A scenario recently played out in our household.
A birthday.
Record player wanted.
A sizeable purchase (in the $100’s).
Where should we get it?
“I have a gift voucher for JB Hifi and I have a $10 welcome coupon from JB Hifi Perks. Let’s go there.”
Did the gift voucher stimulate the decision to visit or did the loyalty program offer or both?
In this case it was mainly the gift voucher as the value was greater than the welcome offer from the program. However, the cumulative effect was enough stimulus to go.
There was also the knowledge that JB Hifi have the product range.
Joyalty* = Moments of Magic
At the store, the service experience was so exceptional, the memory of money was not nearly as close to the Joyalty* Moments of Magic delivered by the empathy and knowledge of the team member who served us.
Here were the Moments of Magic.
- Taking time to understand the customer.
He took the time to understand our level of knowledge of record players (seems this has become a huge category both in players and records). He asked lots of questions. - Product knowledge.
He knew the product category. His expertise was high vs understanding ours was low. - Optional selling without creating choice fatigue.
He made this vs that suggestions. In each case understanding our situation with a little upsell without making it too obvious. - Price matching with a little extra makes you feel like a winner.
He price matched to an online price (without us asking and transparently in front of us he looked online and then matched the price vs the ticket price). He then dropped it even further (just a little to make us feel like winners). - Removed any feeling of buyers’ remorse.
He reassured us the decision we made would suit what we wanted (he was the expert). - Upsell clear but not pushy.
He asked if we wanted any records (nice upsell) and then again showed us a price for a desired record and reduced it on the spot (I feel as if this is a discretionary selling process within the business…not sure, however it works) - Added a spontaneous Moment of Magic.
We mentioned it was for a birthday and he reduce the price again! This Moment of Magic scaled off the charts. - The loyalty program perk provides a tool for team member to delight customer.
At checkout he asked if we were members of JB Perks. (in the excitement we forgot to mention it) and he asked for our welcome voucher. Another perfect example of ensuring we maximised our savings. (See article on the most underestimated force of loyalty program success). - Thank you.
He made a point of saying thanks and to enjoy the music. - Post purchase emotional high.
We left the store with lots of positive chatter in the car about the experience. - Sharing the Joyalty*.
A few calls were made from the car in that heightened feeling of joy and delight to friends sharing the Joyalty* - Referral sale.
Friends are on their way to get one now = more sales.
So, did the loyalty program influence the above in any way?
I’d say in three subtle ways:
- A stimulus to select the retail brand.
At the outset, before we ventured out to shop, we discussed what vouchers we had. The loyalty program voucher was a small stimulus and did make a difference to the motivation although not as significant as the gift voucher (due to the greater value). - Extra value.
At the point of purchase when the extra value from the program's welcome voucher helped with the purchase price. It was a sparkler on the cake! - Tool for sales for the team.
It was also a tool for the team member to add more Moments of Magic to the experience (see Joyalty* Moment of Magic point 8. above)
What was as clear as the sunny day in Melbourne was how remarkable the service was!
Do they need a loyalty program?
What do you think?
Have a happy loyalty!
^My definition of a loyalty program: A loyalty program is a long-term planned structure (overt or covert) of ongoing recognition, rewards and benefits to enhance your customers’ lives and as a result to incrementally improve pre-determined behaviours (spend more, more often with the brand over the longer term), beliefs (love, trust and refer the brand) and belonging (identify with brand’s purpose and feel part of a community).
A loyalty program can have various naming conventions such as a rewards program, customer recognition and reward program, a VIP membership/ club, a customer engagement program, customer benefits program and many other permutations and combinations. However whatever you call it, keep in mind the definition and the sum of the parts.
