Truck Parts and Service | Heavy Duty Trucking, Aftermarket, Service Info
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/460576
T he heavy-duty trucking industry prides itself on relationships. Re- lationships between suppliers and distributors. Between distributors and end users. Between suppliers and OEMs. Even between competing OEMs. It's an industry where loyalty is earned, valued and appreciated. Now it also can be rewarded. Through the implementation of customer loyalty programs, heavy-duty suppliers and distributors have the ability to reward and compensate customers for their faithfulness and trust. And with added benefi ts for businesses offering these programs, customer loyalty is more valuable now than ever before. But to make a customer loyalty program work in your business, you fi rst have to answer the Why and the How. Why do I want a customer loyalty program? Customer loyalty programs are great re- sources because they help tether custom- ers to a business, says Tom Marx, presi- dent and CEO at Marx Group Advisors. Good businesses have loyal custom- ers. Loyalty programs reward those customers for their dedication and help motivate sporadic customers into more activity. Marx attributes this customer behav- ior to a perception of value. Customers believe signing up for a loyalty program will offer them some type of benefi t in addition to the current prices and ser- vices they receive. Marx says this is a necessity — cus- tomers can become disenchanted by a business that offers a hollow program — and can be accomplished any number of ways. The most common method in the retail world is through discounts. Like a sales push, a good loyalty pro- gram should use well-placed discounts to help draw in customers and increase overall sales revenue. A fractional discount offered to a loyal customer base can be recouped by higher overall sales. And when loyal customers are privy to discounts and lower prices, their odds of returning business grow even higher, Marx says. "People like thinking they are getting something of value; more than just the product or services they are buying," he says. "They view it like you're giving them a reward for staying loyal to you." Loyalty programs also provide a 19 W W W . T R U C K P A R T S A N D S E R V I C E . C O M F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 5 | T R U C K P A R T S & S E R V I C E By Lucas Deal, Editor lucasdeal@randallreilly.com Sales & Marketing Building a strong customer loyalty program fi rst requires answering two key questions The Why and the How