Creating Customer Loyalty Programs

These days, loyal customers are hard to come by. So when you do have customers who are faithful to your business, returning day after day and year after year, you want to reward them. But how? There are many ways to reward your loyal customers, from simple paper-based methods to mobile apps and more. Here’s a look at some different options to consider.

Rewards cards: Depending on your customer base, your budget and how sophisticated you want to get, you can start at the basic level with paper punch cards (“Buy 10, get one free”). You can also use plastic loyalty cards that you swipe to track customer purchases and other data, which can be more useful in helping gather information for your future marketing programs than are paper cards.

Discount programs: Consider rewarding loyal customers by giving them a discount when they reach a certain purchasing level or if they buy a certain number of items within a specified time.

Give a gift: One great way to encourage loyalty is simply by tracking a customer’s relationship with you and other important data. For instance, if you record the date of first purchase, a customer’s birthday or other relevant dates, you can give them a gift on those “anniversary” dates. You can also offer gifts with purchase (like cosmetics companies do, with great success) when customers buy a certain dollar amount or volume of product.

Create a VIP program: Allow customers to sign up for a VIP program where they get some type of reward relevant to your business. This could include discounts on purchases, special sale days just for them, advance notice of sales or access to special information such as a VIP email newsletter.

Hold events: Events for loyal customers can be a great way to reward them. Consider opening your store or business at a special time for them to shop; holding a special dinner at your restaurant that only your “regulars” are invited to; or holding a seminar or training session for your faithful service business customers. The ideas are limited only by your business.

Mobile apps: Applications such as Belly, Spendgo and Womply streamline loyalty by enabling customers to enter or swipe their account information, using smartphones or tablets, to win prizes, get store credits or free products, or get cash-back rewards for making purchases. You can customize the rewards programs to work with your goals.

Get personal: Sending a handwritten thank-you note or making a phone call are very meaningful ways to thank your loyal customers that they won’t soon forget. In fact, in today’s digital world, these old-fashioned methods just might be the most memorable and effective customer loyalty tools of all.

About the Author

Rieva Lesonsky is CEO and President of GrowBiz Media, a media company that helps entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses. Follow Rieva at Twitter.com/Rieva and visit SmallBizDaily.com to sign up for her free TrendCast reports. She's been covering small business and entrepreneurial issues for more than 30 years, is the author of several books about entrepreneurship and was the editorial director of Entrepreneur magazine for over two decades