Loyalty program for corporate clients. Eight Types of Loyalty Programs That Work

Corporate programs of companies operating in the service sector are designed, as a rule, for large enterprises. Ekaterina Dmitruk, Deputy General Director for Sales of S7 Group, told the website in an interview about why, by launching the new S7 Profi loyalty program, the airline relied on small and medium-sized businesses.

How is the corporate air transportation segment developing? Has the intensity of business travel decreased due to the economic situation in the country?

At the moment, the corporate transportation segment remains the most stable, despite the fact that recently the business has been actively striving to optimize the cost of business travel. The intensity of flights at the same time remains the same as before, and organizations are looking for ways to reduce "travel" costs. For example, some companies refuse to buy business class tickets, choosing more economical flight options.

What is the share of corporate clients in the total volume of passenger traffic?

According to our data, more than 25% of air passengers in the Russian domestic transportation market, excluding "charter" flights, travel for business purposes. It is difficult to estimate the share of such flights more precisely, because less than a third of them fly under corporate agreements. Many passengers simply buy a ticket on their own, as individuals, and then report to work for the cost of purchasing it and are reimbursed for their expenses. According to the results of 2015, when the domestic passenger traffic of our country amounted to about 100 million people, there were almost 16 million such passengers - S7 Profi is suitable for them.

Did you take into account the experience of your colleagues in the aviation market during the development of S7 Profi?

Of course, when preparing a new product, we analyzed the experience of other carriers. In addition, at the time of the launch of S7 Profi, we were already working with corporate clients under the S7 Corporate program, and we already had our own expertise in this area. All this made it possible to offer a really interesting product in the field of business transportation to companies with any volume of flights.

What is the difference between S7 Profi and corporate programs that previously existed in S7?

The long-standing S7 Corporate program is focused mainly on large organizations with a large volume of flights. Under the terms of this program, the conclusion of an agreement is required, it has a mandatory minimum of flights - 1 million rubles per quarter, but in return the airline expects greater flexibility. S7 Profi, on the contrary, was created for those companies whose employees fly not so actively, but there is a need for organizing flights. For such clients, we have simplified the registration process as much as possible, made the rules simple and understandable.

For which companies did you create a new program?

When creating this program, we primarily focused on organizations whose employees regularly fly on business trips. At the same time, we considered companies with any volume of flights, because we believe that every business trip is an opportunity for business development. And it doesn't matter if you represent a large corporation or are an individual entrepreneur. Also, when developing this product, we took into account the fact that the process of organizing a business flight in large and medium-sized enterprises most often differs. A large company, as a rule, has established cooperation with an agent or concluded a corporate agreement with an airline. In small firms, this only complicates the situation, so employees buy plane tickets themselves, and the employer then compensates for its cost. Our new product is designed just for such customers. At the same time, there is an additional benefit for a particular employee: if he is registered in our S7 Priority frequent flyer program, then on corporate flights, both bonuses are credited to his personal account in the form of miles, and points to the company's account in S7 Profi.

Are there many people who already want to participate in the program?

Now we see that the number of participants is growing quite actively: from 50 to 200 new companies register in the S7 Profi program a week. It is worth noting that often the initiative to register in the program is not the company's management, but the employees themselves, because in this way they can accumulate miles to their personal account.

How easy is it to save up for an award ticket in the program?

All participating companies registered in the program receive a fixed bonus of 5% of the air ticket fare - points are accrued after each completed flight on the S7 Airlines route network. The percentage of “reward” itself increases when the thresholds for ticket expenses are overcome: up to 3 million rubles, the bonus is 5%, from 3 million to 5 million rubles - 6%, over 5 million rubles - 7%. At the same time, if the status increase, as well as the recalculation of bonus points, occurs monthly, then its decrease is annual, which is an additional advantage. Points can be spent in the online account for any tickets that are on sale on the site.

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Increasing sales to existing customers is becoming the number one topic at business meetings. The departments responsible for working with clients are required to increase the volume of business, reduce churn, and minimize maintenance costs.

The shift in focus is not surprising. Most B2B markets have reached their maturity, the potential for potential growth by attracting new customers has exhausted itself. And even in monopolistic and oligopolistic markets, this issue is extremely relevant in the light of increasing business efficiency. Look at the statistics and you will understand why.

The cost of acquiring B2B customers is 5 times higher than the cost of expanding business with existing customers.
The profitability of existing customers is 30-40% higher.
Reducing churn by 5% increases profits by 25% or more.

The numbers are impressive, but not everything is so simple. The increase in the volume of repeat sales is the result of a comprehensive work on building relationships with customers. And here companies are faced with the need to change business processes, develop competencies and introduce new tools.

