Jeannie Walters: 0:00

You'll want to listen in for this one. This is a great question from our listener, Tenisha.

Listener Question: 0:04

Hey Jeannie. This question came in from Tenisha. What are the fundamentals needed to build a ninety or a hundred and eighty-day customer attention plan and strategy for B2B versus B2C customers with loyalty program as a core focus?

Jeannie Walters: 0:19

I love this question for a bunch of reasons. Number one, I can hear your intentionality. You all have heard me talk about intentional success. Having a plan that is time-bound for 90 or 180 days, that is really important. That helps us put structure to just goals and wishes, right? Which we see a lot in customer experience. So I love that this requires that intentionality, thought about design. And also we have to now dive into really what are we trying to do in that 90 to 180 days? So here's where I'd start. I'd think about number one, your customer segmentation. Who are your best, most valuable customers? What are their behaviors like? How much are they purchasing? What, where are they in their life cycle stage with you? What are their engagement behaviors? What do they respond to positively? So really look at defining who your most valuable customers are for this type of program. And then, of course, you want to define the goal. Now you mentioned specifically customer retention, but what are we trying to do with that retention? Are we trying to get them to increase the frequency of purchases? Are we trying to make sure they renew a contract if it's B2B? Are we trying to just deepen the engagement with the customers that we have? We want to tie these back to important KPIs or goals or outcomes like retention rate or loyalty program redemption rates or engagement or usage. We want to look at what are we trying to do and make sure we understand how to measure success along the way. We also want to think about the loyalty program structure. This is not a one size fits all. We can't just wave a magic wand and say we have a loyalty program now. We have to create a program, maybe around points, maybe around frequency, maybe it's tiered. Are there perks along the way? But this is the important part. We want to align the value of what the program provides for the customers with what they actually value. We don't want to do it just based on things that we think are easy. Most customers don't want swag from your company. That is not necessarily a perk. So if you are saying, hey, if you do this, we're going to send you a coffee mug with our logo on it. That is not usually something that customers value. Get into looking at their behaviors. What are they asking you for? Are they asking you for access to things? Do they want a little bonus? Do they want surprises? Some of the B2C brands do this really well. When you order something, they throw in a lot of samples or previews, and customers really like that. And so they started using that as part of their loyalty program, saying, you will get extra samples. You will get our best samples if you are part of our loyalty program. So look for what they really, really value. And then, of course, we want to think about what is the actual journey? If you are thinking about the 90 to 100 days as a customer journey, then really dig into that. What does that feel like and look like for them? What does onboarding feel like? What are the ways that we can make it easier and more delightful and more surprising? How do we continue to engage them even after that onboarding phase? What about re-engagement if we need to? Maybe you have some members who are just kind of there but not really engaging. Really think about what we could do in that 90 to 180 days with our customers. And then, of course, technology and tools are part of this. So, what is the tech stack we need? How are we using automation? How will we look at our analytics and make decisions so we can do things smarter than just kind of going in and following a plan? We want to track behavioral data. Are they clicking on the links we're sending? Are they engaging with the products? Are they reaching out when we ask them to? Are they providing feedback when we ask them to? So, really think about all of those things as you build your plan. And then, of course, the difference between B2C and B2B, B2C tends to be more individual and product-based. So I mentioned that sample strategy. That was something that a company did. We also want to look at what are the emotional drivers? You know, people want convenience, they want delight, they want recognition. We all want to be seen and valued, every single one of us. That does not matter if it's B2C or B2B. So think about how can you help people feel seen and valued and appreciated. Of course, we want to think about what is the program design and how does that make sense for either the B2C market or the B2B. In a B2B market, we want to think about what will serve the organization for the long term because you might have somebody who is a buyer or an end user, but they might not be at that organization forever. So if you give them all the perks and they walk out the door, somebody else isn't necessarily going to see that as valuable. So really think about what you can do for both the person who is buying, but also the organization. What will they get as part of the loyalty? And then think about your touch points. How do you continue to engage? How do you make sure that they know that you haven't just said it and forget it, as we used to say? We don't want people to feel neglected or ignored, whether it's B2C or B2B. So really mapping out how do you keep them engaged? What are those touch points? And looking at how does that impact their behavior? If you reach out too much, people might back off. You have to find the right cadence of communications. And then, of course, we want to really think about what is motivating someone to do business with us in the first place. Is it because it's easy to do business with us? Is it because they like what we offer? Lean into whatever that is for your loyalty program because that's what people want more of. So think about what are the perks that you can offer here that people will really appreciate? How can you leverage feedback and behavioral analytics to make sure you're offering things they value and then continue to engage them in co-creation? Things get stale, people get used to things. Sometimes loyalty perks become commodities if everyone's offering them. So you have to stay fresh, you have to stay innovative, you have to make sure you are co-creating with your customers. You know, as part of our CXI navigator framework, there are four parts of it. And two of them fit very well with this. There's always intentional success. We always talk about that. Cultural commitment, of course. But the two parts of the framework that I'm talking about are customer collaboration and experiential innovation. This is when you look ahead and you think, what could we offer our customers tomorrow that we need to start building today so that we will have their loyalty for the long term? It's a great exercise to go through when building your loyalty program. We do something with our clients where we host a workshop called Disruption Day. We want you to be the disruptor in your industry. Loyalty programs are a great way to do that. So as you're looking at your 90-day, 100-day strategy for customer retention with a loyalty program as part of that, really dig in, think about what your customers actually value, and then lean into that and continue to co-create with them to engage with them. So I hope this was helpful. This was a fantastic question. And again, I love how you're framing things with intentionality and with that time-bound view because that helps us get things done and it helps us deliver even more value for our customers. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you for all of your incredible questions that we get here on the Experience Action podcast. And don't forget, we have a full set of resources for you within our CXI Membership program. We have lots of different events coming up. I encourage you to check that out. And I want to remind you, we're also booking special events for our upcoming book, Experience is Everything, including special keynotes around the book where the book is included as part of the keynote. Maybe you're looking for a way to kick off the CX strategy with you and your team. Please reach out to us at Experience Investigators because we have a program that could work for you. Thanks for being here. Keep sending in those questions, and I'll talk to you soon.