7 Secrets for a killer loyalty program

A Loyalty program is a tool that will engage your customers and lead them to come back to you more often and spend more.

Over the years, different types of loyalty programs have been created, all different from each other, the most effective has proved to be that of loyalty cards, i.e. personal cards that allow customers to collect points and use them to obtain discounts and other benefits. Today this kind of stratagy is carried out thanks to card apps that help you build customer loyalty.

Loyalty cards are the loyalty tool par excellence. More and more local businesses are using them, achieving great results with minimal effort (never believe those who will tell you it's easy).

If you already have your own system, keep reading this article to improve your loyalty program. If, on the other hand, you don't know exactly how to start, don't worry, you can request free support from one of our consultants who will show you the tools you need to best retain your customers.

1 - Create a simple loyalty program

Given the simplicity of the title I do not want to dwell too much on this paragraph ... I have seen loyalty programs that not even a NASA engineer could understand!

Do you want this prize?

Each Rand spent (multiplied by the age of Barbara Streisand, divided by the number of children of the stars, multiplied by the square root of 71) will earn you a point. Collect only 10,000 points and the prize will be yours with only an additional contribution of R 100

You may have smiled, but many managers see their loyalty program fail for this very reason! The reality is this: you can offer the most attractive rewards in the world, but if your customers don't understand how your loyalty program works, they won't follow it.

Zero chance!

Customers are often lazy and don't have the time and desire to for to you or your loyalty cards. Make your loyalty program simple, explainable in a few words (especially those of large retail chains) you will see that it will be easier to convince customers to join by showing them the immediate benefits they can get.

Choose attractive prizes (try to satisfy different types of customers, men, women, children, etc ...), set achievable thresholds (perhaps avoiding additional contributions because they are very unpleasant), decide to apply a point for every X Rand spent in a simple and fast way.

Thanks to Flox loyalty cards you can automate all this.

2 - Involve all customers, at every stage

Have you ever been to Woolworths or Incredible Connection? If you have you will recognize these words:

Do you have our loyalty card?

Do you want to get it, it takes 2 minutes!

These simple words must become your MANTRA! Each customer must leave your business with his loyalty card or in any case having heard you say this magic formula at least once.

Do not wait for the moment the pay, that is the last resort. You must always remind them!

ENTRANCE: prepare signs at the entrance inviting them to join

CHOICE PHASE: tell your employees to propose it perhaps by rewarding the employee who produces the most signups.

DURING THE NEGOTIATION: point out that with the loyalty card they would be able to gain discounts

PAYMENT: repeat the mantra aloud smiling and looking at the customer in his eyes

This is the hardest phase but the one that if done well will allow you to achieve the results you want.

Many customers do not like to leave their personal data and this is where Flox, our loyalty suite, comes in, which allows you to create a Loyalty Program without collection of personal information.

3 - Spread the word and share

Don't limit yourself to your customers! Get your loyal customers to do some PR for you: the best way to convince them is to reward them with the right amount of points in case they manage to get a friend into your program.

Also remember that today you have tools that create an incredible synergy with loyalty programs: social networks. Thanks to Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and other social networks, you can make your loyalty program known to thousands of potential customers.

4 - Show your creativity

The strongest loyalty programs are always the most imaginative and unusual ones.

It is scientifically tested that when dealing with customers, fun is synonymous with functionality, the first thing you need to do is rename your points in an original way: if you have a clothing store, for example, you can call them "buttons" or if you manage a restaurant, offer a free beer upon reaching the three "sandwiches".

Be creative on the rewards you offer. Yes, a discount is ok, your products you have in store are ok... but also a creative line of personalised branded merchandise would not be a bad idea, and it would work as leverage because the reward itself will also do the advertising for you!

You can also invent systems for assigning extra points: bring a friend, birthday, etc ...

If you feel that you have no clear ideas, ask for the support of one of our consultants who will explain what tools to use for a successful loyalty program.

5 - Turn the program into a game

We all like to play (and enjoy it a lot). Big companies do this often because they know how much it affects customers around the world. The good news is that it takes very little to do!

A very simple way to do this is to award your customers a medal for reaching a certain goal, in terms of spending or points.

Many stores on Fox level up customers by placing them in a VIP group that entitles them to exclusive benefits and advantages. Maybe you could even have them compete in a "customer of the month" contest!

You can also create a treasure hunt in the store by hiding objects that allow you to double the points of the current purchase ... so maybe your customers will feel stimulated to buy more!

6 - Collaborate with another business

Popular wisdom tells us that unity is strength. This is especially true for loyalty programs, which in and of themselves tell the story of a partnership between business owners and customers that rewards both parties

People are more attracted to a complete product or service, so if you offer a complementary product / service as a reward to your customers they will be much more willing to participate.

From the customer's point of view, this is undoubtedly an effective strategy. The real advantages, however, will be for you and for the partners you decide to involve: a shared collection of points will allow you and your partners to share customers!

The effectiveness is further increased if you think that some loyalty programs are structured in such a way as to encourage collaboration. Flox, for example, allows customers to participate in various different businesses loyalty programs with a single card and with separate point counts. Super convenient!

7 - Take advantage of psychology

You don't need to be Sigmund Freud to apply some psychological tricks to your loyalty program, nor do you have to spend hours on books. Just take a few small steps.

One of them is to simply avoid assigning blank cards. Always load the new cards of your customers with a relevant amount of points: people, in fact, tend to more willingly carry out tasks that have already been partially completed.

Often remind the customer that he is progressing and achieving results, perhaps communicating that he has reached a certain milestone: phrases such as "congratulations, you have reached 1000 points" or "perfect, now you can collect your prize" will give him satisfaction and a lot of energy.

Another psychological technique is to adopt fairly high point scales, for example assigning 500 points instead of 5 for a purchase. The increase in points, especially in view of a goal, produces a much stronger "exciting" effect in customers when they are in the hundreds or thousands.

Perfect! Now you have all the basic knowledge to start a top loyalty program or to improve what you have already created. All you have to do is get to work and retain tens, hundreds and even thousands of customers!

If you still have any doubts or would like to use our system, you just have to contact us !!!