A recipe for a delicious customer loyalty cake

There are three ingredients to bake the most delicious customer loyalty cake.

600g of behaviour. This ingredient requires a behaviour mix of customer transactions made up of 300g of more purchases and 300g of purchasing more often. Blend together to ensure their value can rise over time. This will form the base of the loyalty cake.

600g of belief. This ingredient requires a belief mix of customers who love, trust and recommend the brand (200g of each). Blend together to allow for belief to rise over time. This will be the second layer of the loyalty cake to be placed on top of the behaviour layer.

Bake the behaviour mix in the brand oven at a consistent 160 degrees and watch it rise over time.

Bake the belief mix in the brand oven at a consistent 160 degrees and watch it rise over time.

While the loyalty cake is delightful as a two-layer cake (behaviour and belief), the icing on the cake makes it delicious.

The icing on the loyalty cake

The third ingredient is the icing connecting the behaviour and belief layers and what goes on top.

It is made up of the ‘essence of belonging’ (and it’s not vanilla).

It’s made of your brand’s greater purpose which your customers can personally identify with and want to be part of. It fosters a feeling of belonging.

The ‘essence of belonging’ is rare. It’s hard to find, difficult to make and will be called out if it is a fake. (The amount to include in the loyalty cake is up to you as it is your brand's essence).

To taste some of the icing other brands have baked – look into purpose behind brands such as - Patagonia, Who Gives a Crap, ThankYou Group, Fauna and Flora, Ritchies, Upparel and The Body Shop.

Finishing the loyalty cake

Once you have your icing, place behaviour at the base. Add some icing to the top of the behaviour layer, to form a greater bond with the belief layer which is placed on top.

Finish off with more icing to the top of the cake.

And there you have it… a delicious loyalty cake!

(P.S. The loyalty cake would be even more awesome when served with an exceptional customer experience!)

Baking a loyalty cake with the right ingredients of behaviour, belief and belonging is not easy. It’s not quick. However, when you get the mix right, the taste of long-term customer loyalty is delicious.

What are your ingredients for a delicious customer loyalty cake?

Here are the base ingredients (add your own measures) of a loyalty cake - in a simple model:

loyalty model

Have a happy loyalty day!

(Original image provided by karly-gomez-rotFzR9lX0E-unsplash)