October 2021
Volume #22 Issue #11

Would you change your customer loyalty program?

Loyalty programs can, and should be a three way win; a win that your customer selects your business first; a win that your customer feels appreciated; and a win that your business is making money.

Unfortunately, most loyalty programs seem to quit after the second as few businesses have measured the results of their program. To address that concern, we created this free calculator on the Profits Plus website to help you determine how to make a loyalty program that addresses the third "win".

We have read a couple of recent reports on the utilization of premium loyalty programs. A premium loyalty program is one in which the customer pays to be a part of your program. Sound silly or sounds like it won't work? Ask the 112 million people who are a part of Amazon Prime or ask the 20 million people who have a Starbucks reward card.

Uber does it; airlines do it; How about your business? Let us share some information from this report:

• 81% of the traditional loyalty members say they would join a premium loyalty program assuming benefits were valuable.

• 79% of consumers say they don't want to accumulate points anymore.

• 76% of consumers overall say they would pay for a premium loyalty program.

• And, 73% of premium loyalty members have shopped more with their favorite business during the pandemic.

What do we see that is not the best usage of a program?

• Businesses that don't market directly to these loyalty customers.

• Businesses that ask if you want to use your points to lower the price of what you are buying today. (Talking about you Outback, Carrabba's, Bonefish Grill, Fleming's. and other restaurants in the Blooming Brands restaurant group. Don't ask the customer if they want you to use the points to lower your bill.)

• Businesses that have employees using a generic loyalty card to discount merchandise instead of signing up customers. (Talking about you pharmacy chains)

• And, businesses where employees ask the customer at checkout if they have a loyalty card. When the answer is "no", the employees responds with, "Want one?" (Talking about you office supply chain stores)

And yes, a reward loyalty program can work well for both products and services. Think about having a plumbing problem in your home. Who wouldn't want to be able to go to the head of the list to get service quicker?

Article of the Month - What you learn from questions

Asking questions. Definitely this is the most important skill we all need to have as we work in our small business. The type of questions to be asked are those who engage the customer to give us more than a "yes" or "no" answer.

The article for October gives examples of using questions to learn about your business as well as giving an example of why you should question everything you see in your business world.

My Dad taught me to ask questions by way of a rather blunt statement; ask a question and you will show your ignorance for just a moment. Don't ask a question and remain ignorant forever.

Definitely not as blunt, this month's article will show the value of questions.

Article of the Month

Who is visiting Small Business Converations this month? Daniel Pitts Winegarden of Goldman Sachs 10,000 small businesses

Several months ago we had a guest on Small Business Conversations who mentioned their having taken the small business management course provided by Goldman Sachs 10,000 small businesses course. After the program we asked her about the experience and she gave a glowing report.

She shared the contact information for the program and we will have Daniel Pitts Winegarden, the lead faculty member of the course as our guest for the October program. Watch your email for the announcement of the Small Business Conversations for October.

Book of the Month - The third door: The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World's Most Successful People Launched Their Careers by Alex Banayan

This book sounds like a fairy tale but it is not! The day before his freshman year final exams, Alex Banayan was on The Price Is Right, won a sailboat, sold it, and used the prize money to fund his quest to learn from the world’s most successful people.

What would you want to ask people about how they became successful entrepreneurs? We aren't talking about how to become a millionaire overnight, but what nuggets of information could you harvest from conversations with successful entrepreneurs that would help you in your business today?

That is why we are suggesting this book for October.

Book of the Month

Internet Tool for Your Business - Is margin the same as markup?

Margin; markup; aren't they interchangeable words?

No, they are not. Unfortunately, many use the words as if they meant the same. It would be fine if this was an issue of grammar. Unfortunately, such is not the case. The math is different as is the answer. When you are speaking with someone, you do need to know who is using the words correctly.

This month's calculator will give examples using numbers you input so that you can see there is a substantial difference. And in your next conversation with another small business owner, a vendor, or your accountant, you will know which of you is understanding the numbers correctly.

Each month we highlight one of the 47 free tools on the Profits Plus website; we call them "calculators". While some provide analysis by numbers and ratios, some are assessments and others are self-examination questions. Many are downloadable while others, because of the complexity of the calculations going on behind the scene, are a part of the website and allow you to print your answers. None of them require you to give any personal information nor are there any "cookies" tracking you or your information.

Internet Tool for Your Business

Staff Incentive for Your Business - What's the five best?

Want some bad news? Or perhaps something that is disappointing? You can find plenty of that in the media. Where you don't need to find this is in your own business.

When you next gather your staff, give each of them a pen or pencil and something to write on. Their assignment is to write five things that are going good about your business.

Collect the paper from each individual and then share it with the entire group. This helps to start a day on a positive note. Everything might not be going right, but these are the things we have noticed that we like.

Notice the smiles of your staff. It is going to be a great day!

We want to recognize A Carrot A Day by Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton, whose book provides the basis for each month's incentive idea.