Your most valuable customers are those most loyal to your brand.
On the surface, this makes sense: your most loyal customers bring your business the most revenue. These customers also require less “maintenance.” It’s typically much easier (and cheaper) to keep loyal customers on board than it is acquiring new shoppers.
Loyal customers also create more engagement opportunities, such as taking advantage of new offers and making future purchases.
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You owe a great deal of your business’ success to these loyal customers.
By thanking and rewarding them for their continued business, you show your customers how important they really are to your organization. And if your company builds its reputation on:
- Consistently providing top-notch value to its customers
- Always going out of its way to add value to the customer experience
- Constantly discovers ways to reward its loyal customers
You’ll journey on towards long-lasting success. Rewarding loyal customers is just good for business.
The question is:
Are You Rewarding Your Loyal Customers Enough?
Sadly, as far as rewards go, it is not “the thought that counts.” If customers don’t find your rewards valuable, all those resources you poured into making them happy won’t matter.
So, it’s not enough to provide just any ol’ gift, discount, or freebie and assume it’ll keep your customers hanging on in the future.
To engage and make loyal customers feel appreciated, your rewards must:
Be Relevant
Rewards should enhance your customers’ overall experience with your brand. For example, The North Face’s VIPeak program (TNF) allows members to use their points toward attending brand-sponsored events and excursions (in addition to product-related discounts):
Similarly, Starbucks’ loyalty program allows customers to exchange points for coffee, food, and branded products, such as mugs and thermoses:
For both brands, the rewards program relies heavily on customization.
In TNF’s case, loyal customers who need a new wardrobe can buy what they want, while others can attend a sponsored event. Similarly, Starbucks customers can opt for a free coffee or save their points for a branded product. Provide the ultimate rewards experience by offering several rewards options that stay true to your brand.
Get Creative
To keep customers interested, you’ll need to think beyond the basic three-tier customer loyalty program. Sephora’s Beauty Insider program, for example, include several unique offers:
Customers who spends over $1,000 receives can attend exclusive events and gain early access to special offers. You can also get creative beyond the rewards.
Chick-fil-A’s Cow Appreciation Day gives free entrees to customers who come dressed as cows.
But the meal is only part of the reward. The other part is in the ridiculous memories created by Chick-fil-A’s patrons every year in July:
While Sephora’s and Chick-fil-A’s approaches to rewarding their customers differ, they both provide engaging experiences, created for their loyal customers.
By implementing something customers will love—and making it exclusive to loyal customers—you’ll show them how much you appreciate their business.
Continue to Evolve
One of the main issues in rewarding your loyal customers is that each reward loses value once you hand it off to your customers.
At some point, the customer will get used to receiving these rewards and won’t feel as excited getting their 11th free coffee in sixth months. The freebies, discounts, and other such gifts will blend into their normal customer experience.
And you don’t want that. You must evolve.
Maybe you’ll decide to create a new tier for your VIP customers, for an deeper experience with your brand. Or, perhaps you’ll revamp your loyalty program to include more engagement and rewards options. Or, you might hold more customer appreciation-related events.
How you decide to reward your most loyal customers is up to you. Stay a step ahead of your customers’ needs by keeping an eye on their customer experience expectations. When focusing on creating rewards, put their needs first, and you’ll be able to surprise and enhance their journey with your brand.