Loyalty Programs May Keep Customers Coming Back – But First You’ve Got to Earn their Trust

Written by Julia Hyde


By Julia Hyde

Remember trading stamps? If you’re over 40, chances are you will. Every time you shopped at a participating grocery store or gas station they gave you stamps to paste into a book. When you’d accumulated enough stamps, you could cash them in for “free” gifts.

These stamps were one ofrepparttar first loyalty programs. They kept customers loyal to a particular product or merchant because they offered an incentive that encouragedrepparttar 120033 customer to keep coming back – and spend more money.

While trading stamps are a thing ofrepparttar 120034 past, a wide range of industries still use loyalty programs to establish long-term relationships with their customers. By farrepparttar 120035 most successful and well known isrepparttar 120036 frequent flyer program.

Onrepparttar 120037 surface, frequent flyer programs appear to be all about rewarding customers with free flights just because they choose to fly with a particular airline –repparttar 120038 more miles you flyrepparttar 120039 more free miles you get. But, if you askedrepparttar 120040 airlines who really benefits from these programs, chances are you’d hear a resounding, “We do.” Ask them to explain, and they’ll likely tell you that frequent flyer programs allow them to collect data on individual customers, help them tailor their mailings and special offers torepparttar 120041 customer’s specific needs, allow them to promote higher fares, and ultimately increase their sales.

But, as popular as frequent flyer programs have become they only work ifrepparttar 120042 service offered byrepparttar 120043 airline is good enough to earnrepparttar 120044 customer’s trust. And that means not only offering a quality flying experience but great customer service and on-going communication.

For smaller businesses,repparttar 120045 benefits of establishing a loyalty program are no different to those enjoyed byrepparttar 120046 major airlines. And equally,repparttar 120047 program’s success depends on first establishingrepparttar 120048 three most important elements of building that loyalty:

1. Treat your customer’s right, and they’ll be yours for life.

Your customers will not only judge your company byrepparttar 120049 quality of your product, but also byrepparttar 120050 level of service you offer. Offer one withoutrepparttar 120051 other and you may as well give up now.

Great customer service includes, among other things:

Credibility: Your customers should be able to trust you. No one wants to be onrepparttar 120052 alert forrepparttar 120053 small print or hidden charges. They want to know that your company can be trusted and has their best interests at heart.

Flexibility: Never userepparttar 120054 words, “I’m sorry but it’s not our policy.” Always solve your customer’s problems, even if it means losingrepparttar 120055 sale. There’s nothing worse for a customer than a company that will not go out of their way to accommodate their needs.

On-time Deliveries: If you’ve ever ordered a product and been told thatrepparttar 120056 delivery time is 6-8 weeks, you’ll understandrepparttar 120057 frustration a customer experiences. Unlessrepparttar 120058 product is out of stock, or is an international delivery, there’s no earthly reason why a product should take 6-8 weeks to deliver. Similarly, if you promise a certain delivery time, you must abide by it. If you sayrepparttar 120059 product will be shipped within 72 hours, then ship it within 72 hours. If for some reason you find you can’t meetrepparttar 120060 delivery time, notifyrepparttar 120061 customer and give themrepparttar 120062 option to cancel their order.

Making a Hit with Your Marketing Campaign

Written by Susan Friedmann


Considered a vital link in a show's promotional plan, direct marketing is vital only if it's done right. It's certainly not as simple as typing a letter, adding an address and stamp, and popping it inrepparttar mail. Direct marketing specialist Debbie Bermont, president of San Diego-based Source Communications, offers her golden rules for creating that vital, highly successful direct marketing campaign. There are some key golden rules to making your direct mailings work effectively. That doesn't mean that you have to spend more money in order to succeed. Far from it. In fact, you could find yourself spending less -- or at least spending more strategically -- than you may be doing at present. Here's how: Mail to Mr. Right There's a simple but very clear distinction between junk mail and direct mail. Junk mail is mail that isn't wanted. Direct mail is something that goes torepparttar 120032 right person and is wanted. One major key torepparttar 120033 success of your direct mailing is to findrepparttar 120034 right people to mail to. If you are working on a follow-up show, then targetingrepparttar 120035 people who signed up last year would be a good place to start. If it's a new show or a new list, your first job is to start with a research phone call to find out who that right person is. Even if you're using last year's list, it is still worth a telephone call to check that your information is up to date. Don't ever rely on anyone passing your mailer on -- it just won't happen. Boost Your Letter Once you've found out who to send your letter to, your next step is to make sure that your letter works to its maximum effect. Write it as a one-on-one dialogue. Beware of using industry lingo that your prospect may not understand. Keep your paragraphs short and sweet -- no more than seven lines. Break up your letter into clearly defined subheads. And keep it to two pages in length. Make All Your Copy Benefit-Oriented Listrepparttar 120036 benefits so they are easy to understand. And remember that a benefit is a lot different than a feature. Features do not haverepparttar 120037 clout that benefits do. For example, stating that "10,000 people attended our show last year" is merely a feature. Write it inrepparttar 120038 context of a benefit: "You can haverepparttar 120039 opportunity of making 10,000 qualified contacts in three days," and you'll start makingrepparttar 120040 impact that you want. Repeat your offer at least three times throughout your letter: in your headline, withinrepparttar 120041 first two paragraphs, and again in your closing paragraph. You can also include it in a "p.s." Last, but not least, tell your prospects whatrepparttar 120042 next step is and tell them to do it today. Also include details of where to go for more information. Your goal should be forrepparttar 120043 recipients to immediately respond to your letter in a positive way. Make an Impact Your mail piece must stick out from allrepparttar 120044 rest. Yours will not berepparttar 120045 only piece of direct mail that lands on your prospects' desks today. The more you can do to catch their attention, peak their curiosity, and urge them to openrepparttar 120046 packet,repparttar 120047 better. One particularly effective way of doing this is to make your packet lumpy. For example, you can include Post-it notes or candy (but never candy that could melt!). Make it even more appealing by relating your insert to your offer or your message. For example, insert a bite-sized Pay Day candy bar along withrepparttar 120048 message, "Every day's a Pay Day when you exhibit atrepparttar 120049 ABC Show!" Another idea is to affix large plastic aspirin capsules to your mailer withrepparttar 120050 message "Don't let this be another headache for you!" Or include a card with a telephone ringing along withrepparttar 120051 note "Give us a call today!" Whatever your insert, make your message clear, make it novel, make it fun, make it useful, and make it one that leaves a warm fuzzy feeling -- not confetti. All that does is leave a mess!

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