In the coming months you’re going to be hearing a lot from us about helping you to attract, engage, convert and cultivate customer relationships in 2010, all performance programs that are designed to help you sell more by turning anonymous prospects into happy loyal customers.  But there is one area where we consistently spot opportunity for dealers to increase revenue without increasing costs. – customer loyalty.

We all know we should do it.  Customer retention and lifetime value are well documented opportunities in the RV business.   Customers who stay in the lifestyle typically trade every five years and cost 1/5th to 1/10th as much to sell as a brand new customers.  But we rarely do it well – if at all. 

If you’re lucky you might remember to send out a letter a week after purchase or even an “anniversary” card thanking a customer for their purchase last year.  But more often then not we’ll leave this up to their salesperson to do…meaning mixed or inconstant messages are sent – or no messages at all.  And what happens with a salesperson leaves the dealership?   That messaging (and customer loyalty) goes with them.

Customer Cultivation and Communication Planning

One of the things we’ve added to our Virtual Business Development Center (vBDC) are cultivation programs that help dealers not only stay in touch with customers long after the purchase, but delivers a fire & forget communications plan that’s designed to generates parts & accessories sales early in the life cycle, maintenance work in the middle and then get the customer ready for another purchase at the end.  Our program uses the information already collected by the dealer during the sale and delivers a one–to-one email marketing campaign to that customer over the next five years.  The cost of the dealer is nothing to put customers on the plan – it’s part of our overall vBDC program.

If we can communicate to that customer over a long time period and turn them back into a customer for the dealer then we charge the same as if we generated that lead off the dealer’s website.  And we can track and measure progress for that customers through their lifecycle. 

We offer a number of “out of the box” loyalty communication plans to help dealers get up and running quickly.  Programs can also be customized and tailored for specific needs*.

It’s a great way to ensure that your customers are being communicated with long after the sale (and maybe salesperson) in a way that maximizes sales for your store now and when that customer is ready to purchase again.

Background Information

The Loyalty Marketer’s Association, or “Loyalty 360,” has come out with a timely list of 12 key trends that it says will dominate the loyalty marketing industry for 2010. Take a look at them and see about orienting marketing, sales, customer service, retention and customer contact strategies including contact center operations metrics, performance and agent training accordingly:

1. Engagement is the goal
From merchants and banks, to hotels and restaurants, to health care providers and insurance agencies – all but airlines – marketers are embracing engagement. These organizations know that engagement is the process that creates loyal customers, clients and employees. However, most don’t know how to define “engagement,” how to incorporate it into their marketing strategies, and most importantly how to measure, monitor, increase and sustain it.

2. There is a keen focus on sustainability
Customers want to be aligned with socially responsible companies and reward brands that champion the issues they believe in with their purchases and, ultimately, their loyalty. Given customers’ confusion over “greenwashing” – and often higher prices for green products – brands that claim to be environmentally responsible need to be authentic and transparent in their marketing efforts in order to achieve true customer commitment.

3. Loyalty programs will become more collaborative
Merchants want to work with banks, retailers and other partners. Each wants to work with the other’s members to create unique communities that can provide the value, behavioral information, and insight they cannot get in the market.

4. The need for metrics and quantifiable ROI is profound
Users were sold programs that were supposed to drive behavior, yet they have not performed. The market wants to know what types of return they should be achieving with these programs, and they need the benchmarks to help them do so.

5. There is a vast dichotomy between old school and new school incentive programs
The market is moving away from the old school mentality of trying to put a watch into an incentive program with the hopes that it will drive ROI and behavior.  Instead, the market is looking to adopt the new school mindset which is focused on data, insight, and sustainable behavioral change.

6. Customers are dissatisfied with old school “what has my customer done for me lately” loyalty programs
Loyal customers want to know what brands have done for them recently – and brands need to implement loyalty programs that respond to this opportunity.

7. Focus is on “voice of the customer” to drive bottom line results
Those who engage in a true “voice of the customer” approach within their loyalty, engagement, and customer experience initiatives will continue to increase their market share, profitability and brand equity.

8. Brands, CPGs, and channel program providers have been dis-intermediated from their customers
Because the data in the channel is controlled by the merchants; brands, CPGs and channel program providers want to develop strategies that will give them more insight and access and to their customers and dialogue with them directly.

9. Changes in the funding for credit card loyalty programs are shifting costs which impacts how the programs are implemented and run
Banks are increasingly dissatisfied with their traditional loyalty programs. They are looking for more engaging loyalty/incentive/engagement marketing programs with different costs models that are unique and provide measureable behavioral change. The interest in open forums and communities to address these opportunities continue to grow.

10. Large retailers are trying to leverage their brands
Large retailers want to expand the control, impact and overall direction of their customer experience, loyalty, and engagement marketing initiatives.  They want to lead with their brand and increase the efficacy of these brands when developing engagement and loyalty initiatives.

11. There is a large and growing interest in social, mobile, and emerging media
Yet the responses we are seeing suggest that there is still confusion over how to implement these programs.  The “vanguard” and the “visionary” leaders in this market at times seem to be more interested in “chest thumping” rather than listening to market opportunities and solving problems.

12. The interest in webinars, case studies, and best practices is more and more important to the market
The market has grown tired of hyperbole and is now focused on the companies, processes, and procedures that can drive the behavior, ROI and engagement needed within their organization. The market wants to leverage those organizations who have completed these processes, like case studies, understand practical market based solutions, such as best practices and have presented them in an ongoing learning process, including Webinars.

12 Key Loyalty Marketing trends for 2010 By Brendan B. Read - Originally posted here 

* communication plan customization may require additional fees including outside copywriting services.