Loyalty Management Second Quarter 2014

Second Quarter 2014VOLUME 6 NUMBER 2

Customer ServiceFocus on Exemplary

Propels Best Western

IN THIS ISSUE:Xerox Engaging Call Center

Employees in Fun, Innovative Ways

JetBlue Badges Deliver Gartners Gamification

An Introduction to Social Customer Care

Is Your Loyalty Program Off Course?

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3Loyalty Management SECOND QUARTER 2014

In this Issue...SECOND QUARTER 2014 WWW.LOYALTY360.ORGVOLUME 6 NUMBER 2

FEATURES

19 Focus on Exemplary Customer Service Propels Best Western Jim Tierney | Loyalty360

24 Duffys Enhances MVP Loyalty Program through Highly Targeted EmailJim Tierney | Loyalty360

26 Xerox Engaging Call Center Employees in Fun, Innovative WaysJim Tierney | Loyalty360

4 Letter from the Editor

6 Loyalty360 on the Web

8 Your Voice

10 Behind the Brand with Angela Sanfilippo | PunchTab

14 The Challenge of Listening: Lost in Translation! The Adjacent Possible!! Mark Johnson | Loyalty360

16 By the Numbers: The Loyalty360 Awards

17 Q & A: The Loyalty360 Award Winners

28 Behind the Brand with Kale Sligh | C Spire

30 Loyalty Innovation

32 Trending Now

42 Q & A: Ask the Experts

53 Q & A: Ask the Experts: Brand Focus

54 Loyalty Reads

LOYALTY FORUM: IN EVERY ISSUE

19Focus on Exemplary

Customer Service Propels Best Western

Thanks to all who attended the 7th annual Loyalty Expo! This years fascinating event acknowledged and awarded those companies who are committed to building loyal customers and advocates of their brands. Congratulations to all the winners of the inaugural Loyalty360 Loyalty Awards!

After the Loyalty Expo, I had the pleasure of speaking to many of you who attended. You all expressed a great desire to learn more about the award winners. What makes these companies different? What are they doing that drives the success? Germane to this issue, we want to share their insights:

For the Loyalty360 Awards, the field was highly competitive and the winners were celebrated for the impressive success metrics that set them apart. We share those metrics at a glance on page 16. Then on pages 17 and 18, read insights on delivering on a customer-centric promise from award winners at AT&T, Best Western, Dell, Global Hotel Alliance, KeyBank, Telefonica O2, and TGI Fridays.

Best Western secured top honors, winning the 360-Degree Award by registering the highest cumulative score across the five categories evaluated: Reward Program, Customer Experience & Engagement Strategy, Technology in Loyalty Marketing, Creative Campaign in Loyalty Marketing, and Customer Insight or Voice of the Customer in Loyalty Marketing.

We had the honor of speaking to Glen MacDonell, Managing Director of Best Western Rewards. Beginning on page 19, we share the compelling story behind what made Best Western stand out above all other brands who entered the Loyalty360 Awards.

For those of you who werent able to attend the Loyalty Expo, weve brought insights from some of the sessions you missed. Read Creating Loyalty Beyond (and before) the Transaction on pg 40 for insights from Transitions Optical and The Marketing Store and Leveraging Customer Engagement Data for Maximum Return from Don Smith with Brierley + Partners on page 50.

For Loyalty360, well be switching gears preparing for our Engagement & Experience Expo in November. Weve already launched the inaugural CX Awards. Enter before June 30 for your opportunity to be recognized at the event! Information available on Loyalty360.org > About Us > Loyalty360 CX Awards.

Whats more, we want to help you understand and define Customer Experience. We encourage you to share how your organization looks at customer experience by participating in our Customer Experience Landscape survey. You can find the link to the survey on Loyalty360.org > About Us > Customer Experience Landscape

As always, we encourage your feedback. Please feel free to call me: 513-800-0360 ext. 201 or send me an email ([email protected]) with your feedback, thoughts, ideas for new content, or if youd like to share your story with our audience.

We hope you enjoy this issue.

