In early September, many coffee organizations around the world celebrate International Coffee Day. Several large chains offer free coffee or drastically reduce the prices. Smaller, independent coffee houses are taking advantage and offering unique pourovers or brews. So why are so many chains offering free coffee, and what do they get out of it? The answer is customer loyalty.
Customer loyalty is quite a valuable commodity for a business. Maybe some businesses just want to prove that they have the best coffee, and are willing to prove it. The customer would then remember to come back. If a free cup of coffee is going to get a few customers to come in, they may make additional purchases that they normally wouldn’t. Conversely, customers may remember which companies didn’t offer free coffee and think twice before going there again.
This isn’t to say your business should offer free coffee, unless coffee is one of the things your business regularly sells. It should emphasize the value of loyal customers. The Center for Retail Management at Northwestern University recently conducted a study which showed that only 12-15% of customers are loyal to a single retailer. Yet, this small percentage of customers is responsible for 55-70% of the retailer’s total sales.
There are many options, and methods, a company can consider when developing a loyalty program for their customers. It’s important, however, to remember the reason for it is to make sure the customer can benefit as well as your business will. Perhaps, you may wish to make an offer to them via a text message.
Offering your customer an incentive, to reach out to you by text can be quite valuable for your business. Fortunately, IVR Technology makes this easy with a mass text broadcast solutions that can allow you to get messages and offers to your customers whenever you need. By rewarding your customer’s loyalty, they’ll be more willing to convince their friends to switch to your service.