• How to Generate Real Customer Loyalty

  Filed under Facts, Marketing Info, Marketing News
  Feb 18

  

  Points and perks expire. What lasts is the company’s “personality,” as well as a two-way relationship with the customer that reinforces the brand

  But how does a company ensure that its loyalty program achieves effective share of heart? Here are five principles to consider:

  Roots of Loyalty

  The first principal may be counterintuitive to those who work so hard trying to create committed customers: Loyalty is natural. Think about it. Identify with someone or something, then reinforce the credibility of our beliefs and one way we do that is by forming loyalties to them. So we give them repeat business and brag about them to our friends.

  Appealing to the Heart

  The second principle: behavior often comes from the heart.

  We care about performers because we empathize with them. They lay themselves out for us—whether it’s an actor demonstrating raw emotion, a musician performing passionately, or an athlete leaving it all on the field. The common thread is vulnerability, the willingness to expose themselves and take a risk. And that creates a heartfelt response which makes us want to attend the movie, buy the CD, or sit in sub-zero temperatures watching the game (at full price, mind you).

  Take Your Time

  Love takes time. It’s as true in business as it is in romance.

  A Two-Way Street

  The fourth principle may be the most significant because of the damage that can be caused by ignoring it. Put simply, relationships are reciprocal.

  True relationships develop along the lines of give-and-take. Relationships develop only so far as trust develops. And trust develops only by mutual disclosure and the circumspect protection of valuable information. The more data you collect on your customers, the greater the danger that the give-and-take balance will get out of whack.

  It’s More than Numbers

  Fifth, just because you can’t precisely measure something (or measure it easily) doesn’t mean it’s not working. We don’t know how poetry moves the heart but our lives would be much less fulfilling without it.

  Behavior tends to get measured because it can be measured. But measurement can create its own reality and cause the loyalty marketing focus to become too narrowly defined.

  Be polite, be respectful, and be patient with your loyalty marketing efforts and you’ll find that they not only increase short-term transactions but drive long-term affection as well. That affection will pay off for years to come, long after the points and perks expire.

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