You know you want your customers to keep coming back. Any smart business owner does! The real question is how you get it done. One of the simplest ways to keep your customers coming back is to set up a loyalty program—a reward system that gives your customers reasons to come back. It seems pretty simple but when it comes to actually doing it, a lot of businesses fall short. It takes a thoughtful approach, and business owners don’t always have the time to take that step. That’s why we’re laying out the steps for you!

Decide what kinds of rewards you want to offer

This part is important, because it means that you need to understand what your customers will want—and want enough to keep coming back. For example, you can have:

• Points redeemable for a portion of their purchase

• Free gifts

• Discounts

• Access to special sales 

• Birthday surprises

• Free shipping

• Exclusive, limited products like branded swag, or

• VIP experiences

There are so many ways you can reward your customers for making your business a part of their routine. Find ways to make yourself the convenient option, and the fan favorite. Big businesses with legendary loyalty programs, like Starbucks and Dutch Bros, found what their customers wanted (free coffee), and made it attainable through repeated visits (punch cards and points systems). You can use that same logic to find your perfect rewards!

Decide what actions you want to reward

Maybe just buying a coffee every day isn’t the behavior you want to reward. That’s okay! Just decide what you want your customer to do! 

Do you want to reward them for how much they spend? Maybe you can use a points-per-dollar model, where your customer gets a certain number of points for each dollar they spend. 

Want more customers? Build in a referral program! Get your current customers to tell their friends and family about you, and reward them for it with store credit or a special discount. 

Want some social media clout? Reward your customers for mentioning you on social media! You can give points for mentions, or you could even enter everyone who mentions your brand into a raffle! 

There are tons of ways to get your customers to engage. Figure out your goals and how you want your business to improve, then use that goal to figure out what behavior you want to reward your customers for! 

Find a loyalty program management service that works for you

One of the more time-consuming aspects of starting a loyalty program is shopping around for the best loyalty program management service out there. Certain POS systems make it easy with their integrated apps, such as Rewards by Clover or TouchBistro Loyalty, so that’s where having a powerful and comprehensive POS system becomes a highly valuable asset for your business. However, if you don’t have one of those systems, there are still options out there that will let you run your loyalty programs. 

With the right management system, you can collect and store customer data, offer multiple rewards for multiple actions, send targeted notifications and promotions, issue gift cards and more. 

Start signing your customers up!

The most important part of starting a loyalty program is advertising it. Once you have your program set up, promote it! Put signs up around your store or restaurant, remind your customers to sign up at checkout, promote it on social media, post it on your website, and just keep talking about it! 

Make sure your employees know the ins and outs of the program, so that they can sign up customers, too, and train them to promote the program during each sale. We’ve all heard a cashier say “do you have a rewards card with us?” at some point in our lives—make sure your employees do the same! Make sure your customers know what they’re missing out on if they don’t sign up, and just keep asking.  

If you’re interested in finding a POS system that can run your business from payments to loyalty programs and more, get in touch! We can’t wait to help you find your ideal business solutions!