Running a coffee shop is great. You get to meet interesting people, drink lots of coffee, and look at beautiful cups all day. We all know that the coffee business isn't easy though. If you want your business to do well you need to find ways of increasing revenue and keeping customers coming back for more. Loyalty programs are one of the most effective ways to do these things. If you are operating a small cafe Square loyalty programs are easy to set up and use. It is one of the most cost-effective ways to introduce certain perks for your customers that you might not have been able to do prior to running a Square loyalty program.
How a loyalty program will help your coffee shop
It is a great innovation for your coffee shop, that makes it easy for your customers to earn new rewards and redeem them. Square loyalty program is a small device which plugs into the headphone jack of any iPhone or Android phone. It has a small screen on it which allows your customer to sign in using their name, pick out their reward preferences, and then swipe their phone to pay for their coffee. You can even send them special offers or discounts via text message. The technology itself is new, but the idea behind it has been around since loyalty cards first came about. The issue of course was that not everyone had a card with them at all times, so they would have to go back into the store to find it, or forget about the reward altogether. Square's solution is much more convenient as it's always on hand with your phone. The only thing you need to do is install the app onto your customer's device, which will allow them to set up their loyalty account or enroll in your loyalty program through your iPhone or Android app. This is an easy and effective way to both attract and retain customers. A loyalty program is a rewards system that allows you to track and recognize each customer's purchases, which they can use toward earning free products or services.
Plan ahead of what you will do for your brand's biggest, most important customers
Loyalty programs are a great way to engage customers, but they need to be well thought out. You can't just throw them together. The key is to think about your customer's loyalty before you even begin the program. You have to make sure that the program will provide value for your customers. Will it help them achieve goals? If so, the program will be more valuable if it helps them achieve goals that are important to them. For example, Square Loyalty Program gives customers perks for spending over a certain amount each month. We made sure that spending that much was important to our customers by talking to them about it beforehand. We learned what they wanted out of the program, and we made sure we delivered on those things. Many loyalty programs don't offer perks that are valuable to the customer. A good rule of thumb is this: if you can't explain why a perk is valuable within five seconds, then it isn't valuable. If you're planning on creating a loyalty program, you should start actively engaging with your customers as early as possible, so you can find out what their priorities really are and how much these priorities matter to them. You need to know what they want out of your brand and your business so you can create a loyalty program.
Pick a rewards system that is easy to implement and measure
We are all increasingly aware that the simple, easy-to-implement, easy-to-measure rewards systems are not the way to go. The ones that are easy to game. The ones where you don't really know if the loyalty program is working or not because either people don't come in or they come in and order two drinks to get the free one. We have to remember that our customers are human beings who have choices, who can shop elsewhere. And we can assume most people will take the path of least resistance. The most important thing we can do is listen to our customers and find out what they want, what works for them. Then we have to design a program that delivers on those desires.
Get started with the loyalty program at the simplest level, add on new features as needed
When you are thinking about launching a loyalty program, don't try to do too much too fast. Begin with simple goals and easy-to-implement features. Loyalty programs can be a great way to engage customers and expand your business. But remember, you don't have to dive right in—don't try to do too much, too fast. Start with a few simple goals and an easy-to-implement loyalty program. Where to begin? Well, you wouldn't start painting a wall without having all the supplies, right? Start with this guide—we'll help you establish your loyalty program objectives and best practices. Then try and fulfill those objectives one by one and see where the road takes you. When you start adding elements of complexity and it works, then that's great. And if at some point you get stuck there is always a step you can take backwards and be in the clear and continue trying to find the right path for your business.
The problem with most loyalty programs is that they are based on how much customers spend. But this is exactly backward. The real question is how much customers value your company. That is the key to determining what you should reward them with. I'll give you an example. You may have noticed that Starbucks now gives you a number of stars for each dollar you spend, and when you get enough stars, you level up. If they gave out stars based on how much they think you value coffee, then Starbucks would give out more stars for buying a cup of decaf in the afternoon than they would for an iced venti triple-shot sugar-free vanilla latte at 9 A.M. So why does Starbucks reward people who come in early? Because the value to the company of a customer who comes in early is greater than the value of a customer who comes in late. The early customer will come in more often, buy more food, and hang around longer, all things being equal. So it's worth giving her extra attention to keep her happy. And that's exactly what Starbucks does with their loyalty program: it gives extra benefits to people who come in earlier rather than later -- free refills on iced tea, special offers on lunch sandwiches, etc.