Specifics of work with corporate clients

When working with corporate clients, there are two types of relationships - formal and informal. On the one hand, you have to work with the organization as a system, where there are processes, regulations, criteria, KPIs, contractual relations. On the other hand, at the operational level, there is interaction with specific employees with different needs and tasks. They change the scope of work or go on maternity leave, make mistakes, forget about the agreements and may be in a different mood.

Dual nature B 2 B -customers are potential opportunities and problems at the same time. Formal and informal relationships are two sides of the same coin, so each of these areas requires a well-thought-out work strategy. Problems are sure to appear if you do not pay due attention to managing relationships with customers and their employees.

What is important to consider when working with corporate clients and their employees? Let's take a look at three key features that are cornerstones that can break sales of even the best products and services.

Integrated Decision Model

Depending on the industry and the specifics of the client, a different number of employees are involved in the decision-making process. The lack of support from at least one of them can cause a deal to fail or a relationship to break. At the same time, the position of the contact person does not always reflect the level of his influence on the transaction. The decision maker usually does not have a consolidated time to delve into the details. Therefore, his opinion is based on the conclusion of subordinates. According to Google research, the final decision on the choice of a supplier in 64% of cases is made by top management and in 24% of cases by ordinary employees. 81% of “non-top” employees influence the decision to choose a supplier.

Typically, the main focus of sales and account managers is working with decision makers. At the same time, work with ordinary employees is carried out much less actively, although the effect of investments in this area can be significant.

Multiple levels of influence

Even if your company is in contact with only one employee of the client, in terms of building a long-term relationship with this organization, it is important to establish contacts with a much wider range of employees who can potentially influence business with your company. According to the intensity and frequency of interaction of these employees can be conditionally divided into three circles.

First round: Directly representatives of subdivisions-customers, decision makers.
Second round: Employees who interact with your company in support functions. For example, accounting staff.
Third round: Decision influencers, such as security representatives, or client employees who are potentially of interest to your company for future business development.

The first and second circles are usually handled by salespeople and customer service employees. The third circle, as a rule, remains uncovered.

Motivation of customer employees

The interests of the clients' employees do not always coincide with the interests of their employer. Even if you offer the best commercial terms, this does not mean that your company will be chosen as a supplier. Yes, there are formal procurement procedures when it comes to large transactions. However, even in this case, the role of relationships with decision makers is key. Sometimes customer representatives do not have the proper motivation or simply forgot about your company when they need to make the next purchase.

The nature of corporate customer loyalty

Loyalty of customers in the mass market is expressed in the willingness to buy the company's products and recommend them to friends and relatives. Loyalty of B2B clients is 100% within this definition with a number of amendments.

The inertia of cooperation

A long-term relationship with a client does not always indicate his loyalty. Possible reasons for such stability are the difficulty of changing a supplier due to the integration of its solutions into the infrastructure, unwillingness on the part of the customer's employees to initiate procurement procedures related to the selection of a new supplier, etc. The period between the emergence of discontent and its manifestation can be quite long, up to several years.

Conducting surveys and collecting feedback from customer employees is the most common way to diagnose customer satisfaction. According to Loyalty360.org research, 26% of surveyed customers use it.

At the same time, it should be borne in mind that customers do not always speak directly about their claims or dissatisfaction, even in the case of anonymous surveys. When implementing projects aimed at retaining corporate clients, we primarily look at financial indicators (sales dynamics, the number of additional and cross-sales, the share of purchases from a supplier in the total purchases of these products (share of wallet)), as well as the level of outflow and a number of indirect signs.

Pay attention to one circumstance. Customer readiness constructively discussing existing problems is already evidence of his loyalty. This means that relations between companies and their employees are at a high enough level, there is mutual trust.

Reasons for B2B customer loyalty

In an environment where manufacturers use similar production processes and technologies, there is less and less difference between products and competitors' price offers. High quality does not guarantee long-term customer loyalty given the many aspects that go into the decision making process. In such a situation, factors that are not directly related to the characteristics of the purchased products play an important role.

Over the years, studies have been conducted on the topic of what are the key sources of corporate customer loyalty. Their results come down to 4 main reasons:

Quality products and services, the level of customer service.
Perceived value products\services. The real and perceived value of a product are two very different things. Russian manufacturing companies, with rare exceptions, practically do not invest in shaping the correct perception of their products among customer employees, but in vain.
Brand reputation. The popularity and reputation of the brand increases the value of products. There is also a psychological aspect here. It is much safer for the decision maker to work with a big brand than with a noname company. There will be fewer questions from management and audit departments as to why a given supplier has been selected.
Confidence - the quality of relationships between companies and their employees, especially at the level of purchase decision makers. Often this factor outweighs all others, including the cost and quality of products.