Erin

FROM THE EDITOR

Erin Raese Editor-in-Chief Loyalty Management [email protected]

4 Loyalty Management LOYALTY360.ORG

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TECHNOLOGY, TRENDS & REWARDS

BEST BUSINESS PRACTICES

33 The Must Have Summer Trends for Rewards and Recognition Jessica Brown | Rymax Marketing Services, Inc.

34 JetBlue Badges Deliver Gartners Gamification Eric Favaloro | Comarch

36 Optimizing Promotions for Long-Term Loyalty: Feasible or Fantasy? Dr. Paul Helman | KSS Retail

38 An Introduction to Social Customer Care Neil Morgan | Socialbakers

40 Creating Loyalty Beyond (and Before) the Transaction Jeremy Ages | The Marketing Store

44 Can Loyalty Be Managed in the Age of the Empowered Consumer? Bob Moorhead | Epsilon

46 The Journey to Customer Advocacy: An Evolution in Loyalty Mike McDonnell | Connexions Loyalty

48 Creating the Feel of First Touch Resolution Dr. Patricia A. Sahm | Carlisle & Gallagher Consulting Group

50 Tuning In and Turning On: Leveraging Customer Engagement Data for Maximum Return Don Smith | Brierley+Partners

56 Dear Customer, We are Ready, Willing and Able! Julie Harter | Ernst & Young LLP

WWW.LOYALTY360.ORG

2014 Loyalty360, Inc. and/or its Affiliates. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction and distribution of this publication in any form without prior written permission is forbidden. The information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. Loyalty 360 disclaims all warranties as to the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of such information. The opinions shared are those of the contributing authors and not necessar-ily reflective of Loyalty 360 and/or its affiliates. Loyalty360 shall have no liability for errors, omis-sions or inadequacies in the information con-tained herein or for interpretations thereof. The opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice.

In this Issue...SECOND QUARTER 2014 VOLUME 6 NUMBER 2

Loyalty Management Editorial & Production TeamErin Raese - Editor in Chief

Mark Johnson - Contributing Editor

Christopher Schatzman - Design Director

Jim Tierney - Senior Writer

Crescent Printing Company - Print Production

ContactsArticle Submissions & Advertising:

Erin Raese

[email protected] or

513.800.0360, ext. 210Call for

Entriesnow open!!

www.loyalty360.org

XCcustomer experience awards

38An Introduction to

Social Customer Care

46The Journey to Customer Advocacy: An Evolution in Loyalty

LOYALTY360 ON THE WEB

Whats NewON LOYALTY360.ORG

Whats New

BROWSABLE INSIGHTS AVAILABLE ON THE NEW BRAND CORNERBrowse Loyalty360s growing library of articles featuring news about the brands who are leading the way when it comes to customer loyalty. The articles provide commentary about the best practices, tools, techniques, partnerships and metrics that top brands are using to win loyal and profitable customers. We are pleased to provide our readers with an easy-to-use resource to stay informed about industry trends and success stories, as well as access timeless articles from our archives.

RECENT CONVERSATIONS WITH LEADING BRANDS REVEAL LOYALTY TRENDS

As Loyalty360 continues to talk with marketers and operations professionals at top brands including the winners of the Loyalty360 Awards our online articles highlight commonalities and trends in customer loyalty and experience strategies. Recent interviews with TGI Fridays, AARP, Hooters, Orbitz, Orange Leaf, KeyBank and others all reference the role that customer insights, personalization and segmentation play in their loyalty strategies.

Visit loyalty360.org/resources/brand-corner to draw upon the resources described above.


NEW BRAND FORUM RESOURCE FOR LOYALTY AND CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE PROFESSIONALS

The new Brand Forum feature on Loyalty360.org is a one stop shop for brand marketers and customer experience professionals. Resources on the Brand Forum include the Brand Corner a collection of interviews and articles with brands, a Find a Partner tool that helps you identify potential partners and a growing set of tools to help you connect with peers.

TAP INTO KNOWLEDGE COLLECTION WITH NEW LOYALTY360 RESEARCH PAGELoyalty360 is uniquely positioned to not only conduct research, but also to share the research conducted through our members and partners. As a result, you can tap into our collection of reports and case studies to help make informed decisions related to your customer loyalty, engagement and experience strategies.

Loyalty360s Loyalty Landscape: The State of the Industry report shows that lack of benchmarks and industry metrics is a pressing issue for loyalty marketers, and one that is holding many organizations back from putting more resources toward efforts that will lead to increased customer loyalty.

The Retail Customer Experience & Loyalty report, by Maritz Loyalty Marketing, highlights the challenges that retail organizations face for delivering consistent and relevant customer experiences, as well as the importance of an internal champion to steer a coordinated communications and data strategy.

