There are many different things to consider when it comes to getting your business off the ground. Naturally, reaching out to new customers with advertising, marketing campaigns, and promotional events will drum up business, and should naturally be treated as a priority if you want to grow quickly.
However, once you’re up and running, retaining existing customers is arguably more key to the stability and longevity of your business. They spend more money than first-timers and are much more likely to tell their friends about your establishment. In other words, they’re your most valuable visitors, so building long-lasting relationships with them is incredibly important.
Establishing a network of regulars is easier said than done, though, which is why getting started with a tried-and-tested customer loyalty program can be a good jumping-off point. So, what’s the secret to a high-performing customer loyalty program? We reveal all.
Start with Strategy
We get it. You’re excited about the prospect of getting set up with a loyalty program to start raking in all that extra income from return customers. After all, some studies show that just a 5% increase in customer retention can lead to up to 75% increase in revenue, so your enthusiasm for your customer loyalty program is far from misplaced.
It’s important to remember, though, that having a comprehensive and informed strategy for your loyalty program is going to be a deciding factor in how successful it is.
For starters, there are some basic decisions you need to make before you can even get started, such as what kind of type of loyalty program you want to set up. Points and tiers are the most common, giving customers access to deals and perks based on how much they spend at your business. There’s also VIP programs that require an upfront fee to get access to those kinds of benefits, although that can be a bit less popular given the added cost.
You’ll also want to be sure you’ve clearly established your target customers for the loyalty program. Many programs allow for a lot of customizability, so if you have a clear, data-driven picture of your customers, you’ll be able to hone the experience to their needs more effectively.
Collect Data
Once your customer loyalty program is up and running, you’re going to be getting a lot of helpful data about your customers.
So, how do you get your hands on all that data? Depending on the system you get set up with, you’ll typically get access to reporting tools that can show you how often your customers make purchases, what kind of deals they take advantage of, and when they are most likely to buy.
You may also be able to obtain insights from customers by asking if they’d like to be on your mailing list for the latest offers and discounts.
The question is, what do you do with all this new data? Identifying a target audience for your customer loyalty program isn’t a one-and-done suggestion. We’d highly recommend using all that data to learn more about your customers and, more specifically, how they interact with your business. Then, you can tailor the experience to their needs, helping increase your revenue and their satisfaction in the process.
For example, if you’re a restaurant and your sales data shows you that two of your side dishes are way more popular than the rest, then selecting them as a reward in your customer loyalty program would be a shrewd decision. This is just one example of the kind of data-driven decision you can make with the reporting tools included in most major point-of-sale systems.
If you want to make your marketing effort as targeted as possible, check out our guide to customer segmentation.
Use the Right Technology
In the modern era, there’s always a piece of technology that can manage the more difficult aspects of running a business. From accounting software to CRM platforms, there are no shortage of digital resources that can help organize, streamline, and automate business operations. Rest assured, that’s no different for customer loyalty programs.
For online businesses, there are plenty of software options out there that can help you establish a good system for rewarding and attracting repeat customers. However, if you’re a brick-and-mortar restaurant or retail location, it’ll be a bit easier to use a POS system that has built in rewards and loyalty functionality, as your customers will be engaging with that more often than anything else.
If this kind of functionality is what you’re looking for, we’d recommend checking out the SumUp POS, an all-in-one tool that includes automated rewards and marketing program functionality built in, so you don’t need to find any third-party integrations to offer this perk to your potential return customers.
Perhaps more importantly, the rewards and loyalty functionality is an included feature in the SumUp POS device, which means that you won’t have to pay extra to attract repeat customers. Considering SumUp is already less expensive than competitors when it comes to the software, this can lead to some serious savings if you’re in need of a high performing customer loyalty program.
