Author: Shaynie Feinauer

“Shut up, and take my money.”

If only making a sale was that easy, right? Chances are, though, that prospects actually are trying to give you their money—but flaws in your lead generation and nurturing processes are creating static that neither side can cut through.

Lead nurturing mistakes—when left uncorrected—end up wasting time and costing money. Here’s a breakdown of the worst mistakes, which also happen to be the easiest mistakes to avoid.

Mistake 1: Your research is lackluster
Prospect research is an often-overlooked piece of lead nurturing, but it’s just as critical to sales success as any other step in the process. Whether the business is new or not, there’s always a need to understand your ideal prospects—and that means doing your research. Use all the tools available to you, including actual snapshots (or profiles) of your existing customers, to get a clear picture of who your ideal buyer is. You want to find more customers just like your existing customers. Thorough research will keep you from casting too wide a net, and it’ll help you target future efforts.

Mistake 2: You’re not listening
From lead generation and nurturing to closing the sale, it all begins and ends with listening. In a recent survey, buyers told Hubspot that listening to their needs was the top way to create a positive sales experience. While the pitch is an important part of the process, it’s more critical to listen and make a true effort to understand what the prospect’s needs are. That way, you can provide solutions rather than trying to sell superfluous services and products. Not listening can also lead to chasing (and badgering) unqualified leads.

Mistake 3: There’s no clear follow-up plan
What do you do after you make calls to prospects, send them emails, or network with them at a trade show? Perhaps you have a “what to do next” checklist, but you’re not alone if you don’t. Various studies show that roughly half of all leads are never followed up. Half! According to Harvard Business Review, businesses that get in touch with potential customers within an hour of receiving inquiries are nearly seven times more likely to convert leads. Having clear follow-up plans and timelines for every scenario lets you be more responsive, helping you to streamline the nurturing process. That, in turn, makes it more likely that you and your prospects will follow through.

Millennials by nature are loyal creatures.

According to Forbes, 86% of millennials participate in loyalty programs—more than any other generation. And 68% of them modify when and where they buy in order to maximize the benefits they receive from loyalty programs.

But they’re also much more demanding than other generations—in both their expectation of personalization and their intolerance for irrelevant communications. If you want to market to millennials—classified as those between the ages of 22 and 35—you need a targeted, personalized approach that incorporates the best of digital and physical spaces.

Digital fatigue and the appeal of direct mail

While millennials enjoy managing rewards programs online, when it comes to being motivated to act, direct mail is a powerful tool. According to the USPS, nearly half of millennials ignore digital ads, yet only 15% say they ignore direct mail. In fact, they pay attention to their mail more than any other generation does.

That’s one of the reasons Best Western Rewards invested heavily in direct mail to go after millennials—and other age groups—to promote its loyalty program. According to a blog post from Kurt Allen, general manager of Colloquy, the hospitality chain invested in proprietary millennial research that discovered that 90 percent prefer postal delivery over email for promotional material, and 79 percent act on direct mail offers immediately.

Not only is Best Western using the channel to acquire a younger market base, it’s also engaging with all rewards members by mailing welcome kits, elite qualification kits, and personalized promotional campaigns.

As with any successful marketing strategy, the best loyalty programs are those designed with your customers in mind and ones that are properly communicate

By: Laurie Hileman

The travel agent called at 3 p.m. on a scorching August afternoon.

I’d won two front-row tickets and an all-expenses-paid trip to Boston to see one of my favorite bands—Bare Naked Ladies—in concert. As a one-a-day Diet Coke girl and travel fanatic, I’d faithfully redeemed My Coke Rewards points to enter sweepstakes for flights and fun trips.

While packing, in my wallet I found 24 loyalty cards from major brands such as Ulta, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Victoria’s Secret, Panera Bread, Best Buy, and Staples—along with local businesses including my greenhouse, clothing boutique, coffee shop, and children’s resale clothing store.

This can’t be normal, I thought.

Research proves otherwise. According to the “2017 Loyalty Consensus Report” produced by Colloquy, a publisher of research on customer loyalty and experiences, there are 3.8 billion loyalty program members in the United States. Apparently, I’m not alone in my love of loyalty programs.

