Make Your Employee Happy With Loyalty Programs

As the economy slowly picks up, you might be wondering how to bottle some of that summer business, nurture it through the slower months and really reap the benefits through the holiday season? By creating a text marketing incentive programs you can start to build a customer database when you are busy, communicate with those customers during the slow times to encourage more sales and then give those loyal mobile customers incentive to act and spread the word through the holidays.

Although loyalty programs have been around for years (frequent flier miles, hotel rewards), smart businesses are now starting to utilize the same methodology with new technology of SMS. A keyword is created, consumers are asked to text that word into a shortcode phone number in order to become a loyalty member or VIP and then those customers receive an automated reply from that business. So from the start the program is permission based…you will only collect numbers of those people who want to hear from you and have actively agreed to participate in your program. With a permission-based program, any messages the business sends thereafter are more likely read. With texting, the business can directly communicate an offer, a reward, a discount, a VIP service etc. so that the customers may take advantage of these offers on the go. Communicating with your customer while they are out shopping is more likely to elicit a positive response to visit your store or establishment and make a purchase.
Do you know how to motivate your workers?

A happy employee is one who is highly motivated. So it makes sense that a well-motivated employee will be a productive worker!

Most employees today are not solely motivated by money. While it is still important to them where their next pay packet is coming from, it is not the only factor keeping them in their jobs. Employers are starting to realize that money is not the only thing that will keep their employees happy and productive.

Employees who stay long-term with a company and continue to do their best work are those that are well looked after. Wouldn’t you prefer to stay with someone who appreciates your hard work and rewards you for it?

A happy employee is a great asset to any company because they will be even more productive. This means that your overall company performance will increase!

Ways To Build Customer Loyalty

The term customer loyalty is used to describe the behavior of repeat customers, as well as those that offer good ratings, reviews, or testimonials. Some customers do a particular company a great service by offering favorable word of mouth publicity regarding a product, telling friends and family, thus adding them to the number of loyal customers. However, customer loyalty includes much more. It is a process, a program, or a group of programs geared toward keeping a client happy so he or she will provide more business.

Customer Loyalty is an important aspect of every business. Everybody wants to build customer loyalty for more business. There are number of ways which people are using to make their customers loyal. For example free offers, coupons, low-interest rates on financing, high value trade-ins, extended warranties, rebates, and other rewards and incentive programs. But these ways demand time and money both. Some simple ways which you can use and build customer loyalty for your business.

1. Communicate: Building a lasting relationship requires communication. Communication means listening to your customer or client, as well as conveying your own message. One sided communication is a speech, mutual communication is a conversation. Communicate when things are going well and when there are problems. When things are going as expected, bring it to their attention. When there are problems, provide the scope of the challenge and your solutions, preferably before the customer even knows that the problems exists. This builds credibility, confidence and trust.

2. Product Awareness: Know what your steady patrons purchase and keep these items in stock. Add other products and/or services that accompany or compliment the products that your regular customers buy regularly. And make sure that your staff understands everything they can about your products.

3. Understand Your Customer’s Goals: The products or services that you provide are only meaningful in the context of your customer’s objectives. What you do is intended achieve financial or strategic objectives, or fulfill a need. Understand and communicate your value from the perspective of the customer. Be aware of changes that may affect the customer requirements and your perceived value so you can adjust accordingly.

4. Reliability:
Be realistic and reliable with your customers. Do not promise more than you can give, and make sure that you do deliver on the promises you make. For example, if a customer orders a product that needs to be delivered in twenty-four hours, make sure that it is delivered in twenty-four hours or less. Make your estimates on delivery times reasonable, but err towards giving yourself more time to fulfill promises. Do not make promises you have no hope of keeping just to keep your customers from going elsewhere.

5. Be Flexible: Try to solve customer problems or complaints to the best of your ability. Excuses — such as “That’s our policy” will lose more customers than setting the store on fire.

Customer Loyalty Program And Benefits

Customer loyalty programs can function as the promotional linchpin that drives your company’s long-term profitability. They are an essential tool for improving customer retention. By offering your customers digital incentives, such as skins, music downloads and an assortment of mobile promotions, you can dramatically increase the lifespan of each customer. Not only does this create an enormous level of goodwill, but customer loyalty programs also encourage customers to respond to your ongoing marketing campaigns.
The expense of a customer loyalty program means that companies have to be very diligent in their research of what to offer and the demographics of who they are trying to reach. It is vital that they get it right or these customer loyalty programs could cost them far more money than they will ever get back and that could be the undoing of a company that is not on stable ground. Grocery stores that have mature customer loyalty programs spend about 1-1.5% of their revenue on customer loyalty programs. Furthermore the commitment to customer loyalty programs is long term it could take almost 18 months before you start to see returns. It would be unfortunate to have irate customers after you drop a much loved program due to expense, shortly before you start to see the returns.
Loyalty cards can also provide a great marketing tool for you to get a clear understanding of your customers. Collecting personal details such as the customers address or email on the reverse of a loyalty card is very simple yet clever. Customers are unlikely to give up personal information, however with the temptation of an offer many customers will provide their details. Its important to promote yourself using professionally printed loyalty cards that temp the customer to return again and again. Once you have collected the information on your customer you can get a clear understanding of who purchases from your business and use this for your future marketing activities.