Product quality is still the main condition for customer loyalty. However, the other three factors depend on the subjective perception of the image of the company and the level of relations between employees. These factors can be successfully influenced. One of the tools for engaging customer employees is a B2B loyalty program.

B2B Loyalty Program

B2B loyalty programs are a relatively new tool for working with corporate clients. The impetus for the development of such programs was the change in the decision-making model in B2B markets in connection with the digital transformation of business.

1.Companies got the opportunity to compare suppliers and their offers. According to Google research, 90% of B2B customers actively use the Internet to analyze suppliers and their offers before announcing procurement procedures and making a decision to extend the contractual relationship.

2. It has become much easier for companies to change suppliers. The emergence of new product delivery technologies (cloud services) and the simplification of procurement procedures (electronic bidding, B2B marketplaces) have radically changed the rules of the game.

By themselves, the company's products and services have ceased to be a sufficient condition for customer loyalty. B2B loyalty programs allow you to more actively engage customers and build long-term relationships with them.

A distinctive feature of loyalty programs for corporate clients is the emphasis on non-material motivation and the use of indirect financial incentives. Therefore, they combine elements of a personnel motivation system, a B2C loyalty program, and best practices in corporate training.

The key mistake that is made when implementing B2B loyalty programs is blindly copying the loyalty program model for individuals, trying to try it on corporate clients and their employees. This leads to a negative reaction from the client's management and even a break in the relationship. For more information on the key challenges of implementing programs for legal entities, see our article "4 Fatal Mistakes When Launching a B2B Loyalty Program".

With the right approach, investments in motivational programs for B2B clients begin to pay off from the moment they are launched. As a rule, each program is unique and poorly scalable for implementation in other companies. This is due to the high level of its integration into the company's business processes.

Have questions about B2B customer loyalty management? Our experts will help. Contact us! One hour consultation is free.

You will learn:

The essence of the loyalty program on the example of a dialogue with the buyer.
Popular types of customer loyalty programs.
Development and implementation of a loyalty program in stages.
What to look for when creating the conditions for a loyalty program.
6 ways to evaluate the effectiveness of a company's loyalty program.
Examples of unusual loyalty programs from around the world.

Marketers are well aware that it is much more profitable to retain an existing customer than to attract a new one. The difference in costs for these activities can be up to 10 times! In addition, statistics confirm that a regular customer spends 67% more than a new one. Therefore, all efforts should be aimed specifically at retaining customers and stimulating repeat sales. To this end, the vast majority of companies implement loyalty programs in their activities, but few people know what is really important for consumers.

Expert opinion

The essence of the loyalty program on the example of a dialogue with the buyer

Egor Chemyakin,

Both executives and employees of marketing departments are constantly thinking about how to prevent their client from becoming a buyer of another company. The most common solution that comes to their mind is the use of discounts. Moreover, according to many, their regularity and significant size is the only way to retain a client. At the same time, the losses that accompany an incompletely thought-out discount policy are often not taken into account. As a result, such a system can hardly be considered effective and, most importantly, beneficial for the company.

For example, let's analyze the model of interaction between the seller and the buyer, when the client expects to receive a discount and unambiguously makes it clear that otherwise he will turn to another supplier of goods or services.

Bad option:

What discount will I get?
- There are no discounts for this product.
- In this case, I will order from your competitors!
- Okay, I can arrange a 5% discount for you personally, but this is between us.

A good option:

Can I get a discount?
- Of course, if the purchase amount exceeds 10 thousand rubles, your discount will be 5%.
- Well, such conditions suit me.

The best option:

Will there be a discount?
- Yes, sure. Moreover, your personal discount will grow along with the number of your purchases. If you purchase goods for 10 thousand rubles, you will receive a 5% discount, and if the purchase amount exceeds 20 thousand rubles, the discount will be 10%.
- That is, if the price of this coat is 22 thousand rubles, I will pay 19,800?
- Yes, that's right.

These dialogues fully reflect the essence of the loyalty program for customers, which is widely used by small businesses throughout Russia. If you want to radically differ from your competitors, it's time to think about how to do it.

The loyalty program includes a whole range of activities, each of which is aimed at retaining existing customers and creating long-term mutually beneficial relationships between customers and the company.

The goal that the seller seeks to achieve using loyalty programs is repeat sales. Such programs are invariably included in the marketing strategy of organizations and are aimed at increasing profits, increasing sales, retaining old and attracting new customers. The effectiveness of a set of measures is measured using indicators such as:

acquisition of new customers;
increase in revenue from repeat sales;
increase in the frequency of purchases (increase in the number of checks);
expansion of the list of goods purchased by one consumer (diversification of purchases);
decrease in the level of customer churn;
a shift in the interests of buyers towards more expensive goods.

