You know it’s cheaper to sell more to current customers than to find new customers and maybe you’ve already created a loyalty program, which only works if your customers sign up. If you have one, you’ve spent time thinking about how to structure your program and how to entice customers to enroll. Is your customer retention rate increasing as expected? If not or if you’re always looking to improve, this list of best practices is for you.

Build trust with customers

Customers are more likely to join your program if they trust your company. According to research by Salesforce, 95% of customers say trusting a company increases their loyalty to that company. How well do you know what your customers value most? Are your processes and policies transparent or do customers have to work hard to find answers? Follow each of your processes as a customer and look for improvement needs.

For example, one website tells customers to call customer service for a certain type of request. Then the customer service number goes straight to an automated system that gathers information and tells the customer to go to the website for this request. This is one way even a large, reputable company loses the trust of their customers.

Make loyalty programs simple and easy to use

If it’s easy to enroll in your loyalty program and the rewards are clear, customers will be more likely to use it. If you’re seeing that people are enrolling and not using the program, look at how rewards are earned and redeemed. Are the rewards automatic or do customers have to request them? Is utilization consistent throughout your whole program or do customers tend to top out somewhere? These are signs that your loyalty program structure could be the issue.

Choose the right level of technology

As an ecommerce company, your customers are probably pretty comfortable online. Aligning your loyalty program with the ecommerce platform you’re already using is one way to encourage customers to join it. How do your customers order from you? Which platform are your competitors using for their loyalty programs? Do your customers prefer an app or text messages? If your program’s technology is a mismatch with your customers’ preferences, it could also be a reason your loyalty program is or isn’t garnering the interest you had hoped for.

Review your loyalty program regularly

Before you implement a loyalty program, ideally, identify key metrics that you’ll track to understand how well it’s working and how they contribute to your business strategy. Markets change, your products may change, and it’s okay if these metrics also change over time. The point is to keep track of what’s working and what isn’t. Metrics are an objective way to do that. You can also ask for customer feedback. Put a QR code on packages sent to customers in your loyalty program, link it to a short survey, and connect survey participation to a customer reward.

Sign up for early access to the elteve platform today through December 31, 2022 and see how on-package QR codes could simplify your loyalty program and improve the results you’re seeing.