Incentive Marketing Programs And Solutions

In order to make the most of such key talent processes as recruiting, training and development and retention, organizations should be tuned in to the “voice of the employee” and ensure that valued employees are engaged with the organization.
A manager of organizational effectiveness and employee engagement at a Fortune 100 company put it this way: “The typical organization today views talent management as three building blocks: attract, develop and retain. These are solid building blocks. The challenge is that these blocks won’t stick together unless there is mortar. And that mortar is employee engagement. A robust, world-class talent management process has to put the mortar between those three key building blocks.”
Ongoing performance feedback is an essential tool in maintaining employee motivation and a positive work culture. Although employees are less likely to leave their current positions when the economy is in decline – because of poor job markets and the need for security – employees are taking stock now of whether or not they will stay once the economy starts improving. A recent study by the Society for Human Resource Management, moreover, reveals that 79 percent of the people who leave their jobs attribute their departure to a lack of appreciation.
Employee attitude or climate surveys are two tools for gathering feedback and enhancing workplace communication. APQC’s Open Standards Research shows that workforce climate surveys primarily take the form of an annual census, which means that all employees are surveyed once a year. (About half of survey participants conduct employee satisfaction/engagement surveys at least once per year.) The results are then communicated to senior leaders and the top managers responsible for such key employee areas as talent management, compensation and benefits for action and process improvement.
If you want to increase sales, sales rewards program will be effective for your employees but if its about your customer, studies prove it takes up to seven or more exposures before potential customers make a purchase but if you are giving away something of value to them free, likely it will not take that many in this case you have to build customer relationships.
Along the way many marketers and ordinary people like you and I have realized in order to fully maximize their benefits from sales and traffic you need to give before you can expect to receive. In other words, you need high quality incentives and software to often times take your business to the next level. Showing people that you are willing to offer them something so valuable will demonstrate that you are not just another pushing, desperate, just looking to make a sale Internet Marketer.

Sales Incentive Programs How To Start

Do not lightly undertake any Sales Incentive Programs. Talk to experts first. Once you start a cash or gift card program, it’s very hard to take it away – and nearly all companies who are giving cash awards – sooner or later – wish they hadn’t gone down that road.

Many companies find out the hard way, once they’ve begun a cash-based Sales Incentive Program and realize it was a mistake, and employees perceive the change as a negative, take-away move, even if they’re moving to a more exciting program with great award selections. It takes time… and we can help.

If you choose to go it alone, our advice is to work to slowly wean off a cash program over a period of 3 years. Structuring the change carefully makes it easier to swallow for your employees. Replace it with a meaningful merchandise and/or travel award programs, including group or individual travel options. One of the key points is, whatever you do, you need to communicate your appreciation.

Factors to Consider When Determining What Sales Incentives to Give
AGE – People’s likes and dislikes as well as their goals tend to differ as they age, and thus, it’s important to give sales incentives that will suit your sales team’s age range. If, however, they’re composed of different generations, then you need to choose something that will be ubiquitously desirable.

GENDER – Gender-specific sales incentives are tricky because you could be sued for discrimination, but they’re arguably more effective as well since you’re giving your sales team – man or woman – what they really desire. One way of solving the discrimination problem is by giving them the option to choose.

BUDGET – Naturally, giving away sales incentives shouldn’t bankrupt you. Evaluate your finances then determine just how much you’re able to spend. Having a budget will also challenge your mind and imagination to think out of the box and be resourceful.

Incentive Marketing Solutions Incentive Program Design

Offering an incentive program allows your employees to focus on achieving something so that they can earn a tangible reward of some kind. With the reward clearly in mind, your employees will become more focused which will help them to overcome any obstacles that stand in the way of them earning that reward. This type of program is a good way to increase morale among employees and also shows your employees that you really do care about them and that you want them to achieve their maximum potentials. If you are ready to unlock the full potential of your employees and are ready to drive measurable results, it would be in your best interests to look into starting an incentive program of your own.

Good pension schemes, however, have become more attractive as incentive programs wherever state-funded provision has fallen. The same applies to medical insurance. The knowledge that the company cares for its people in sickness, health, and old age is a basic yet a powerful factor.

So, now you know that incentive programs don’t necessarily mean it has to be in the monetary form. Do remember that giving people incentive programs of any kind sends a very positive signal. As they say, it’s the thought that counts. An incentive program may be travel reward program or merchandise reward program or voucher rewards program or may be any other.

Reward is another important factor that determines the success of your incentive marketing programs. When choosing merchandise for reward, consider its usefulness, durability, attractiveness, convenience, and uniqueness. Choose also the kind of reward that would appeal to most of your costumers and clients. Since it involves investment, take note of the longevity of the product. Do not just buy too many and stack them to your warehouse. Buy within your budget. Consider the following factors, and give it away before the program expires.

The effectiveness of your incentive marketing will still depend on the response of your costumers and clients but if you take note of these issues, you will surely increase your chances of achieving your goals and pleasing your costumers.