So if you have not yet thought about implementing a loyalty program for customers, now is the time to start using this powerful tool to take your business to a new stage of its development.

Restaurant loyalty program: practical recommendations from a practitioner

8 Popular Types of Loyalty Programs for Customers

Discount Loyalty Program

By far, the most common way to retain and attract customers, not only in Russia but throughout the world, is to provide discounts. They can be both one-time and cumulative. The client receives a discount card, the presentation of which, with each subsequent purchase, entitles him to a certain discount - either a fixed amount or increasing over time.

The essence of a cumulative discount is that by crossing a certain threshold set by the company, the consumer has the opportunity to save even more, that is, the size of his discount grows along with his loyalty. Some firms even "punish" customers who visit the store irregularly, lowering the percentage of the discount and returning it only at the next purchase.

The advantages of such a system:

Everyone loves discounts, especially Russians in the context of a protracted economic crisis and a decrease in purchasing power.
This type of loyalty program is simple in terms of organization and control of its implementation.

Cons of the system:

Discount cards of two or three competing companies are in the wallet of each buyer, and the amount of discount that he can count on, as a rule, does not differ. Therefore, it is a stretch to assume that this tool really works.
The client is interested in constant purchases only as long as his discount has not reached its maximum value.
Any discount is a reduction in the company's net profit.

This is easy to verify with a simple example. Imagine that the price of one of your products is 9,000 rubles. The markup you made is 30%. By implementing it under the loyalty program with a 5% discount, you lose 450 rubles. At first glance, compared to the amount of the sale, this is a small part of it. But not everything is so simple.

Each product or service has a cost that you cannot change. The discount you give to the customer is subtracted from the profit you could have made. Let's say in this example it is 2700 rubles. Minus the discount, you will be left with only 2250 rubles.

Thus, giving the buyer 5% of the retail price, you yourself lose 17.5%. As you can see, not so little. Well, if you can afford a markup of 100-200%. What if we increase the discount?

Remember this point, we will return to it a little later. In the meantime, let's look at what loyalty programs exist for customers, in addition to the discount one.

Loyalty bonus program

Discounts in this option of customer retention are not provided, they are replaced by bonuses. The fundamental difference is that, by leaving a certain amount indicated by the company at the checkout of the store, the consumer receives a certain amount of bonuses that can either be used as a partial payment for the next purchase (for example, up to 20% of the cost), or be exchanged for goods valued in the number of bonuses. Different companies use bonuses in the form of points, stickers, rubles or local currency that circulates within the same trading network.

The advantages of such a system:

The loyalty bonus program is effective where it is possible to make regular purchases.
A client can become the owner of a decent amount of bonuses if he constantly purchases and for impressive amounts.
As a mandatory condition, the company may put forward a requirement for a certain period of validity of bonuses, after which they expire, which will encourage consumers to make an unplanned purchase.
Having received bonuses, not all customers will use them, therefore, the company does not lose anything, and the product is eventually sold at full price.

Cons of such a system:

When it comes to a very expensive, and therefore rare or one-time purchase, there is no point in introducing a loyalty bonus program. The client is unlikely to return to you again, despite the benefits offered to him.
If the rules for accumulating and using bonuses are too complicated, consumers simply will not understand them, and as a result, the loyalty program will not perform its function.
Bonuses are a more complex option than discounts. To control the correctness of their accrual and use, as well as compliance with the validity period, a special program will be required.

There are two ways to quickly increase the profits of any company - to raise prices for goods or services, or to replace the discount loyalty system with a bonus one.

Let's return to our example about a 5% discount for a product worth 9,000 rubles. Let's see how it works for bonuses. The client made a purchase, for which he was awarded bonus points in the amount of 5% of the value of the goods. He can spend them when he completes the next one.

1st purchase - 9000 rubles.
2nd purchase - 9000 rubles.

Bonus from the first purchase (located on his card) - 5%, or 450 rubles.

So 2700 (your net profit on the first sale) + 2700 (second sale) - 450 (first purchase credits written off) = 4950 (your net profit minus the discount).

Thus, with the loyalty bonus program, the profit discount was 8.5% versus 17.5% in the first case.

Of course, you can argue that the customer is entitled to another 5% on the next purchase, which again adds up to 17.5%. However, practice shows that not everyone will return for the next product, but someone will come when the validity period of the accrued bonuses has already expired. And only after the completion of the next transaction, the buyer will receive bonuses for the next purchase.

It is quite possible that you will have a question, will you lose all your customers by replacing discounts with bonuses? You shouldn't be afraid of it. Probably, some share will refuse your services, but in return you will receive an increase in profits.

