A brand’s ability to retain customers can mean the difference between success and failure. Loyal return customers help maintain your business. Satisfied return customers tend to make larger purchases than first-time buyers and are more likely to buy new products because they trust your brand. Keeping return customers happy is vital to your continued success. A customer loyalty program and promotional products can greatly improve your customer experience.
Benefits of Customer Loyalty Programs
Customer loyalty programs add value to the customer experience, but a loyalty program alone isn’t enough: providing valued, quality products and services, and exceptional customer service provide the groundwork for customer loyalty. A loyalty program builds on this foundation, providing extra benefits to long-term customers.
A customer loyalty program doesn't just improve your customer experience. The benefits of customer loyalty programs for your company makes them well worth the investment:
- Customer loyalty programs connect with your customers’ emotions. In a market where customers can quickly compare competing product prices online or through apps, personalized customer service can make the difference between a customer choosing your brand or your competition.
- Retaining customers through customer loyalty programs costs you fewer resources and money than attracting new customers.
- Loyal customers are customers who spend money. Forbes reports that customers who are happy with their experience spend 67% more than new customers.
- The more customer data you acquire, the better positioned you are to tailor your services or products to individual consumers. Customer loyalty programs offer ample opportunity to harvest data on customer wants, pain points, and needs.
- Loyal customers generate new business for you. A happy customer is likely to recommend you to friends and family. Loyal customers with significant social media presence can become highly valued online brand ambassadors, introducing hundreds or even thousands of followers to your brand.
How to Create a Customer Loyalty Program
Customer loyalty programs offer special deals and discounts for customers. Many also provide an opportunity to receive free promotional products. The most popular loyalty programs are points-based. Customers earn points for purchases, signing up for emails, sharing branded information on social media, filling out customer profiles, and other actions you choose. Customers can then trade points for rewards.
A customer loyalty program must offer rewards of value. Offer various incentives, from small items like pens and bottles to high-end rewards like outerwear or electronics. Recognizing customer birthdays with small gifts also strengthens buyers' emotional connections with your brand.
Your customer loyalty program should reflect your brand identity. A casual tee-shirt company’s program might focus on fun promotional items, while an IT company might prefer to offer practical solutions to common office problems in its points system.
So how to create a customer loyalty program? The process is different for each organization, but you’ll generally take the following steps:
- Study your customer demographic to get a feel for what they want from a loyalty program. Use surveys and interviews to assess your customer satisfaction rate and potential pain points.
- Identify employees known for exceptional customer service to take part in the program.
- Set goals for the program and use CRM software to measure your progress
- Set a budget for promotional products and customer retention.
- Choose which customers to target with the program launch.
- Provide easy-to-access ways for customers to sign up for the program.
Promotional Products to Include in a Customer Loyalty Program
The promotional products you offer in your customer loyalty program are only limited by your imagination and budget. Aim for a range of products, so customers can choose whether to spend points early on small items or save their points for high-end rewards. Redeeming 1,000 to 10,000 points would result in a smaller reward. At the other end of the scale, customers might need 50,000 points or more for big ticket items.
Below are some suggestions for customer loyalty rewards. Remember to choose rewards based on your brand identity and your customers' needs.
Small Loyalty Rewards (1,000 to 10,000 points)
Mid-Point Loyalty Rewards (10,000 to 30,000 points)
High-End Loyalty Rewards (30,00 points and up)
The CROWN Club Customer Loyalty Program
Did you know Triple Crown has our own customer loyalty program? The CROWN Club is a three-tier loyalty program designed to reward you with exciting discounts, logo decoration, and custom company website packages. You’ll have access to exclusive pricing on all future orders, along with other high-value membership benefits. Check out the CROWN Club today and see just how rewarding a customer loyalty program can be!