Category: Chou Musings

Why Your Loyalty Program Isn’t Working

If you’ve been using a CRM-based loyalty program or a punch card to build customer loyalty, you might be sinking money into a low-ROI loyalty program. Here’s why:

Swipe Cards Don’t Work

Many popular CRM-based loyalty programs use a magnetic stripe-based card that people are supposed to carry around and swipe when they make a purchase. These are really popular at the large grocery chains, so I’ve chosen to use them as an example. I routinely drop $100 on groceries whenever I go, and for years I’ve routinely also saved a significant amount through the ‘club’ prices at, for example, Safeway or Jewel Osco. Despite this, I’ve never actually held a grocery store’s “club” membership — I’ve been using their dummy card or a friend’s phone number for years. Safeway thinks my roommate, whose number I use, loves avocados (even though he hates them) and buys both fat-free and 2% milk. Ever since I’ve known this “loophole”, I’ve used it for two reasons: I don’t want to fill out a 2-page form for a swipe card I’ll forget every other week, and I already know I don’t need to. In the meantime, Safeway’s collecting the wrong info, giving me discounts as a free rider, and fails to engage anyone in the brand. This type of loyalty program makes customers loyal to the program itself, but not loyal to the brand. Continue reading Why Your Loyalty Program Isn’t Working

Why Didn’t Anybody Tell Me?

Your best customers routinely go to your restaurant chains because it’s part of what they do.  They like the food, they like the service, and have their favorite meals and combos.

But an inherent problem arises from this: they become lazy

  • They become too lazy to try the new items on the menu
  • They become too lazy to post positive feedback on Yelp
  • They become too lazy to tell their friends about their favorite place to eat

The opportunity is there.  The customers that love your food and service are ready to go above and beyond to make sure your business is successful – you just need to make the ask.

Continue reading Why Didn’t Anybody Tell Me?

What A 3X Increase in Check-in Services Means for Your Business

Pew Research Center just released a report on American adults and their use of mobile and social location-based services. The numbers foretell the impending future and here are some of the stats:

– Adult usage of location based check-in services rose from 4% to 12% in one year
– 1 out of 5 18-29 year olds use geosocial services
– 12% of 30-49 year olds use geosocial services
– 5% of cell phone owners use their phone to check-in to locations using apps (ie: Foursquare, Gowalla, etc)

What does this mean for the marketing department? This means that as smartphone penetration in the US increases and as location-based services grow, it is becoming more and more imperative to take notice and take action. Whether you have a Director of Social Media, hire a consulting firm or agency, or start by giving the job to an intern, it’s time to start somewhere. Continue reading What A 3X Increase in Check-in Services Means for Your Business

How To Choose The Right 3rd Party Product For Your Franchise

There’s no question about it: there is so much new technology out there that one can get completely overwhelmed with the myriad of options.  When it comes to choosing the right technology, one must think about the short-term and long-term benefits of partnering with a 3rd party company.

Key questions that you much ask yourself:

  1. Can this 3rd party company flexibly grow along with my franchise?
  2. Can this 3rd party offer me an all-in-one solution (so that you don’t have to work with multiple vendors)?
  3. Will this 3rd party be around for the long-term

Continue reading How To Choose The Right 3rd Party Product For Your Franchise

Supercharge Your Loyalty Program

Loyalty programs are nothing new, from simple punch cards to sliding magnetic stripe cards, most loyalty programs involve some kind of physical card you carry around all the time. Customer loyalty is a major component of any business especially when considering the fact that it costs 5 times more to acquire a new customer than it is to retain a current one.

Traditional Loyalty Program Benefits

For years, loyalty programs have been a proven way to increase repeat customers, increase customer spend, and ultimately increase sales. Businesses have seen consistent returns and continue to pursue some form of customer retention or loyalty initiative. Customers enrolled in loyalty programs become more engaged and build a stronger relationship with businesses that reward them for their loyalty, as they feel the business is giving back to them resulting in an increased perceived value from the customer. Traditional examples of loyalty program setups include “Buy 10, Get 1 FREE” and “Spend $50 and get $5 back.” These linear, standard, and non-dynamic rewards are a very simplistic and basic program. With today’s technology, businesses should look at rewards programs differently, and be more proactive vs. passive to leverage the power of their programs. Continue reading Supercharge Your Loyalty Program

3 Ways To Drive Word-of-Mouth Marketing

By far, the most effective form of marketing is word-of-mouth marketing.  I trust my friend over a random advertisement I see on a TV spot or on a billboard at a mall.  If my friend recommends that I eat at Jamba Juice, then I’m very likely to go to Jamba Juice the next time I crave a smoothie.

The hard part is getting customers to tell their friends, family, and co-workers about your location.  Even harder is tracking referrals so that you effectively reward only successful referrals.

This post highlights two easy methods that increase the possibility of referrals, and one proven, advanced method that has shown to not only incentivize referrals, but also provide you with the ability to track and reward successful referrals (this method utilizes the RewardMe product).
Continue reading 3 Ways To Drive Word-of-Mouth Marketing

Having Happy Employees Impacts Your Bottom Line

There’s a famous scene in ‘Office Space’ in which Jennifer Aniston gets fired by her strict boss for “only wearing the minimum amount of flair” as a waitress at her local uber-happy bar & grill. The scene was obviously written to be hilarious and over-the-top, but I imagine a number of waiters, waitresses, and regular employees around the US connected with it. When I think about it, I actually wonder seriously: “was it only ‘flair’ that was meant to make customers feel happy?” A few smiley-face buttons and colorful suspenders?!

Customers’ happiness should stem from employees’ happiness, and not just because of the “happiness is contagious” adage — ever notice how much more generous you are when you’re happy? Everyone’s had a bubbly waitress once in their life it seems. I remember the few truly bubbly waitresses I had; her bubbliness made us ask her for desert recommendations just for fun (after which we joked that she was most likely just upselling us, “but that’s okay because she’s nice”). I imagine (hope, really) that her manager treated the employees of that business well, and it shows in her happiness. As a result, we left a large tip and ordered loads of food in exchange for good times and the extra dollars. The days when businesses paid their employees minimum wage should really be over — because it simply isn’t economically or socially sustainable. Continue reading Having Happy Employees Impacts Your Bottom Line