Don’t Hate Your Customer Loyalty Program – Tips to Make Them Work For You Without Having to Endure a Million Annoying Emails

September 24, 2012

I am not sure why my friend Diane went off on a rant against loyalty discount programs and I am also not quite sure why she ranted to me.  She knows I am a blogger so I think her comments are fair game to quote, especially since she emailed them to me – like at the police station how they take your fingerprints from the soda can to incriminate you because you drank it in public.  I am using the same logic by publishing her comments. Here is what Diane had to say about customer loyalty programs:

“I hate them.  They promise a bunch of discounts and free stuff and all they end up doing for me is filling my trash can.   I never remember to take the coupon, it expires before I can use it, or I leave the dumb card at home.  I love this one: you have to buy only certain merchandise – it feels like ‘buy a blue T shirt on Thursday’ restriction to me.

Maybe this is just me, but why can’t someone invent a loyalty program that gives me credit when I buy something and then automatically offers my rewards the next time I check out? So when I buy toner at Office Depot – bing! I get a discount at the register.  When I have to buy what seems like the 50th pair of shoes for my daughter – bing! I get a discount at the register.  I would pay more to get this kind of “loyalty” from any company.”

Many of you may feel the same way.  The reason is American consumers are inundated with loyalty programs. The average membership in a loyalty program in the US is over 18 per household for a total of more than 2 billion memberships.

No one can manage 18 memberships effectively so this tells me they aren’t being used effectively.  Many people probably just signed up at their local retailer when they were making a purchase to get the initial discount and then handed over their physical and email address in exchange and like Diane, are not really using the program and are annoyed by the follow ups.

Loyalty programs can be financially rewarding when you take some time to manage them and Diane will be happy to know there are places to get automatic discounts without having to remember your coupons.  Here are some tips on saving money without being annoyed in a loyalty program:

Be loyal.  I know this may sound simplistic but only join the programs of the places you frequent.  The whole plan is set up to reward the store’s best customers not the ones who come from time to time. So only join the plans for places you usually shop. For example, I shop at Ulta and signed up for their program.  When it is time to make some kind of beauty or hair care purchase for my personal use or for a gift, I check their flyer, watch for their sales and shop there.

Keep track of your coupons. Think about it. If you are planning on spending $100 and you have a 20% off coupon that is akin a $20 bill.  Would you leave $20 lying around?  No.  Most people keep track of their cash.  Managing your coupons is not rocket science but you do have to have a system that works for you.  I keep a little notebook with coupons in it (I got a few plastic inserts from a friend of mine who collects baseball cards) and review it once a week when the Sunday paper comes. This way I don’t run into expired coupons since I toss them each week.  It only takes about 20 minutes.

Then keep the coupon book in your car instead of in the house or just keep your discount offers in a simple envelope in your purse or backpack or whatever. They do no good on the kitchen counter. A couple of my friends shop at Macy’s – this retailer is notorious for taking great care of their cardholders.  These two friends of mine live on different sides of the country but whenever I shop with them, they both say the same thing, “Oh I have a 20% off coupon for you.”  They are always prepared.

Sign up for automatic discounts. There are plans like Diane’s ideal loyalty plan where discounts are automatically taken out.  Grocery store plans are an example. You simply sign up for the loyalty plan and they use your phone number as your ID (like Ulta does) or you can scan a little card.  You get immediate discounts and often build up points – my grocery store gives both the immediate discounts and also discounts on gas, which is a huge saver.  Just take the receipt to the gas station and punch in the code for your discount!  Every grocery store you shop in, sign up and use your phone number – you’ll never have to remember anything.

Set up a loyalty email account. If you use yahoo for your personal email, set up a Gmail account for your other business.  Then check it periodically for sales.  I don’t know about you but I get about 20 emails a day just from Red Box, iTunes, Southwest Airlines, Priority Club (Holiday Inn Express, which has a great program by the way) and Starwood.  I sign up for all the hotel ones since I travel often for business but hate all the emails.  Set up a special one and also change the “settings” in each account so they don’t send them so frequently.  Then you are pleased they land in your inbox instead of being annoyed.

Use a rewards credit card. If you are going to use a credit card, you might as well make it a rewards card. But pay it off each month so you aren’t paying high interest but are getting the rewards.  My husband and I make all of our purchases on our Southwest Airlines credit card – all of our purchases.  We buy gas, groceries—everything and then pay off the balance before we have to pay interest.  We were able to buy a couple of tickets this summer to fly our daughter and granddaughter for a visit (first airplane ride for the two year old.)

Getting a store card just to get the one-time discount doesn’t make a lot of sense, especially when many of the cards carry a 20% interest rate. Consider using a Mastercard or a Visa that gives cash back or some kind of rewards that you can use for multiple purposes.  If you decide to go with a store card like Macy’s because you are a frequent shopper and they have a strong loyalty program that makes it worth it, be sure to pay it off each month so you don’t end up negating your discounts.

They do say that loyalty has its privileges, and it should!  If you can simply reduce the annoying aspects, you can relax and enjoy being treated like a VIP.