Sabías que?

Sobre Ampersand:
El año pasado Ampersand renovó la plataforma para operar sus programas de lealtad, poniéndose a la vanguardia con una de las plataformas más modernas y completas del mercado mundial de aplicaciones CRM y de software de Business Analytics, Oracle Siebel Loyalty Management

Acerca de programas de lealtad:
Los programas de lealtad han cobrado tal importancia en algunas empresas que se ha estimado que si se eliminara el programa, habría una disminución de hasta un 30% en la concentración de compras en la misma compañía. (en el caso de las tarjetas de crédito, esta disminución podría ser de hasta 56%).
FUENTE: COL LOQUY / Volume 8 18, Issue 4, 2010

Sobre lealtad
En época de recesión, la retención de usuarios toma mayor relevancia. En estos momentos los usuarios se pueden distraer fácilmente por precios bajos y descuentos, por lo que hay que enfatizar los beneficios de estar con la marca, y estar seguros que el programa de lealtad ofrece suficientes beneficios que los motiven a seguir con la marca
FUENTE: David Lewis & Darren Bridger

Sabías que…?
Se estima que en el 2009 había 1,807 millones de miembros de algún programa de lealtad en el mundo, lo que representa un aumento del 25% de su censo de 2006
FUENTE: Ampersand: Beneficios de una solución de lealtad

FELIZ NAVIDAD

De parte de ampersand les deseamos una MUY FELIZ NAVIDAD y un PROSPERO AÑO NUEVO!!! que todos sus deseos se hagan realidad y cumplan sus metas.

Este 2011 tenemos muchos planes, y muchas ganas de empezar el año con la mejor actitud de servicio, siempre preocupandonos por nuestros clientes.

Saludos a todos,

ampersand

Acerca de programas de Lealtad

Acerca de programas de lealtad:

Entre las nuevas tendencias en la industria de lealtad, una de las que más ha sobresalido es la integración de marketing en las estrategias de lealtad. Las empresas que desarrollan y operan programas de lealtad están ofreciendo opciones que influyan en el comportamiento de compra que ayuden a los miembros a ser más éticos y socialmente responsables. Esto se logra con iniciativas “verdes” para ayudar a mantener el medio ambiente o iniciativas “rosas” para ayudar a encontrar una cura del cáncer de mama. Estos esfuerzos están encaminados a hacer del mundo un mejor lugar a través de la relación con clientes leales a una marca o producto.
FUENTE: Colloquy V O L . 1 8 I S S U E 4 / 2 0 1 0

Tip’s de lealtad:
Una de las claves para hacer más profunda la relación con los miembros de los programas de lealtad es tener una comunicación personalizada, relevante y oportuna en cada etapa del ciclo de experiencia de compra del cliente.

Sobre Ampersand:
Los canales de servicio Ampersand se ofrecen a través de nuestro centro de contacto. Contamos con diversos servicios como operación y administración de recepción de llamadas, administración de teléfonos locales y línea 01-800 a nivel nacional e internacional.
Tenemos la capacidad de recibir y atender más de 500,000 llamadas diarias operando 24 horas los 365 días del año.
Contamos con tecnología de punta para operación de los diversos procesos de contacto de las empresas. Parte de la tecnología disponible es telefonía IP, conmutador, respuesta interactiva de voz, distribuidor de llamadas, monitoreo de llamadas, sistema de reportes, grabación de voz, chat, marcado automático y predictivo, web callback y colaboración web.

"¿Quieres ser fiel a ti?"

Los mejores vendedores han dominado el arte de atraer clientes, específicamente consumidores que cambiaran su comportamiento, rentabilidad y consistencia; estos son talentos notables.


Participa en programas de lealtad. Por supuesto, esto no siempre es posible, ya que no tiene estas facilidades. Conviértete en un "mejor cliente" para experimentar las características de la lealtad y beneficios y los problemas y limitaciones, con los que tus mejores clientes se enfrentan. Construye tu equilibrio, gana un status, canjea tus premios. Del mismo modo, cada uno de los principales líderes de tu empresa deben pertenecer a tu programa de lealtad.