So you have nothing to fear. The small number of customers who leave due to a change in the loyalty program would never become your loyal customers. There are always people who are constantly looking for the best deals and therefore do not fall into the group of main consumers for any company.

Nevertheless, we will make a reservation that, of course, the choice of a loyalty program must be approached, taking into account many different factors. There is no one universal recipe that suits absolutely all types of businesses.

And one more piece of advice. Do not ask customers what suits them more - bonuses or discounts. The answer is so clear - a discount. The benefit that can be obtained here and now is always better than the one that will be in the distant future. Therefore, choose a loyalty program based on the interests of your company.

Tiered loyalty programs

This customer retention system is simple in essence, but rather difficult to implement. It is based on a direct relationship between how much a client spends on paying for goods and services in your company, and the privileges that he receives as a result. These include additional services such as delivery or a longer warranty. By demonstrating loyalty to your firm, the consumer secures a higher status for himself. Such a system works effectively in the banking and insurance sectors, and it is also a favorite airline loyalty program.

System advantages:

The engine of this loyalty program is ambition, the desire to take a more advantageous position compared to ordinary customers, so a person is ready to spend more and more.
It is in demand in areas where there are clients of the VIP and Double-VIP segment.

Cons of such a system:

It makes sense to implement this program only for goods and services of a high level of value.
Bonuses must be very significant.
Since the system requires an individual approach, it may be difficult to implement it. Naturally, one cannot do without a computer program specially written for these purposes.

Paid loyalty program

In this case, the client simply buys the right to receive any bonuses and privileges. Usually it looks like a fixed subscription fee, for which access to additional features, limited resources, special terms of service is provided.

The advantages of such a system:

Easy to organize.
Ideal for regularly purchased goods and services.
Customers willingly pay for access to such a loyalty program, but do not always actively use it (that is, the company receives money, but does not give anything in return).
You can calculate the cost of bonuses in order to fully comply with your interests.

Cons of the system:

If, from the point of view of customers, the benefit of a paid subscription is below the price they have to pay, such a model is doomed to failure.

It should be recognized that this is the most effective loyalty program for individuals, since it allows customers to receive tangible benefits compared to buyers who do not participate in it. But in order to bring it to life, you must reach a certain level of development in your segment. As an example, let's cite large retail chains - "Okay" and "Lenta". The cards they offer to their customers are inexpensive, but the difference in price between some items for cardholders and non-cardholders can be very significant.

Loyalty programs with intangible rewards

When you understand what is truly valuable to your customers, building a long-term motivational model will not be difficult.

It is possible for almost any company to launch a loyalty program based on discounts or prizes, but one that can offer its consumers privileges that cannot be measured in money will move to the next level of customer relations.

The coup was conceived by the marketers of Patagonia, an outdoor clothing brand. Outdoor equipment is often in need of repair. It was this service that was offered to customers instead of points and discounts. The concept is called "The Stories We Wear" and connects extreme sports enthusiasts with clothing from this brand on an emotional level.

Affiliate Loyalty Program

As in the previous case, we are talking about the need to find out the needs of your customers that are not among those satisfied by your company, but no less important to them. Your task is to find partners for whom your consumers are also customers.

Loyalty programs based on strategic partnerships can provide the conditions for rapid business development and growth in the customer base. For buyers, they serve as an indicator that you understand their needs well and are doing everything possible to help them.

An example of advanced affiliate marketing is American Express. The company cooperates with Macy's, AT&T, Rite Aid, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Hulu. By participating in the loyalty program, customers receive points that can later be used to pay for the services of a partner company. By renting a car at Enterprise and earning a certain amount of bonuses, the buyer can use them to pay for communication services at AT&T.

Loyalty programs with elements of gamification

The use of gaming mechanisms in the loyalty program allows you to interest customers and achieve significant results.

The first thing that comes to mind in this case is the holding of various competitions. This technique, of course, has the right to exist, but the programs must be very carefully designed so that customers treat them with the proper level of seriousness and enjoy taking part in a show that brings variety to the daily shopping procedure.

To achieve this, it is important to offer consumers benefits that are really in demand and at the same time realistically achievable. The conditions of the competitions must be worked out to the smallest detail - this will minimize the interest of prize hunters. The launch of a new gaming program must be preceded by detailed information of all departments, so as not to create a situation where customers know more about the ongoing promotion than store employees.

An example of a company that successfully uses the element of the game as a loyalty program is GrubHub. Since 2011, this food delivery brand has been giving customers the opportunity to win a dessert or drink during the order, and every fourth customer has a real chance to do so.

Natural Loyalty Programs

Since loyalty programs are so widespread today, coming up with a new method of customer retention is not an easy task. However, the lack of a system for attracting and retaining customers can also be considered an innovative approach.

