Mike Gorun's Blog Posts Tagged 'programs' (24)

According to a study by Colloquy, there are 3.3 billion loyalty program memberships in the United States, which averages 29 per household. Yes, loyalty programs are everywhere. From grocery stores, to gas stations and fast food restaurants, chances are high that a store you’re about to enter for the first time has a loyalty program. And the one thing that most of these…

I had just finished reading this article on marketsoft.com about customer loyalty, when a business associate told me about a similar situation that happened to him. In his mailbox was a glossy, oversized postcard offering a discounted oil change for his vehicle from the dealership from…

Delta Airlines recently revamped its loyalty program changing how rewards are distributed to its customers.  In an article in Knowledge@Wharton, Peter Fader, Wharton Marketing Professor, applied the concept of customer centricity in reviewing Delta’s current…

In a world filled with loyalty programs, it’s always interesting when I talk to a dealership that harbors doubts. The cost involved in having a loyalty program is minimal compared to the revenue generated. However, at times it seems as if dealers are intimidated by the effort it would take to administer one.

Loyalty program benefits and results are…

Dealerships today are continuously seeking new ways to acquire new customers. Endless services and platforms pop up almost daily that offer businesses new ways to reach out to the world and attract new customers – whether that’s through online media, social media platforms, mobile ads or database mining. The problem is that many businesses concentrate far too much on…

Oftentimes, businesses adopt a rewards program to thank their frequent customers and to encourage and increase the likelihood that they will return. While these are both excellent reasons to have a rewards program, a business must carefully consider how to structure the program and what to offer to not only promote engagement with their customer, but to also create meaningful…

I’ve written many articles about the different types of loyalty and how each can affect your business’ growth and revenue. However, I’ve never written an overview of how all these components fit together in a holistic manner. Hopefully, this blog article will help put the pieces together so that you better understand these concepts more…

There are many benefits to having an automotive loyalty program at your dealership to increase business and customer retention. You must be mindful, however, of some dangers that exist if the program is not implemented and administered properly.

Loyalty programs seek to reward behaviors. For dealerships,…

I recently read an article about a recent Forrester Report titled “Banks and Retailers: You Cannot Price Your Way Out of Bad Customer Experiences.” It was quite fascinating but there was one part that really resonated with…

Dealerships today spend most of their marketing budgets on acquiring new customers. Those ads in the newspapers aren’t really meant for current of past customers, they are meant to attract new customers. The cost of customer acquisition ranges from 6 to 10 times more than the cost…

A recent study by the Tempkin Group found that it takes an average of five clients giving positive referrals for your business in order to get one new client. Yet it takes only two disgruntled customers speaking negatively about your business for you to lose one customer.

You do the math...that means it’s twice as important to ensure that you don’t have unhappy customers than it is to maintain good relations with your happy customers. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t focus on…

You know who they are: your VIP customers. The ones who have purchased more than one vehicle from you and the ones who frequent your service department for their repair needs. What are you doing to show your appreciation for them this holiday season?

Call it a trend or a growing awareness that you can’t take loyal customers for granted, but more and more small businesses are showing their appreciation in the form of a party or other event that offers both fun and rewards to…

Whether your dealership has, or is considering a loyalty program, it’s important to make sure your marketing messages align with the overall brand or image of your store. What is your dealership known for? Aggressive, “best” pricing? Friendly, no-pressure salespeople? A multi-generation, family owned pillar of the community?

A brand is your identity’s business, and conjures up powerful images for customers, both consciously and subconsciously. Whether you realize it or not,…

It’s that time of year when giving takes priority over getting. Most dealerships I know are extremely generous when it comes to charitable causes, but there’s no need to be humble about it. The more you engage your customers in your holiday gift drives, the more you will be building loyalty with them.

In this recent…

How many cards do you have in your wallet? The average U.S. household now belongs to more than 18 loyalty programs, for a total of more than 2 billion memberships. That’s an awful lot of loyal customers, but as it turns out, all these programs and cards are having an unintended effect: customer loyalty…

What do you think would excite your customer more? A 15% discount on a tire rotation or being notified that they have been elevated to VIP status in your loyalty rewards program?

You may be surprised that just as many customers respond positively to intangible rewards, such as an elevation in status, or feeling like they contributed to a good…

General Motors recently announced a customer loyalty initiative to increase its customer retention rates from 52% to 58%. The car manufacturer has assigned a concrete value for every percentage point of improvement in customer retention rates: $700 million. If GM achieves their goal of 58% customer retention, it will add $4.2 billion in annual revenue to the bottom line.

Six percentage points may not sound like a lot, but 52% is the industry’s average and 58% would put GM in the same…

It’s one of those unfortunate, inevitable facts of life: every company and every employee will at some point have to deal with an angry customer.

Whether their anger is warranted because of a bad situation, or whether the customer is just plain difficult, doesn’t matter. These days, companies must respond to and deal with angry customers. If they don’t, they risk those customers becoming brand detractors, using social media to spread the word,…

Just about every business receives a complaint at some point or another. Whether it’s by phone, e-mail or via social media, when a customer is unhappy or feels they have been taken advantage of, they want to be heard. Most customer service people are trained how to deal with unhappy customers. But does the buck stop there?…

For dealers, two primary goals of implementing a loyalty program are: (1) to have the customer return to the service department for repairs, in order to increase customer pay RO, and (2) to have the customer purchase their next vehicle from your dealership. Therefore, it’s important to ensure that both sales and service are working together to build loyal customers.

The relationship between these two departments is critical, according to the recently released J.D. Power…