Conozco un profesional cuya compañía tiene un programa de lealtad donde el comité participa en un programa mensual donde hay una competencia amistosa pero seria para mejorar su status. Ellos, por supuesto, no tienen problemas para entender el diseño de su programa, o el reconocimiento de las recomendaciones de mejora cuando los ven. De hecho, ellos mismos han puesto en marcha muchas mejoras.

Cuando tus mejores clientes perciben que tú te preocupas por tu programa de lealtad no sólo como vendedor, sino como uno de ellos, tendrás un mejor programa. Y tú puedes mirarte en el espejo y contestar "sí" a la pregunta "¿Quieres ser fiel a ti?"

Benefits for our clients

• Increased program innovation.
• Complete view of program members (demographics, personal info, historical data, personal preferences, response to campaigns and promotions).
• Faster implementations process.
• Improved user experience for each member.

We have the competitive advantage of being able to encourage member behavior that benefits both the member and the company, at the same time:

• Incent repeat purchases and upsells
• Develop more profitable relationships.
• Collect relevant members info to create more targeted campaigns and promotions.
• Retain and strengthen relationships with existing members and attract new ones.

Declare ware on the competition!

One of the toughest battles facing the current market:
"The war of  main players in the hotel industry".

After a year of crisis in the hotel industry that saw occupancy rates at historic lows, local and global hotels alike are doing everything possible to recover lost business and earn their guests back. The hotels are using every tactic they can to beat out the competition. The problem is that there are many companies and the product being offered is not as tangible, making it hard for consumers to directly compare them (unlike with a taste test). In addition, the companies are not just fighting for market share and profitability, they're fighting for their very survival.

With the stakes so high, the hotels have chosen to compete with their most powerful marketing tool -- consumer loyalty.

The main players in the hotel industry have made recent improvements to offer more value through their loyalty programs. In the second half of 2009, Grupo Posadas relaunched its Fiesta Rewards frequent guest program with a new image, new benefits and improved redemption terms. In October, Hyatt Hotels introduced their "Next Big Thing" promotion, which offered guests their choice of a free night or bonus points for every two nights paid. In November, Starwood Hotels invited members of their Preferred Guest program to use their points to bid on auctions for unique experiences, such as tickets to a Jonas Brothers concert in London or tickets and after-party access for the People's Choice Awards in Los Angeles.

Another Round
One of the most visible actions taken recently during the hotel wars was the sponsorship by Hilton Hotels of the movie "Up in the Air" (Jason Reitman, 2009). The hotel chain, along with American Airlines, made a huge investment to have the movie filmed on-location at their facilities and to feature their loyalty programs prominently in the storyline and dialog of the movie itself. In doing so, the movie producers saved on production costs since they did not have to rent or build the sets. The most extraordinary part of the deal was the inclusion of a direct reference by George Clooney's character Ryan Bingham, who said to another guest at the Hilton hotel where they were staying: "Have you tried the loyalty program? It's wonderful!"

The most aggressive move seen recently was by InterContinental Hotels to promote its PriorityPass program. On January 15, 2010, Hilton HHonors increased the number of points required to redeem a free night at some of its most-requested properties. In response, InterContinental launched the PriorityPass Luckiest Loser promotion to reward members of its own loyalty program, who were also members of Hilton Hhonors, with 1000 bonus points, if they sent in their HHonors account statement. They also gave a 20% balance bonus to the top 20,000 members with the most points and 2 million bonus points to the person with the highest HHonors point balance.

InterContinental's strategy attacked Hilton on several fronts by making Hilton look as bad as possible for adjusting the points required for redemptions. In doing so, InterContinental used the increased visibility that Hilton was getting after the movie sponsorship to cast a positive light on its own loyalty program, PriorityPass. By requiring participants to send in their HHonors statement, it gained valuable information about how their competitor was doing business, as well as the account information of its members. The promotion was designed to attract Hilton's most valuable customers to get to know InterContinental and its loyalty program better and also served to add hundreds of new members into its own program, including, without a doubt, Hilton's number-one customer.

Since then, Hilton has not commented about the promotion and has not directly attacked InterContinental. However, just like other leaders in the industry, Hilton has responded by adding new member benefits, keeping the chain in the thick of the battle of the hotels.

Loyalty is, without a doubt, the new battleground for companies looking to attract and retain customers, in the hotel industry and many others. While the smaller players continue to run ads and offer discounts, industry leaders are dedicating their time and energy into strengthening their loyalty programs and increasing the value that they offer their guests. What is your business doing to adapt?

