|
Have these things ever happened to you?
You buy a cup of coffee from the neighborhood café, and as
they hand you your receipt you get a calling card sized,
attractively designed "loyalty record," promising that if
you come back for 8 more cups anytime within the year you'll
get your 10th cup for free.
A few days later you call for pizza, and the person on the
phone announces: "Congratulations! This is your 5th order
from our store in the past 6 months! You automatically get
a Preferred Customer's Value Card with this delivery, FREE!"
And when the card arrives you happily discover that you can
now get a 10% discount on every succeeding order you place
for the rest of the year.
The next day you go to your local supermarket for groceries.
As the cashier rings up your purchases she asks if you
already have a Privilege Card, and since you don't have one
yet she encourages you to get one -- just keep today's
receipt along with other receipts from their store (from
previous and future purchases), and once the recorded
amounts total up to $500 or more, you get a "Privilege Card"
that rewards you with discounts and product giveaways every
time you return to their store.
Now, these 3 experiences might make you shake your head and
say "déjà vu," but it isn't really as Twilight Zone as it
seems.
Smart business people know that it costs more time & money
to win over new customers than to keep old ones. And this
is simply what these 3 experiences are all about: keeping
old customers loyal, therefore getting more profits from
their repeat purchases in the long run.
And WE could certainly benefit from learning from these
"loyalty development" strategies, even if we're doing
business entirely online.
Next
|
