Today’s customers demand valuable, personalized, consistent experiences no matter where they interact with your brand. The reality is, most brands are still struggling to retain their best customers—in large part due to the gap between customer expectations and their actual experiences. In fact, according to Forrester, CX quality fell for a second year. So, what customer loyalty factors could you be better leveraging?

57% of consumers feel experiences have gotten worse in the past year.
(get.nice.com)

CX and loyalty work hand-in-hand

An effective loyalty program is one of the best ways to close your CX gap. Consumers’ needs and expectations are constantly evolving, and your loyalty program keeps you informed about changing preferences while keeping customers engaged. They’re also key to showing your customers you know and understand them—which is a huge step toward delivering better customer experiences.

On average, companies that invest in improving their customer experience see a:

(Keap)

It’s all about evolution

While we revere things like impressive buildings from centuries ago that have stood the test of time—your loyalty program can’t stand still. But how do you know what changes to make and which will be the most impactful?

The good news is loyalty data can provide plenty of valuable insights as to what makes your members tick. The better news is we’re about to share a methodology for change.

The value/experience exercise

According to Chuck Ehredt, CEO & Co-founder of Currency Alliance, the key customer loyalty factors, or drivers, are customer value and experience. He advises companies go through a 5-step value/experience exercise every six months to identify ways to make improvements in both these areas. To streamline that process, here’s a roadmap to walk you through each step.

Before you dig in, these insights can fuel your creativity.

Value considerations

Here are some tips and seeds of inspiration for how to increase your customers’ value:

Make sure the reward is valuable enough to justify the customer action or behavior (or, as we say, that the juice is worth the squeeze)
Value doesn’t always translate to dollars or savings—think trust, simplicity, convenience, speed, flexibility and frictionless
Reward your customers for behaviors and actions that go beyond transactions—such as completing their profile, downloading your app, referring others, writing reviews or completing a survey
Partner with complementary brands to expand your value proposition beyond core products and services
Look for ways to become part of members’ everyday lifestyle

Keep your program value front-and-center by communicating it often

Offer a variety of way
Deliver value from day one, beginning with a solid onboarding process that engages them right out of the gate

Keep your loyalty program value top-of-mind with frequent member communications:

Proximity to the next tier or reward
Points earned/used in a given timeframe
Total rewards redeemed to-date
Total savings through member discounts and promotions
All the ways they can earn points
Earned points that are expiring soon
Points they’ll earn with a specific purchase
Exclusive member-only benefits
New member-only benefits and offers
Celebrate milestones

“Offer members a variety of ways to earn as well as a range of rewards, so they can select options that align with their interests and preferences. This gives them the chance to explore new services and brand interactions, resulting in a more personalized experience.”
Erin Raese, Chief Growth Officer, Annex Cloud

Experience considerations

Here are some things to think about as you brainstorm ways to deliver a better customer experience:

Customers want to feel known no matter where they engage (in-store, ecommerce, mobile, social media)
Members want the flexibility to earn and redeem rewards no matter which channel they use
Leverage gamification to add fun and excitement to interactions
Paid and/or VIP tiers offering exclusive benefits—such as early access to new products, priority scheduling or concierge services—make members feel special
Don’t forget about recognition—it can be very powerful
Create a community
Today’s consumers prefer flexibility and self-service, so allow members to choose their own rewards
Unify data and tech to enable more consistent experiences
Give customers more opportunities to provide feedback
Maximize joy and delight with moments of magic, something Adam Posner calls Joyalty

After a good experience:

Your value/experience exercise roadmap

We’ve given you a lot to think about. Now it’s time to get to work!

We’ve created a hands-on roadmap that walks you through the 5-step value/experience exercise to simplify and guide your brainstorming. Have fun with it!

Get my value-experience roadmap →