Nearly every type of business offers a customer reward program to its customers for their support and engagement. The reason behind customer loyalty programs is that they create a feeling of belonging. People like to contribute and would more often help your business, if you only ask them to. Loyalty programs are a great way to reward your customers for their loyalty, encouraging them to stay and refer others to your business.
There are mainly 3 types of customer loyalty programs.
- The Frequency Program: This is a classical method, which is familiar to most of us as ‘buy 2 and get the 3rd one for free!’ This is a great opportunity to offer a unique reward, if a customer buys a certain number of products, or makes a purchase over a set amount. This type of gamification is often used by innovative companies, which like to keep their customers engaged and eager to see the next exciting offer. Put yourself in the shoes of your customers. Are you more likely to buy 3 pairs of shoes if you get a custom belt for free?
- The Points Program: Through this loyalty program customers can earn points. The more your customers spend, the more points they earn. This could also be a suitable program to introduce cryptocurrency, or custom tokens, to make it even more interesting for customers to take part. An example of a successful introduction to this type of rewarding is Dentacoin, a custom token, which is created to serve and improve the global dental industry. Dental Clinics which already introduced this method of rewards reported that “Patients were [also} very excited about this new opportunity. Giving a voucher/coupon/client card or a discount in euro was nowhere near the excitement of receiving Dentacoin. Dentacoin felt like some kind of magical money to customers.” (Full interview here.) Patients who own Dentacoins can spend them on dental treatments at any dental clinic worldwide, partnering with Dentacoin. In future they can also buy dental care products and pay for their dental insurance.
- The Cash-Back Program (or Rebate Programs): This customer loyalty program offers customers a chance to earn money back based on their buying activity to spend on future purchases, but only at that particular business. In case you are not a large chain with many stores at different locations, the options for transferring the value of the discount (cash-back) is somehow reduced in the eyes of your clients.
It is very important that each business offers a customer loyalty program. This is a powerful tool to create a community around your business and a special way to say “Thank you” to your customers for their loyalty and continuous engagement. What differentiates you from your competitors is the personalization of your services and the way you make your customers feel when using your goods or services. Rewarding customers with a custom token which generates benefits for a whole industry and can even increase its value over time could be the next level of customer loyalty programs.
About the Author: Donika Kraeva is experienced in Online Medical Marketing and translating big complex ideas to the target group’s language. Developed Feedback Systems and Patient Loyalty Programs for international dental clinics. Seeking ways to utilize Blockchain advantages in building a patient-driven dental Industry.
Edited by
Mandi Nowitz
