How Franchisors Can Build an Effective Loyalty Programme According to a research, marketing and advertising to gain a new customer for your franchise business can cost up to 5 times more than to retain existing ones

Loyalty Programmes are necessary to maintain your position amidst today's competitive business world. Customers are also 90% less likely to buy your products and use your services if they feel that they are not being valued and appreciated. Thus, loyalty programmes can offer many benefits to franchisors, franchisees.

Strong Foundation

To yield better results from your loyalty programme, it must have a strong foundation. Without proper research and planning, your loyalty programme may not get desired customer engagement. Your loyalty programme should not only help you accomplish your business goals but also entices customers to participate.

Conduct a scrupulous research about your consumers, their needs, personal information etc. As you garner more information, you can use it to adjust the programme and other aspects of your workflow to better address what customers want.

Simplicity is the key

The simpler your loyalty programme is, the easier it is for you as a business and also for your customers. Simplicity is the key element for acquiring more consumer engagement. Consumers want a programme that is hassle-free and provides immediate rewards for their brand devotion.

Make it easy for them to register, whether it is in-person, online, or over the phone. Points are easy for the customer to understand, and the business to track. You can also set up milestones for customers to redeem their points and rewards that correspond with each of those milestones.

Flexibility

With the advancement of technology, consumer behaviour is also changing rapidly. Franchisees should also adapt their loyalty programmes accordingly to stay relevant in the customer's eyes.

A loyalty programme that is cohesive with consumers' behaviour will allow the franchisees to hold its place as a frontrunner among competitors alike. Be ready to make amendments to the programmes based on how customers are responding to it. This will help in retaining customers and driving sales.

Tiered Programmes

Every franchisees want to build a long-term relationship with their customers. Tiered loyalty programmes will encourage high commitment and long-term purchases. Reward your loyal customers properly by providing rewards based upon levels of engagement.

Everyone likes to a VIP and treated specially. By providing certain awards and benefits at each level of your programme, customers are encouraged to spend more to reach the next level.

The article was originally published on Franchise India by Sneha Santra.