WIN | WIN BLOG...

Last updated: 08 August 2009

 

Travellers cashing in their points...

According to United Airlines, the number of reward programme members cashing in their points increased by 12% in the past year. With recession hitting everybody’s pockets, it looks like travelers are getting the point and cashing the points of their loyalty programs.

This cashing in trend is growing and will continue to do so, as home and business budgets tighten. Customers are not just spending their money but looking out carefully for companies that treasure their custom with real rewards and help them save a few euros.

Be it in-store discounts, hotel discounts or cinema tickets, if your loyalty points are being cashed in, this is the ultimate recognition that your customer rewards program is working.


 

What makes a good loyalty programme?

Customer input…
Before you set up a rewards program, you will need to know what YOUR customers want. Hotel breaks? Cinema tickets? Vouchers? Ask them. Once your program is up and running, ask again. Customer feedback is the basic foundation of a successful and truly rewarding program.

Clear message…
The aim and process for a loyalty program must be simple and clear, easy to understand to all customers. ‘What do I need to do?’ and ‘What are the benefits?’ are the two main questions customers need to know.

Quality Rewards.….
The rewards offered in your loyalty program should be useful quality rewards. This is essential to keep customers interested in the promotion. If the benefits don’t offer good value to the customers, they will simply not participate.

Affordable targets…
The rewards of your program must be an affordable target. Don’t forget, your program is meant to be a treat to the customer, they need to feel rewarded and valued, not frustrated and overwhelmed by a challenging task they will not be able to afford, anyway.

What it says on the tin…
If there is one thing customers like is honesty and getting what they are promised. If you offer hotel breaks, give them hotel breaks; if they are promised a discount, give them the discount. Don’t overpromise or hype up the reward: do exactly what it says on the tin.


 

98% of consumers believe brands should do more to help customers...

98% of consumers believe brands and companies should be doing more to help customers in the current economic climate, according to a recent survey commissioned by WIN WIN. Customers would like to receive companies’ help in the form of lower prices (85%), more offers (66%) and added value through loyalty programmes and/or reward vouchers (75%).

The survey shows that, since Christmas, most consumers are being more careful with their money (84%) and have cut back spend on everything from eating out (71%) to grabbing taxis (59%) and high street shopping (60%).

“Overall, consumers seem to be less confident and they seem to be watching what they spend in across everything they do, due to the economic climate. At the same time, they expect some help from companies and brands in the form of lower prices, offers and added value,” says James Lenehan, managing director of WIN WIN. Most consumers (93%) see Customer Reward Vouchers as a good way for brands to add value to their customers.


 

We take your Customers to the movies!

We are taking your Customers to the movies with a newly launched unique incentive programme where businesses can reward loyal customers with free cinema tickets. The Republic of Ireland has the highest number of cinema admissions per head in the whole of Europe. This comes to show that everyone enjoys a good movie! With this new WIN WIN promotion, you can give customers the chance to catch the latest releases on the big screen for free. We believe it is important to offer quality promotions that will make you and your customers, happy.

WIN WIN’s Cinema promotion applies to all public screenings (excluding premieres and other private screenings). Each cinema ticket is free admission for one person and has a six month expiry date, although this can vary depending on the promotion. Cinema tickets must be presented at the box office, where the ticket will be validated by the box office staff.


 

Top 10 Customer Reward Vouchers...

These are the Top 10 favourite Customer Reward Vouchers, as chosen by consumers:

1-Eating out 88%
2-Cinema 84%
3-Flights 82%
4-Home and High Street shopping 80%
5-Concerts/Music 74%
6-Sun Holidays 74%
7-Spa and Beauty 62%
8-Mobile Minutes 54%
9-Theatre 53%
10-Sport Trips 53%


 

Recognition and Reward: guide to Employee Satisfaction...

For performance-oriented companies, employee recognition is a vital part of continually communicating and reinforcing ever-changing goals. Not to be confused with incentives, recognition involves drawing attention to employees who perform. Recognition can be spontaneous, whereas incentives are publicised in advance and generally are intended to induce people to achieve a specific objective.

Research and common sense suggest that happy, committed employees work more productively and provide better service, thereby increasing customer satisfaction and profits. But some companies have been slow to react to this correlation between employee satisfaction and profits.

These are some key elements of employee satisfaction:

- Sense of purpose
- Fair compensation
- A feeling of appreciation
- A feeling of participation in the way their jobs are done
- A management style that incorporates coaching, encouragement and empowerment

Some researchers argue that using traditional incentives can create an atmosphere of destructive competition within a company, focusing on winning instead of working together. But understanding the basics of recognition can help companies keep the emphasis on steady improvement in employee performance, not competition.


