Small Business General Help

Do customer loyalty programs really work?

My small store does not have a customer loyalty program. Why? A couple of

Dogs are said to be loyal, are people? Do customer loyalty programs work

reasons. Firstly I’m not sure that customer loyalty programs really work, and secondly I haven’t found a program that suits my needs. It seems now though, that because other stores have them, potential/new customers are expecting me to follow suit. My opinion, which has been formed over the last 3-4 years is that if the goods/ services I supply don’t satisfy the needs or wants of the customer they will not purchase my product, no matter what. So will having customer loyalty program change that? and what is the point of discounting ( as this is what is the usual loyalty reward) if my goods are the best fit, for the customer? And what is customer loyalty anyway, here I turn, once again to wikipedia for the following definition:

The loyalty business model is a business model used in strategic management in which company resources are employed so as to increase the loyalty of customers and other stakeholders in the expectation that corporate [Read more…]

Small Business Advice – try not to compete on price

This small business advice, try not to compete on price should be changed to DO

Watch the competition but do not compete on price

NOT compete on price, but that may be a bit hard to take. Watching what the competition is doing is important, but following blindly when many are discounting madly could lead to disaster. Here is what Michael Hess has to say in his article on ‘Why you shouldn’t stress about the competition‘. I especially like how Micheal offers an alternative to competing on price.

Small Business Advice – try not to compete on price

Pricing: This is probably where competitor-obsessed decision-making is most dangerous, especially for small businesses. Author Mark Stiving said it best: “Pricing is not a sustainable competitive advantage.” You may be desperate for sales, but it does you no good to get sucked [Read more…]