"Up in the Air" is a movie based on a novel by Walter Kirn (2001).

LOYALTY DOES HAVE A PRICE

The decreasing identification of new generations with brands or products for their attributes. The increasing number of available products and services has overwhelmed consumers with an unprecedented range of options of all styles and qualities in everything they would want to purchase. Have you visited a mobile phone store lately? Have you noticed the number of brands of automobiles, or examined the offerings of consulting firms in the market? If you have, you know the vast offering of products, brands and options that consumers have available. If you haven't, do it and you will see that the significance of the support of a brand is not the same that it was for your parents and grandparents.


While people in the past used brands as definitive guides for the quality and functionality of a product, nowadays consumers see beyond this and evaluate their options in terms of attributes of a product and the additional benefits that are given to them. How many times have you made a decision between buying two mobile phones with similar characteristics because one included some headphones or free calling minutes, while the other one didn’t? This behavior of searching beyond the brand and the product seems to begin since early ages, with experiences like the ones at fast food restaurants. If you have small children and you have taken them to one of those restaurants, you may know that the main factor in the election of the meal is not the food, but the free toy that comes with the meal.

Loyalty programs are the only way to establish a link and a channel to offer clients the treatment they deserve and to exceed their expectancies. Actually, if you have had any direct contact with a consumer at the moment of a purchase, you were probably asked whether you offered any loyalty program. Clients ask for them openly by their name.

Virtuous Spiral


The main benefit and the reason for the implementation of a loyalty program is client retention. At this point, we mention again the fact that clients need more than just being satisfied with a product to make a repeat purchase. They want to feel appreciated, valued, and rewarded for their preference, and a loyalty program is the only way to honor their wishes. The formula is really easy: the higher the frequency of purchase, the higher the accumulated value for the client. The higher the accumulated value, the higher the stimulus to continue with the repetition of purchase, thus keeping and increasing the accumulated value. The higher the accumulated value for the client, the higher the amount realized for the company. It's as simple as that.

From this basic formula, we derive the other benefits that are added to create a virtuous spiral. Repeat purchase of a customer is increased, and purchases to your competitors are proportionally reduced. With this plan in place, you can beat the competition.

When a good loyalty program is developed, it is important to use it to open a dialogue with your clients. It is through communication and collateral materials of the program that members get to know their benefits. Apart from using this to communicate with them, you also have to take advantage of this to obtain additional information about them. What products do they prefer? How do they like to consume their products and what uses do they give to them? Do they have relatives and friends who can benefit from your services? Which products and services do they need today and which will they need tomorrow? Once you have satisfied a client by showing him appreciation and value in his relationship with you, you can collect from him all types of strategic information in order to improve your products, grow your market share, and strengthen your relationship.

A consumer who appreciates the relationship with his vendor is willing to pay for the added value he receives. With a good loyalty program, companies can focus on developing and giving value, instead of deteriorating their margins and spoon-feeding their clients with frequent and aggressive discounts to move products.

If the consumer is happy with the relationship that he has with you, he will recommend you when the time comes, and a referral is worth more than a thousand ads.


Costs and return on investment


One thing that is widely misunderstood about loyalty programs is their cost. When you make an investment in your best publicity campaign, what is your return on the investment? Surely you develop a sophisticated algorithm to try to calculate the impact made, referrals obtained and sales made. Once these have been calculated, you compare them with your investment and you contrast them with your minimum rate of return.

You probably even include in the return an additional quantification for the creation of a brand that you developed along with the campaign, independently from the derived consumptions. When you assess the return on investment of your loyalty program, the calculation is very similar, but with an important difference: The impacts made, the referrals obtained, the incremental sales, and even the creation of value are inferred, known, and calculated clearly by your program. Additionally, the effectiveness of your efforts improve significantly thanks to the focus you choose based on the information you have about your clients.

As a reference, depending on the industry, the field, and the audience to which it is directed, a loyalty program contributes between 1% and 5% of the gross sales of the product or service.

The return on investment depends on the desired goal, but, as a reference, just remember that obtaining a new customer costs five times as much as retaining an existing customer costs. How many promotion strategies bring you a 5 to 1 return?