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comfort company’s bottom line more than
the decisions that individual customers and
prospects make every day.
Each customer or prospect will decide
individually which company will get their
business. They will choose whether to install
a new boiler now or wait another year. They
will decide whether or not to switch to gas
heat. And your company’s prospects will rise
or fall based on how they choose.
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Home comfort executives might feel
powerless to influence these customer
decisions, but there are some strategies you
can employ to give you more clout with
customers. One excellent tool is a flexible
loyalty rewards program that enables you
to allocate reward points exactly as you see
fit. When you develop a rewards program
to support your goals, you are taking
matters into your own hands and help-
ing your team actively
pursue the objectives
you have set.
Marketing
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A flexible rewards program can support company goals year-round
By Richard Rutigliano, PriMedia, Inc.
Flexibility is essential in a rewards
program, because it gives company man-
agement choice. Executives can identify the
company’s top priorities and then strategi-
cally allocate the loyalty rewards budget to
most effectively support the goals.
For example, if the company wishes
to increase the number of heating system
upgrades it performs this season, it can
use the rewards program to create a special
incentive to drive sales. If you typically
offer a $300 off coupon as a redemption
option in your rewards program, you can
increase the amount to $500, $800 or
more without raising the loyalty points
cost. You will sacrifice some of your profit
on the installation, but you will be sup-
porting a vital goal you have set for the
company.
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Similarly, a company that has diversified
and launched a new service such as home
sealing can use its rewards program to drive
participation. Create a redemption option
in your rewards program for a very gener-
ous home sealing coupon that will inspire
customers to try your service. Again, the
discount is a cost you must bear, but you
are setting the agenda in support of your
own priorities.
To support goals that change from sea-
son to season and even week to week, you
need a capable rewards program that allows
you to make changes on the fly and alert
customers about current specials. You need
the capability to offer a mix of redemption
options that you control, and you need to
be able to communicate rewards program
news to customers.
Redemption options are essential in a
home comfort loyalty program, because
every customer is different. Some
people will set their
heart on a larger prize
like a new iPad
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