Loyalty Program Benefits for Small Businesses
Most small businesses are primarily concerned with attracting customers. However, once you get those customers to buy once, how do you bring them back to buy more? In some ways, it is easier to get old customers to come back than it is to attract new ones. Your former customers have already shown that they like your business and the product or service you sell because they have opened their wallets and paid for it. However, getting their return business is far from automatic. One of the best ways to encourage repeat business is with a loyalty program.
Easily Done
Starting a loyalty system for your business needn’t be difficult. It can be as simple as offering freebies or discounts that are only available to former customers. For example, a car dealership may offer specials on maintenance or their next car purchase that first time customers are not eligible for. The trick is to make your customers feel like they are in a special club with unique privileges that they would not receive if they went somewhere else. What exactly those privileges, freebies or discounts are would vary from business to business, but any company can come up with a loyalty program that works for their field.
Valuable Information
One of the great advantages of loyalty programs is the opportunity to find out more about your customers. The fact that they have chosen to buy from you in the past makes them valuable sources of information that is useful to attracting future customers. Whatever it is that brought your past customers to your business is probably what will attract your future customers as well. Find out what that attraction is and you can concentrate on enhancing it. A good way of gathering this information is to offer your customers a small discount or freebie if they will fill out a questionnaire for you about why they purchased your product or service.
Cross Promotion
A customer loyalty program need not be confined to only one business. Sometimes it makes sense to have a loyalty program that complements other, similar businesses. For example, a car dealership may run a loyalty program combined with a local car repair shop. The advantage of these partnerships is that people who buy from one partner are then encouraged to shop at the other. That way each business obtains access to a customer base they would otherwise have no contact with. Loyalty programs can also be built around a certain theme, such as if you buy from one dealership affiliated with a certain brand, then you get access to discounts and freebies at any dealership for that brand.
Good loyalty programs increase sales. They need not be complicated or expensive to run. Loyalty programs can also be a goldmine of valuable consumer information. Sometimes the loyalty system can be further enhanced by including others in the same or similar fields. Start experimenting with a customer based loyalty program today and you may soon be pleasantly surprised by the results.
By Roy T Revill