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Many UK companies operate customer loyalty programmes engendering a sense of belonging amongst their customers, while also allowing them access to exclusive services or offers.

Knowing your customer is vital to any business but unfortunately not all customers are the same. So, to develop a successful and sustainable customer loyalty programme it is necessary to speak to many different customers, actively seeking feedback and drawing out their perceptions and impressions of the company. By accumulating customer data from many different inputs, a true reflection of how customers feel about the company can be ascertained.

Some of that interaction takes part in focus groups involving a wide range of customers, or by using customer satisfactions surveys, or both. However, regardless of the methods used to glean this important information it should be actively used to progress the company in the eyes of its customers.

Less enlightened companies miss out on that valuable interaction as they choose to deliver their goods or services according to their perceptions, without listening to their customers input. For them other factors are more important than customer loyalty, or perhaps other agendas are at play, or they may not have the internal skills required to obtain, analyse and action this customer data.

Many companies considering undertaking loyalty programmes usually take the outsourcing route and put their trust in a third party supplier. By taking that route the company can rely on the customer insight and brand building expertise that is delivered by specialist providers. They have significant experience of implementing loyalty services and can usually handle fulfilment off-site if necessary, meaning there is little interference with current operations. Alternatively they can integrate a total solution into the company’s infrastructure – whatever the client needs.

Even though multinationals have their own marketing departments, even they may consider the outsourcing of their customer loyalty programme. That allows them to concentrate on winning new business and ensuring that they develop existing products and services in line with customer expectations, highlighted by their loyalty programme partner.

Building long-term customer loyalty by delivering focused marketing activities results in a direct and valuable contribution to the bottom line. By building and maintaining a relevant customer database, subsequent marketing activity becomes more effective and more targeted. It also proves ultimately cheaper to conduct marketing campaigns which are relevant to each recipient. In addition, database activity can be tied into card loyalty schemes, where points or other benefits are given as a reward for customer spending.

Such schemes are typical of major UK supermarkets and hotels, but can be adapted for many uses in many sectors. Customers are a company’s most valuable asset and by giving them a reason to appreciate your brand, you will keep them longer.

Adam Singleton writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.