In a perfect world new members join your organization with an understanding of your purpose and your value to them.
They renew forever and ever and refer their friends who become loyal members themselves. Everyone's happy and dancing and singing and sharing candy and life is just awesome.
The real world obviously works a bit differently.
In the real world there are dozens of reasons why someone might join your organization. Once they've joined, each member has dozens of reasons why they might or might not retain their membership.
In the real world they often whine, complain, bicker and most definitely do not share their candy.
This is reality, where membership organizations fight a constant battle to keep members engaged and focused amidst a million other priorities and distractions.
Member engagement is how you're going to earn the loyalty you need to thrive and grow.
What you're looking to do is build avenues for engagement that any member can connect with.
Not all of them will attend live events.
Not all of them will network with fellow members.
Not all of them will ever visit your website even once.
None of those mean they're not engaged and active. None of those mean they won't renew their membership or tell their peers to join.
You can still build excitement and action with every member.
It just takes energy, a lot of effort, and some creativity.
We're here to help.
Typically, organizations partner with a discount program provider, but what about creating one yourself? This article discusses critical factors to help you decide if a do-it-yourself discount program is right for you. About a 4 minute read.
I don’t know about you, but when I see something cool someone created online, my first thought is “I could make that.”
A few times, I’ve succeeded in making my own version and even enjoyed the challenge of creating with my own hands. Some of my favorite things I own are things I’ve made.
More often though, I’ve found the effort not worth my while.
We spend a lot of time talking about customer loyalty here. It’s part of this blog’s title, after all. We’re very interested in the mechanics that lead a customer to enter into a relationship, of sorts, with a brand.
And like any great relationship, that affection can’t just be a one-way street. It’s pretty safe to say that no brand has ever suffered from showing some love back to their customers.
The great thing about customer appreciation is it takes many forms. It’s giving away expensive items, but it’s also having a staff that remembers first names and frequent purchases. The bottom line is there are many ways a brand can make customers feel like it cares about them.
Here are 40 simple and inexpensive ways any brand can express appreciation for its customers:
Love at first sight can happen.
Just ask Hollywood.
Or if you want scientific proof, this study shows it takes about 1/5 of a second for the brain to make all the numerous judgments it takes to fall in love.
And for even more evidence, ask my husband. He loves to remind me just how quickly he fell in love with me, especially on a certain holiday in February... or when he's in trouble.
But it’s definitely rare. Not just for love between two individuals, but also between individuals and the businesses they frequent.
Getting free stuff is great, but…
There’s always a little skepticism that comes with a “free” price tag. What’s wrong with it? Does the quality level match the price? How good can it really be if it’s free?
You get the idea – generally, the lower the price the less you expect from the product or service. So, maybe some things really are worth paying for?
The idea of a free price tag has even higher stakes when it comes to businesses. Free stuff can be risky for a business, especially if it’s going in front of customers. At risk is more than just a few dollars - the cost of reputation and customer perception can be enormous.
Our advice? Buyer beware. If it has your brand on it, then it’s worth an investment.