Organizations big and small, in almost every industry, use loyalty programs to build profitable repeat business and nurture long-term customers. Here’s what you need to know about creating and marketing a program that will keep your customers coming back for more—and add more to your bottom line.

Why so popular?

Let’s start with a quick refresher. Loyalty programs are a marketing tool designed to encourage customers to continue shopping at or using the services of the business offering the program. Typically, businesses issue a credit card-sized paper or plastic card to customers to capture points or punches that are then redeemed for rewards such as discounts, rebates, special privileges, free gifts, and upgrades.

Some programs entail something as simple as a stamp on a physical card, while others connect to software that allows members to track their rewards online. Marketers often send personalized communications and offers to loyalty members via email and direct mail (a free birthday dessert coupon from a restaurant, for example).

So, why do so many customers go gaga over loyalty programs and the rewards that accompany them?

When asked, consumers say they participate because the programs are easy to use, easy to understand, and give great discounts. But when Colloquy delved deeper for its latest consensus report, it discovered intrinsic motivators such as: “I love the brand, company, retailer, or service,” “the program makes me feel like a valued member,” and “the program goes well beyond my expectations.”

The result is a win-win, with customers feeling valued and rewarded for shopping with a brand, and businesses gaining repeat sales and valuable data on their customers’ buying trends.

Create a feeling of exclusivity

“A lot of businesses focus on acquiring new customers, but I believe in keeping the ones you have shopping more—and shopping happy,” says Terri King, owner of My Secret Garden, a clothing and home goods boutique in Bay City, Michigan. “It’s much, much easier and less expensive.”

For more than 15 years, King has offered a loyalty rewards program that she calls her Fifth Saturday Club. Customers receive a business card-sized punch card to track their spending in the store. Once they’ve spent $300 on regular-priced merchandise, they receive $20 in-store credit along with a branded burlap tote bag. Then, during the few months a year that include a fifth Saturday, her exclusive club members receive 20 percent off anything they can fit in the bag.

King deliberately chooses not to offer her rewards program online, even though her point-of-sale system is capable of tracking such a program. Instead, she prefers the tangible reminder of the printed card. “We want them to see our card when they’re [looking] in their wallet,” says King.

With more than 5,000 members in her club, King occasionally emails additional discounts and promotions to keep customers happy and engaged, which is a bonus for her.

“It’s always nice to end a month with a really big [sales] day,” says King. She notes that the three or four times a year fifth Saturdays happen is perfect for her shop’s promotion-to-sales plan, but acknowledges that several of her retail friends offer slightly different programs. “Every program has its plusses and minuses, and you just have to find which one works for you,” says King.

Fast with no fuss

The Colloquy report comes with a warning for businesses, too. Currently, 54 percent of loyalty program members in the United States are inactive, and 28 percent abandon programs before ever redeeming a single reward. The No. 1 reason consumers abandon loyalty programs?

It took too long to earn points or miles for rewards.

Dave Wojewoda, co-owner of two Geyer’s Pennzoil 10-Minute Oil Change locations in Saginaw, Michigan, understands the importance of a loyalty program that rewards quickly and easily.

“It ties the customer to you. Our points add up quick so they don’t have to wait a year or two [to redeem rewards],” says Wojewoda. “We only see them two and a half times a year [for oil changes]; they don’t want to wait four years for $10.”

But, he admits, it took him awhile to find the perfect program. Through the years he’s tried different combinations of rewards centered on the number 10 (to link with 10-minute oil changes). First, it was buy nine oil changes and get your tenth free. But, as expenses continued to rise,

“We were going to go broke,” says Wojewoda, with a laugh.

He also tried $10 off every tenth oil change before settling on 5 percent back on every dollar spent. When a customer accumulates $10, the discount is applied to their next service. It requires no effort on behalf of the customer and is tracked completely within Wojewoda’s computer system.

In an increasingly competitive marketing landscape, connecting with customers using a carefully crafted and well-communicated loyalty programs offers businesses a leg up. Just ask the girl with 24 loyalty cards in her wallet and the Diet Coke in her hand.