. It's free!

I respect your privacy & will NEVER sell, rent or share your email address. More than a policy, it's my Privacy Pledge.

Connect with Cathy

 Facebook Google+ Twitter YouTube Pinterest LinkedIn Flickr StumbleUpon RSS Amazon Author Central

Recent Articles

  • The Short but Powerful Guide to Finding Your Passion
  • 3 Strategies for Quick & Easy Content Creation
  • What to Ask When Hiring a Ghostwriter
  • Take a Real Break – Fully Disengage
  • You Get an Extra Day

Categories

Be an Expert Blogging Business Start Ups Cash Content Copywriting Creating Information Products Creative Ideas Creative Marketing Strategies Creativity Customer Service Customer Testimonials Dealing with Clients Email Getting Things Done Growing Your Business Guest Posts Image Internet Marketing Life Lessons Making Changes Making Good Decisions Marketing Market Research Monday Morning Messages Money and Finances Motivation and Inspiration Mystery Shopping Networking Online Business Passive Income Persuasion Positive Thinking Pricing Productivity and Time Management Publicity Public Speaking Reputation Management Running Your Business Sales Search Engine Optimization Social Media Success Technology Working Smarter Writing and Publishing

Learn About

Mystery Shopping
Book Publishing
Marketing
Becoming an Expert
Free Publicity

Return to top of page

Copyright © 1998 - 2023 Cathy Stucker - All Rights Reserved