M&S for Business: Acquisition and Retention Strategy

M&S Acquisition & Retention Schemes EST. 1884 How to attract customers and keep them: Using reward schemes within your customer acquisition and retention strategy. Why implement a reward scheme? We've come up with 7 great benefits 7 Benefit Acquiring new customers BENEFITS Present an attractive offering to attract high quality customers and reach the relevant audience "Use rewards to attract new customers and get referrals from existing customers." PROJECT Benefit 2 Customer retention Maintain some sort of customer retention FREE GIFT strategy to help keep your customers interested in the long term. 81% of individuals feel more valued as a customer if their insurance provider surprised them with gift vouchers for a third party company as a reward for loyalty. Benefit 3 Creating brand advocates Reward existing customers for becoming brand advocates - get them to tell their peers about the company's great services which will get them to sign up. "An effective strategy is to make your customer feel like they are a part of the team. Refer a friend schemes essentially turn your customers into your sales team." % Benefit 4 Building long lasting relationships Once you know what your customer wants, what they value and the best way to communicate to them, you can start implementing strategies to develop the relationship. Thank you! "Rewarding customers for their activity and time is the focal point for building loyalty. If you take the time to recognise your loyal customers and thank them for their business, it creates a reciprocal relationship." Benefit 5 Repairing damaged relationships and winning back defected customers Investing time and money into keeping your existing customers happy is highly beneficial as it is much more cost effective to retain customers than it is to attract new ones. "Customers want honesty from their provider. They want to feel that they are getting the best deal without having to fight for it and they also want their provider to admit when they are wrong and resolve any issues or problems fully." Benefit 6 Staying one step ahead of the competition Not only offer added benefits with your products but promote these benefits so that potential customers are fully aware of how outstanding your offering really is. 75% would be persuaded to switch insurance providers if another provider offered them insurance cover at the same price but with the additional benefit of loyalty rewards. Benefit 7 Measuring customer behaviour Before implementing a reward scheme, it is essential to have proper data collection and campaign measurement tactics in place. 75,342 66,999 "Knowing your customer allows you to predict what they want before they ask for it, tailor your communication methods to each individual's preferences and identify customer pain points." 2008 2009 2010 2011 M&S EST. 1884 www.marksandspencerforbusiness.com *Research carried out by M&S for Business voucher