It can be afforded by those companies whose product or service is distinguished by its uniqueness. And the point is not in the high price category or undeniable quality, but rather in the direction of the industry as a whole. In this case, there is no need to encourage customers with loyalty programs, because they receive a product that has no equal.

Let's take Apple. With millions of devoted fans of her products, she does not consider it necessary to give prizes or discounts to anyone. The main priority of this brand is a unique product that meets the expectations of customers as much as possible. It is this loyalty program that is considered natural.

Examples of loyalty programs

Family Team (Rosneft)

Anyone who purchases a bonus card can become a member of the loyalty program for gas stations that are part of the Rosneft concern. Its cost may vary slightly in different regions, but the maximum figure is 250 rubles.

Bonuses are credited as follows:

for the purchase of petroleum products - 1 bonus for every 10 rubles;
for the purchase of related goods and services - 3 bonuses for every 10 rubles.

After accumulating a certain number of bonuses, you can exchange them for products with company symbols (t-shirts, baseball caps, bags, and similar items). You can also purchase fuel for bonuses.

The biggest prize of this loyalty program is Formula 20 - 20 liters of any fuel. It can be obtained by those clients whose bonus account accumulates 3999 points. This can be achieved:

When buying fuel: you need to spend 39,990 rubles. As a result, the loyalty program card will return to the member 1.7% of the total cost of his purchases.
When purchasing related products and services in the company's mini-markets: you need to spend 13,330 rubles to get 20 liters of bonus fuel. In this case, the refund will be 5.1% of the purchase price.

Thus, by participating in the Rosneft filling station loyalty program, customers have the opportunity to return from 1.7 to 5.1% of the purchase amount in the form of bonuses.

Other examples of loyalty programs see the article in the magazine "CEO".

Development of a loyalty program in stages

Stage 1. Analysis and division into segments of the client base (for wholesale companies) or target audience (in retail). This stage involves making adjustments to the standard loyalty ladder depending on the specifics of your company's business processes. It is necessary to check the client base for relevance. Among those consumers with whom there is no interaction for more than two purchase cycles, it is necessary to single out lost ones (passed over to competitors) and closed ones.

Stage 2. Distribution of customers by loyalty levels, clarification of their needs and expectations from interaction with your company at each stage. Identifying consumer concerns at each rung of the loyalty ladder.

Stage 3. Monitoring the actions of competitors. What are the offers coming to customers from other companies at each stage of interaction? Identify the strengths of your organization and competitors. The purpose of this stage is to find out how stable your position in the market is, due to what advantages competitors will be able to lure away your customers, and, conversely, what will allow you to get other people's buyers.

Stage 4. Development of an interaction plan with each customer segment. At this stage, the formation of loyalty programs for a particular group of consumers is carried out, taking into account the forms of encouragement that work in your market and are typical for your type of product or service. A separate action plan is being developed to return lost customers identified during the database audit. For the most attractive customers, special forms of incentives are introduced.

What to look for when creating the conditions for a loyalty program

To launch a truly successful loyalty program, company management must have a good idea of what customers really need, what conditions will make them stay loyal to your brand, and not look for profit from competitors.

What does that require?

Put yourself in the shoes of your client. Let's say you run a wholesale company. What is more important for your client - to accumulate bonuses in order to receive some special conditions in return in the future, or is it more important for him to buy at a discount in order to be able to retail at a higher profit? Put yourself in the place of your customers and the answer will come by itself.

Analyze competitors and act completely differently. For example, competitors apply a progressive discount. So, in contrast to them, you should choose a bonus program, and prepare very good prizes that will attract customers.

Take as a basis the loyalty program of competitors, but make your own improvements to it. However, you should first make sure of its effectiveness by analyzing the state of affairs of rivals. It is quite possible that it does not bring the desired result, so copying it is pointless.

3 Examples of Unusual Loyalty Programs for Loyal Customers

Tip #1: Offer something really useful.

A loyalty program will only work if you offer customers what they really need. A useless gift will simply be thrown away, and your goal of motivating customers will not be achieved.

Let's take the Raspberry bonus program as an example. Its participants were offered to accumulate points by making purchases at various outlets. Subsequently, bonuses could be exchanged for some cheap trinket. Of course, this loyalty program could not be called effective, and it was on the verge of extinction. But after some time, the organizing company managed to understand the needs of customers, and buyers had the opportunity to exchange their accumulated points for useful goods and services.

Tip #2: Gently Remind Your Loyalty Program

To be successful in reaching your goal, keep your customers informed by keeping them informed about marketing promotions. Today, there are many convenient ways to do this - from email to instant messengers such as Telegram, Viber and WhatsApp.

