Time to Fix Your Horrible Rewards Program

Here are some things to know:

1. The gap at the end of the grocery store conveyor belt is just big enough to let a rewards program card go under;
2. The thickness of a grocery store rewards program card is not enough that the little sensors at the end of the conveyor belt will see it and stop;
3. When a grocery store rewards program card has slid under the end of the conveyor belt, a team of three people must be dispatched to take apart the entire counter to retrieve it;
4. The people in the express lane at the grocery store begin looking for pitchforks about 30 seconds after someone’s card has gone under the end of the conveyor belt.

I know this because a few months ago it took me 40 seconds to decide not to do anything about the rewards program card that had just been swallowed by the checkout counter.

The loyalty program industry would have you believe that my spending or visits to the store would decline now that my bucket of herring has gone away.

They will tell you that I’d start seeing other produce managers, or get really snapped on some almond milk and sign up for rewards cards with all their competitors. The truth is, I’m not easy prey for empty promises of free hummus and mutual love because I just don’t care. The level of effort required to get a new card or to open a new account is simply more than the savings are worth. To my knowledge, I never redeemed a dime on this program. Loyalty and monogamy are never the same thing anyway.

Is your rewards program more work that it’s worth?

Last week we looked at how loyalty programs have nothing to do with loyalty, and most serve only to trap brands and marketing departments into senseless long-term campaigns that probably don’t work.

But what of the marketers out there who have one of these programs? How do they escape the leg-hold trap and get back to stuff like demand generation and customer retention? Let’s start with effort.

Ask anyone who has attempted to redeem airline points for something as sensible as travel on that same airline and you will hear about itineraries that route through Moncton, Timmins, Goose Bay and Windsor for a flight from Calgary to Toronto. You will learn that it is possible to spend 12 hours in transit to go 1,500 miles. You will learn some new and colourful words.

AirMiles, for example, won’t show you the cruise and vacation packages you can purchase unless you have an appointment with one of their specialists (which of course is code for sales reps). And they’re wondering why nobody is redeeming points?

The same is true of discounts: oh, you didn’t tell the cashier before you started the transaction? Well you’ll just have to hang on to that hair cut credit until next time. Your birthday was last week? No free croissant for 51 more weeks, my friend.

Convoluted websites, call centre agents who act like they are in charge of a plutonium depot, and points statements that make less sense than a mobile phone bill all add to the problem of effort.

This is where I would focus if you are stuck with a stagnant, expensive or unpopular rewards program. Effort may be a barrier to redeem but it is not a barrier to exit – (It turns out it’s as simple as shoving your card into the checkout conveyor).

No more sucky rewards

The next problem many rewards programs have is the utter suckiness of the rewards themselves.  If you have put in a good length of time at a company, only to be handed a catalogue of ugly housewares and asked to pick your 20-year recognition gift, you know how disappointing it feels. The same, sadly, is true of so many rewards programs. As costs escalate, the goodies on the other side get cheaper and less useful. Items are replaced with discounts on future purchases, points requirements slide upward,and that fantastic luggage moves ever out of reach.

And yet, if we look at the marketing that is directed at rewards program members, the messaging is always about getting more points, and using points to enter contests to win more points that still can’t be used for anything nice.

Let’s take all those marketing calories and use them instead to do some research about what it will take to get your customers to use, and like using, the herring you have been storing for them. It’s possible they don’t want more herring at all. It’s possible, they want a better level of service, automatic upgrades and discounts, advance access to new products or the chance to give their rewards to someone else.

Here’s another idea: how about helping your customers understand what they can do with their existing herring stock? Use purchase data to show them three or four things that will use up all their herring (remember, we want these points off our balance sheet).

Or this: how about letting customers redeem points to contribute to a charity (yes, and get a tax receipt). Better still why don’t you match their contribution? Isn’t that nicer than mailing a book of 20 percent off coupons for restaurants your data should tell you the customer never visits (but thanks anyway, Air Miles).

Give your top tier customers a special toll-free line they can use for “white-glove’ service. Maybe stop letting points expire at all, or have them show up as cash on their accounts each month. How about you automatically knock a few bucks off each purchase just because you like them? This isn’t rocket science, my friends, it’s just a bit of planning.

The bottom line is, your rewards program members, whether you like it or not, are among your very best customers. Why on earth would you make it difficult, inconvenient, unpleasant or disappointing to do business with you?

Less marketing on the outside and a little more love on the inside are what will deliver real value while you figure out how to kill off the program for good.

Related Posts

It’s Time to Kill Off Your Dreary Customer Reference Program
The Care and Feeding of Ideal Customers

BizMarketer is written by Elizabeth Williams
I help companies have better conversations
Drop me a line at ewilliams@candlerchase.com