Running a business has its challenges, particularly now during the pandemic. There are many ways to make sure you can boost sales and tap new markets. But, like every experienced business owner or manager can tell you, the best way to make and continue making profits is through repeat customers. Now, there are a lot of factors that go into customer loyalty — the product, the customer experience, brand visibility, and recognition. If you think you’re doing well in those facets, here’s something you may want to try — membership programs.
Punch Card
The punch card membership program is a popular choice for many product- and service-based businesses out there. This is where you give your customers actual or virtual punch cards that they can fill out by buying your products or accessing your services. Once they reach a certain amount of ‘punches’ in their card, they will then earn something. Here’s Candy Bar with some excellent examples you can use. You can also add a minimum amount spent for each punch when you use this program.
Point System
The point system membership program gives your customers a sort of running tally of their purchases from you. These purchases have corresponding points that can be used to redeem prizes or buy more products. Several airlines have miles programs that work in the same way.
Another popular example of this is Starbucks’ reward system where customers earn Stars that they can use to get different products. This is an excellent way to keep customers coming back and even excited to buy your products. Just make sure you have a reliable way of keeping track of everyone’s progress.
Referrals
The referral system is based on the idea that the customers love your products so much, they would want to share them with their friends and family. Giving your loyal customers a discount or a bonus for referring another person to you can expand your client-base very quickly. But like the point system program, just make sure you stay on top of your customer data. An effective customer onboarding software tool can be a useful and worthwhile investment here. When you implement this, it’s advisable that you only stick with first degree referrals to make sure your data stays simple enough.
Special Access
This type of program gives your loyal customers access to special items or discounts from time to time. First, you have to decide whether to charge your customers to become members, or they can just sign up for free. With the former, your members will reasonably expect to get better items or discounts because they paid for the privilege. This is also another stream of regular income for your business. Just make sure the special items are worthwhile.
Coupons
This is arguably the most popular customer loyalty program here. Sending your avid customers discount coupons once in a while is a surefire way to keep them coming back. You can also take this a step further by using data trends in your sales. If you sell toiletries, for example, you can send your customers toothpaste coupons every three or so weeks, or just around the time that your data says they buy them. This gives them an added reason for making the purchase and making it soon.
Customer loyalty programs will surely help you grow your business with a reliable stream of regular income.