True, marketers disagree on what frequency of sending informational messages is considered optimal. Someone thinks that twice a month is the limit, while others are sure that it is permissible to send three messages daily.

Following two conditions will help to establish the most acceptable touch frequency:

The point of view of the subscribers themselves: how often would they like to receive information?
The frequency with which customers use your product.

If we are talking about beauty salon services or consumer goods, mailing lists can be quite frequent. When offering a non-standard product or b2b service, you should not be too insistent.

Tip #3: Keep terms simple and clear.

The key to the success of the loyalty program is its availability for understanding by all customers. Formulate its terms, using no more than 50 words, and ask the driver or security guard working in your company to read them. If he did not understand the essence of the program or interpreted it in his own way, your work is no good. This does not mean that complex calculations should not be used in the calculation, but the mechanism of action should be completely transparent and understandable.

Carefully follow the wording that you use when describing the rules of the loyalty program. Some marketers, unwittingly, mislead customers by saying: “Collect 10 beer caps - get the 11th for free!”. A thoughtful consumer rightly decides that he does not need another cover, and will not take part in the loyalty program.

Other attempts to deceive customers, such as using microscopic illegible font to indicate important prize conditions, will only result in you permanently losing customers by pushing them into the arms of competitors with your own hands. Believe me, the buyer will forever remember how you did not live up to his expectations, which means that you missed the only chance. To avoid such problems, make sure that the rules of the loyalty program are extremely simple and do not require additional explanations.

Tip #4: Never cheat on customers.

Remember that all promises you make to your customers must be kept. If you doubt that you will be able to do this, do not promise. Thus, the air carrier Aeroflot once launched a loyalty program, under which they issued co-branded cards together with many banks. It was very easy for customers to accumulate points, they only needed to use their cards and buy plane tickets. That is, in order to gain access to award flights, no special loyalty had to be shown.

As a result, people were given away so many points that entitle them to free flights that the company had to urgently revise the terms of the program, namely, to reduce the number of seats for its participants and increase the amount of points. Aeroflot began to suffer losses as it became difficult for new customers to purchase tickets, and after all, sales growth is the main goal of any loyalty program. As a result, those passengers who were entitled to a free flight, but could not make it, considered themselves deceived, and this negatively affects the company's reputation.

Council number 5. Don't offend regular customers.

The company's attempts to attract new customers often result in offering them special gifts for participating in a loyalty program. At the same time, those buyers who have long been devoted to the brand are out of work.

Imagine that a firm you use all the time announces very attractive conditions for newcomers, while not rewarding their loyal customers in any way. It is clear that the company is interested in expanding its customer base, but this is no reason to offend those who bring it regular profits. A better option can be considered the "Bring a friend" program, which is successfully used by many sellers. At the same time, the number of buyers increases, and the bonus is received by a regular customer who has already proven his loyalty to the brand.

The director turned a boring pass to work into a loyalty program

6 Ways to Evaluate the Effectiveness of a Company's Loyalty Program

Launch of the pilot program

When starting to implement a loyalty program, no company can be completely sure of its effectiveness. It is quite possible that the reality will be very far from the plans. To assess how correctly the main provisions of the program are defined and what its approximate results will be, a pilot project will help - testing the system on a small business segment.

This approach is very convenient for retailers with an extensive network located in several regions of the country. The pilot launch of the loyalty program for stores is carried out in a single subject of the Russian Federation, in the process, identified shortcomings are corrected, and only after a successful check, the system begins to work in the entire network. Although the fact that different regions may have their own nuances should not be overlooked.

Analysis of program results before and after launch

To have an accurate idea of how effective a loyalty program is, it is necessary to regularly monitor its main indicators, as well as compare them at the time the program starts and at the end of it. The most important parameters include the size of the average check, the frequency of purchases and the churn rate. All of them should be observed in dynamics and in parallel comparison with similar indicators of buyers who do not participate in the program.

Cohort analysis

Cohort analysis is used to measure the impact of a loyalty program on different groups of its participants, taking into account the duration in time and a specific stage of the life cycle.

In this case, a cohort means a group of clients who are united by a common feature and a period of action. The value of the result of the analysis directly depends on the degree of homogeneity of the group members. So, if you include young people from 20 to 30 years old in the cohort, the results of the study will be too general. It is better to unite young people with the same age range, but with higher education and living in Volgograd.

Cohort analysis allows you to track the dynamics of consumption, namely its growth that occurs after the start of customer participation in the loyalty program. Ideally, every month the expenses of buyers should increase, but in reality the result may not be so straightforward and stable. This type of analysis is aimed at identifying patterns of consumer behavior depending on the duration of participation in the program. The results of the study allow us to find points that require adjustment and improvement for different types of customers and stages of the life cycle.

