Small Businesses Can Reward Loyalty Too

You don’t have to be a business giant like Jet Blue or Starbucks to reward customer loyalty.

In fact, argues the author of “The Power of Loyalty: 10 Essential Steps to Build a Successful Customer Loyalty Strategy,” Roger Brooks, small business owners can easily tap into the lessons learned by bigger businesses to build their own loyalty programs.

“Each loyalty-leader treats their customers like they're made of gold--meaning there is a deep level of respect and courtesy given to customers at every touch point,” he said in a release.

Here are five steps small businesses can take to build their own loyalty machine:

• Give customers a reason to be loyal. If you don’t, your competition will.
• Be completely transparent about the rules and possible restrictions of your loyalty program.
• Offer redemption benefits relevant and attractive to your members.
• Don’t forget to communicate. When customers sign up for your loyalty program, make sure to give them the option of receiving information from you through email, social networking, or receipt messaging.
• Make sure you get buy-in from employees through extensive training.