You’ve done the hard work. You have made your case for a loyalty program, had the budget approved, secured engaging rewards, and launched it. But you are struggling to grow and can’t work out why. Your market research says customers are crying out for a loyalty program, and the proposition is designed around what they want. So what is the problem?
Customer loyalty programs live and die by how you communicate value to your shoppers. The richest conversations between your brand and your customers happen face-to-face in your mall and at retail stores. 80% of customers say that the experience a company provides is just as important as the actual products and services offered when making a purchasing decision. This also rings true for loyalty signups. So what does a staff engagement strategy look like?
Step 1: Define the objectives for your staff engagement strategy
As with the shopping mall loyalty program itself, it is important to define the objectives of your staff engagement strategy from the outset. The two should be closely aligned and have customer outcomes at their heart. Ensure your goals are focused and not too wide. Here are some examples of staff engagement objectives:
- Grow awareness of the loyalty program among colleagues and retail customers
- Increase loyalty program participation rate
- Drive signups to the loyalty program
Step 2: Train employees on the shopping mall loyalty program ambassadors
It is essential to give staff the knowledge that will enable them to sell your customer loyalty program, including how it works and what the benefits are for customers. Don’t overlook the impact of staff being able to simply and briefly explain how the program works to customers.
Training is a critical first step on the journey to having a team of expert loyalty program ambassadors. Start by upskilling staff to understand the program, how it benefits customers, and the value they can drive for their own business by encouraging customers to use it.
Be sure to also build your loyalty training into the induction process for all new staff so that they can hit the ground running.
Step 3: Empower employees to advocate for your business
So you have your loyalty program up and running, and you’ve trained your staff to understand how it works and what benefits it will have to their customers.
Your retail stores and shopping mall staff are also likely to be some of your most high-value customers. By opening your program to them, they will be able to draw on authentic experiences of using the loyalty program when selling it to customers. You will gain valuable insights and feedback to develop and improve your loyalty program.
Another powerful strategy that creates staff advocacy is demonstrating that the benefits of your program will make their lives easier. For example, by making some of the data you collect available to employees, they can further personalize the customer experience or open up opportunities for surprising and delighting shoppers. Pret à Manger creates loyalty program ambassadors by empowering their staff to give away free products to customers at their discretion.
Step 4: Maintain momentum – monitor & measure and reward & recognize employees
Once you’re confident that your retail staff have the knowledge to promote your program and trust its value (to the business, to their customers, and to them personally), it’s not time to take your foot off the gas. It’s now your job to ensure that you maintain that momentum and cash in on the groundwork you have put in place.
It’s vital to keep up a schedule of regular communication. This can be in the form of internal memos, newsletters, presentations, contact with the loyalty team, and refresher training sessions. Aim to talk about loyalty weekly if you’re sending written information, quarterly for in-person or virtual presentations, and annually for refresher training. Why not nominate a ‘loyalty champion’ who acts as a liaison between the ground and office teams?
Contests and leaderboards are excellent tools for engaging with staff and creating fun and excitement around the loyalty program. Align these with your objectives for loyalty and foster some friendly rivalry between teams, departments, and stores. Even better, add an incentive and watch staff generate innovative ways to meet their loyalty objectives!
Finally, everyone enjoys recognition for their hard work, so it’s critical that you highlight and celebrate successes. Don’t be afraid to call out individual achievements and team success. For added impact, try rewarding your colleagues for their accomplishments with benefits and perks through your loyalty program.
Unlock the full potential of you loyalty program with our key steps to successfully turn employees into loyalty program ambassadors
Customer-facing employees are a critical touchpoint for promoting a mall loyalty program and ensuring long-term brand success. To maximize this potential, you should have a well-thought-out engagement plan which includes the following:
- Clearly defined objectives for staff engagement
- Inductions and training on how the program works and what the benefits are
- Encouraging your staff to sign up to and take advantage of the loyalty program
- Promotional tools that incentivize your staff (and can be used to incentivize customers) to participate
- Consistent communication with the teams on the ground and nominating a loyalty champion
- Staff competitions, leaderboards, and incentives
- Celebrate with your teams!
If you get this right, you can mobilize a powerful tool to generate customer loyalty and drive engagement. so why not transform your employees into your greatest asset for customer retention? Contact us to start today.