Cohort analyzes are performed on programs that are longer than one year and have not undergone major changes. For companies that have recently launched new loyalty programs, this type of research will be useless.

Look-alike analysis

An equally effective strategy is to compare participants in the program with those who do not participate in it, within the same socio-demographic segment. This type of research is called look-alike analysis.

Many marketers believe that those who have expressed a desire to participate in the program are already loyal customers, and by joining it they do not change their consumption pattern. Look-alike analysis allows you to test the truth of this statement and quantify the value of the system. Another positive point is the ability to attract new customers to participate in the loyalty program, relying on those mechanisms that have already proven their effectiveness.

Control groups

An effective method that allows you to measure the results that have been achieved during the implementation of individual stages of the loyalty program is considered to be work with control groups.

A control group is a randomly selected group of customers who will not be the subject of marketing influence. The main requirement for the composition of its members is representativeness. The group should include all segments of consumers in the proportion in which they are included in the customer base.

The control group tests individual marketing techniques and mechanisms of the loyalty program. It is practically impossible for the program as a whole to create such a group: its members should not have access to information about the current program, and this is absolutely impossible, because its promotion is carried out publicly.

NPS - customer loyalty index

The most reliable way to measure customer loyalty is a direct survey. Net Promoter Score (NPS) allows you to assess, with the greatest possible accuracy, the likelihood of a repeat sale to a given consumer and his recommendations to his friends. The NPS method is based on a single question, the answer to which can predict the possibility of both a repeat purchase and a recommendation. The question is formulated very simply: “On a scale from 0 to 10, what is the probability that you would recommend us to a friend or relative?”.

Customer responses are categorized as follows:

0 - 6 = "Critics".
7 - 8 = "Neutrals".
9 - 10 = "Promoters".

The NPS index is calculated by subtracting the percentage of respondents classified as "Detractors" from the percentage of respondents classified as "Promoters": % Promoters - % Detractors = NPS.

It makes it possible to evaluate the results of the loyalty program for customers from various angles:

The loyalty of program participants and those who do not participate in it is compared.
The dynamics of changes in the index among program participants is tracked over a certain period of time.
NPS indicators are compared among various segments of loyalty program participants.

The main advantage of the NPS index is its simplicity. However, he is not able to answer the question about the reasons for customer loyalty or its absence. A complete picture of the effectiveness of the loyalty program can be obtained by applying NPS in conjunction with other methods of analysis.

How to make buying coffee in Casboutique even more profitable? Loyalty program

All promo codes with discounts on your next purchases you can find in coffee card, - a leaflet with a list of your current order, which will be in your order along with the coffee that you purchased.

For all our customers who have made at least one purchase with us, the following applies:

permanent discount 15% for the entire range of coffee beans and coffee capsules for Nespresso coffee machines;

additional discount of 500 rubles. on all offers with coffee machines, including promotions, where there are already discounts on sets with coffee machines.

Every 2 weeks, in the middle and at the end of the month, for all our customers who make purchases with us, we update promotional codes for a 30% discount in your coffee cards, which are valid for the next 2.5 months. These promo codes are in the sheet with the order(A4 paper in your order). Therefore, in order to retain discounts, you must make one purchase every 2 months (30% discount) without limiting the minimum purchase amount, i.e. generally for any amount.

Or you can always take advantage of 30% discount for the whole and by promo code SKIDKA30 if the total amount of your order is 10 thousand rubles or more. This discount is not valid for the offer only. Please do not try to use the promotional code in the basket with this promotional offer for 1 ruble. Such an incorrect order will be canceled by the operator upon confirmation of your order.

Promo codes are reusable and can be used multiple times during their validity period by you or your friends. Feel free to share discounts with your friends, and they can then reciprocate by sending you their promo code if suddenly you decide not to buy coffee in the next two months.

Following is an example of usage:
Vasily and Peter are friends. Vasily bought a large supply of coffee and received promotional codes with discounts for subsequent purchases, but because Vasily took coffee in reserve, then he no longer plans to buy coffee in the next 3 or more months. Vasily liked the coffee and advised his friend Peter to also buy coffee at Capsboutique, and told what promotional code Peter would need to enter in the basket on the website so that he would receive a 30% discount, despite the fact that Peter would make a purchase for the first time. Petr heeded his friend's advice and bought coffee at a 30% discount. Vasily is now a client of our online store. Peter promised Vasily that he would tell what promotional codes he would receive for subsequent purchases. Therefore, Vasily, despite the fact that he will not buy coffee in the next 3 or more months, will be able to use Peter's promo code and get a 30% discount when he needs coffee again.