 

86% of consumers likely to return and purchase after receiving reward vouchers...

86% of consumers are more likely to return and purchase from a brand or a company after receiving a customer reward voucher, according to a survey commissioned by WIN WIN.

“Our research shows rewards vouchers have an extremely positive effect on brands, as they allow companies to create and maintain a good relationship with their customers,” explains James Lenehan, managing director of WIN WIN. “Surveys of this kind help us know what the consumer really needs and expects at any particular time. Following this feedback, we adapt our rewards programmes to these expectations to make sure our clients and their customers are satisfied.”


 

How to win (and keep) your customers’ trust…

There is one crucial factor that makes a serious difference when it comes to establishing, building and maintaining strong customer relationships: Trust.

If you don't have trust, you don't really have a relationship. That's equally true in business as in your personal life. Those looking to build lasting customer relationships must keep the old saying 'Trust is hard won and easily lost' constantly in their minds.

How do you win trust?
Trust is only won by behaving in a trustworthy and reliable way in everything you do. Building trust is about being real, human and congruent. To achieve trust you must be trustworthy. Trustworthiness is based on both your character and your competence. Some of the most important character traits required to create trustworthiness is integrity (i.e. your behaviour has to be consistent with your values).

If you're in a leadership role it means making sure everyone "lives the brand". This means they understand and buy into the companies brand values. It's worth examining processes too. Many companies fail to focus on how their processes live up to the promises they offer customers and then wonder why they look elsewhere. If you've ever been on the
receiving end of one of those call centres that endlessly ask you to select from a list of options and then experience the phone go dead when you think you've finally made it through to speak with a human being, you will know how a customer might come to think of the service offered as at best unreliable and at worst downright infuriating.

Rules to Keep your Customers’ trust:
- Never let them down.
- Consider things from their perspective.
- Always justify their faith in you.
- Go the extra mile to exceed their expectations.


 

How consumers use Reward Vouchers...

41% of consumers have received a Customer Reward Voucher and 29% has received a voucher in the past 3 months, according to a recent survey commissioned by WIN WIN.  

The survey shows value doesn’t affect the number of customers redeeming those vouchers, with 45% of consumers likely to redeem vouchers with €10 value, 60% happy to redeem vouchers worth €150 and 61% likely to redeem them if their value is over €500.

However, most consumers don’t use vouchers straight away and tend to put them somewhere safe until they use them (62%). Only 17% use them straight away, while 20% either lose them or forget about them (and eventually lose them!).


 

Key elements of successful management...

Management success depends on two fundamental factors: recruiting and mobilising the workforce. The manager who combines sound management with people skills stands a good chance of fielding a workforce that effectively develops accounts and satisfies customers.

Key elements of successful management:

- Vision:
  Managers lead by identifying ways to create value for their customers.

- Strategic plan:
  Leaders who understand the big picture must be able to specify the best opportunities and decide how the workforce should go after them.

- Base training strategy on specific needs:
  Make sure everybody in your operation buys into your strategy. Training should spell out paths of success for each individual.

- Develop a relationship-oriented management style:
  Shift your focus from reviewing to planning. Sit down with people to help them plan crucial calls.

- Empowerment:
  Effective managers prefer that people can make decisions. Adopt an attitude of trust and teach employees how to make these decisions.

- Targeted incentive programmes:
  Achievement awards must be based on what your people want, and the requirements for winning must be realistic. Incentive programmes should focus not only on   
  productivity, but on the contributions of all people and all channels involved.

- Know whom to promote:
  Ambitious people often want to move into management, even though they might do better to stay where they are. Make sure such individuals get recognition within the 
  organisation. They should feel valued for the work they do so that they don't feel a continual need to improve their status.

- Find a supplier who can help you motivate your workforce.

- Select the appropriate rewards: Cash Vs Product and Vouchers:
  Managers who plan recognition programmes often wonder if they should offer cash as an award, or tangible incentives such as merchandise, travel, and vouchers.
  Proponents of cash argue that it's easy to administer and employees can use it for anything they want without the restrictions placed on other types of awards.

In contrast, proponents of tangible incentives say cash is a poor motivator, because it has little ‘trophy value’. Most people don't talk about how much they earn, and the money often ends up being spent on everyday necessities or paying bills. Cash incentives also quickly become confused with salary and bonuses, so they can become yet another yearly expectation.

Where cash is being offered, it would be advisable to consider giving vouchers. The company often benefits from discounts and can award a lump sum as a gift voucher which offers the recipient the opportunity to select their own reward. Both cash and tangible rewards can be appropriate in a recognition programme, depending on the company's purpose for distributing the reward.