Clarabridges report, Using Big Data to Drive Customer Loyalty, provides actionable insights about combining Big Data with Voice-of-the-Customer data to build relationships with customers and influence buying decisions.

Visit loyalty360.org/loyalty-360-research to access the reports.

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Loyalty360 invited our members to share their

perspectives on the new or innovative loyalty strategy

techniques and features they predict may become more

mainstream in the next year, as well as potential roadblocks that

loyalty marketers should be aware of and plan against.

LOYALTY FORUM: YOUR VOICE

Loyalty Strategy Innovations

Rewards for engagement; giving members a small incentive to spend time viewing and considering messages from the brand and its products. Lifetime brand status, as a way to lock in customers over the long term, can begin to structure your business and margins around a base level of promised benefits. In retail: showrooming; scan and retrieve product information in exchange for brand benefits in real-time to compete with online options that may provide lower prices and shipping incentives. Precision location targeting and rewards with technologies like iBeacon. Testing loyalty program benefits with enhanced technology in mobility and augmented reality, for automotive and retail, in particular.

Stay focused and do not fall into the fear of missing out (FOMO). While theres always a shiny new trinket to chase, whether its a new social network, or an exciting new predictive model, or real-time offer engine, the smartest marketers will make sure theyre doing the right blocking and tackling in basic customer segmentation, skillfully crafted program design, with micro targeting or industrial-strength communi-cations. Customers want you to know them use and invest in current technology and data-enabled ways to improve customer experience across brand interactions. Perceived small enhancements to the brand experience can go a long way. Take the time to watch and shape (or test and learn) how your customers express and feel about the brand.

-Amy Barnett | SVP, Customer Engagement | Brierley+Partners

Which Current

Will Be Widely Adopted? ?

Member Perspectives

Stay focused and do not fall into the fear of missing out (FOMO).


I believe that retailers and all merchants are understanding the value of mobile and the power of having a real-time two way engaging conversation with their customers. Mobile shortens the feedback loop for program sponsors and provides them with flexibility to follow the market and respond to the voice of their customer.

-Karen Moritzky Bigelow | Director of Client Relations | Mocapay

One interesting feature that a few companies have implemented recently is the ability for customers to share value/rewards via social media. Customers can send a Facebook message or tweet at friends to give them a digital coupon. Incorporating this into loyalty programs as another option for use of accrued value is an interesting proposition that provides the customer choice, and enables building new brand relationships via the social channel.

Gamification has been a hot term over the past year, and has been applied with success to a number of loyalty platforms, but marketers should take cautiongamification is not for everyone. Many companies find that adding a gaming experience to the loyalty program often appeals to a subset of customers who will engage more as a result, but it does not necessarily equate to value or ROI. Just as importantly, gamification has the potential to rub some customers the wrong way, coming across as childish or incongruent with the broader brand experience. Marketers should explore gamification if it makes sense for their customers, taking care to build a gamification strategy that will support and enhance the broader brand experiencenot appear as a bump in the road.

-Clay Walton-House | Senior Manager | Lenati LLC

The one size fits all mentality is old school and does not appeal to todays participants that want immediate gratification, the most desirable brands and the latest products. We encourage an experiential shopping event for many clients and the wow factor of that environment has created a new twist as well. We must remember that Millennials now represent 53% of the workforce and Boomers are exiting. The language is different, as are the expectations. Deliver what people want via the communication tools that resonate with them most effectively.

-Paul Gordon | Vice President of Sales | Rymax Marketing Services

?

LOYALTY FORUM: BEHIND THE BRAND

BehindtheBrand


Angela Sanfilippo is a marketing and communications executive with a passion for what she does. Obsessive about data and analytics, shes never met a spreadsheet she didnt like. When shes not measuring metrics or chatting about conversion strategies, Angela serves as PunchTabs resident Superwoman where she uses her powers to drive successful brand engagement for PunchTab and its clients. Shes got a weakness for dogs and trying to be in two places at once.

WITH ANGELA SANFILIPPO | PUNCHTAB

PLEASE GIVE US A LITTLE BACKGROUND ON PUNCHTAB AND HOW THE ORGANIZATION IS EVOLVING TO ANSWER THE NEEDS OF THE INDUSTRY.

PunchTab is an Omni-Channel Engagement and Insights platform. We help brands in CPG, Retail, Entertainment and the Restaurant Industry (QSR, Fast Casual, Casual Dining) to engage consumers across any touch-point as part of a CRM program, traditional loyalty program or specific campaign. Where we differentiate is the insights we derive from tracking customer engagement across those touch-points and marrying that to transactional data to understand the linkage between online and offline and engagement and sales.

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE YOU ARE LOOKING TO SOLVE AND WHAT DO YOU SEE AS THE NEXT BIG TREND IN CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT AND LOYALTY?

The biggest challenge for todays marketers is understanding how engagement correlates to conversion, loyalty, advocacy and CLTV. Where are customers engaging? What is the nature of their engagement? How does that increase frequency and share of wallet? PunchTab is helping brands answer those questions.

Everyone is talking about big data and how to make sense of it across multiple systems and in a consumable and actionable format. Weve discovered fascinating correlations between consumer behavior, brand interactions and purchase intent, frequency and loyalty. Because we are like middleware for marketers, we can help marketers access data across systems (consumer facing and back-office) to individual customers, analyze it to deliver actionable insights that marketers can use to optimize current investment and resources to attract look-alikes and retain existing customers while creating more personalized, unique customer experiences at scale.

We think that IS the next big trend in engagement and loyalty.


WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE IS KEY IN DRIVING TRUE CUSTOMER LOYALTY?

Focusing on the need of the consumer and doing that REALLY well. That comes from the ability to deliver value, meet or exceed expecta-tions and deliver a consistent and relevant experience. Not an easy task and different for every product and every brand.

For example, I was incredibly loyal to Apple until recently. The simple and clean user interface became too complicated and because that was the single, most-important feature I paid a premium for, my perceived value of the iPhone is declining.

WHAT IS YOUR PERSONAL MOTTO?

Its never a question of if its how. I believe anything is possible and limitations come from people. The best inventions and innovations have come from people who didnt believe in convention and dared to push the boundaries of what is possible.

WHICH BOOK(S) ARE YOU RECOMMENDING?

Your Network is Your Net Worth by Porter Gale

WHAT TREND OR TECHNOLOGY SHOULD MARKETERS EXPIRE AS A FAD OF THE PAST?

We have to stop channel chasing and putting too little emphasis at converting third-party audiences. This has a lot to do with how organizations are managed, many times putting social media on its own island. Social teams are narrowly focused on fan and follower acquisition and audience reach instead of working closely with other marketing teams to create an integrated strategy.

An example of where this has failed is Facebook. Marketers spent hundreds of millions to cultivate fans on Facebook. Now that Facebook has pretty much decimated organic reach, those brands have to pay to reach these fans all over again.

We have to stop looking at social channels as an end-point and start focusing on how to leverage it as a medium for driving acquisition, loyalty and advocacy. Continued on page 12

The best inventions and innovations have

come from people who didnt believe in convention and dared to push the

boundaries of what is possible.



WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE WORD? HMM. NOT SURE I HAVE ONE.

WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE WORD? IMPOSSIBLE.

WHAT TURNS YOU ON CREATIVELY, SPIRITUALLY,

OR EMOTIONALLY?

MUSIC, BOOKS, DOCUMENTARIES, TRAVELLING ABROAD AND ANYTHING THAT INVOLVES A BEACH AND A MARGARITA (WHICH DONT NECESSARILY HAVE TO BE PAIRED WITH EACH OTHER).

WHAT TURNS YOU OFF?

PEOPLE WHO LACK COMMON COURTESY. EXCUSE ME, PLEASE AND THANK YOU ARE NOT LOST ON ME.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE (PG-13) CURSE WORD?

TECHNICALLY, YOU CAN SAY THE F-WORD IN A PG-13 MOVIE UP TO 3 TIMES BEFORE ITS CONSIDERED RATED R. KIDDING ASIDE, MY FATHER-IN-LAW IS GERMAN AND HAS QUITE A STRING OF PROFANE GERMAN CURSE WORDS THAT MAKE ME LAUGH EVERY TIME.

WHAT SOUND OR NOISE DO YOU LOVE?

LAUGHTER. HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU LAUGHED SIMPLY FROM HEARING SOMEONE ELSE LAUGHING? ITS INFECTIOUS.

WHAT SOUND OR NOISE DO YOU HATE? CONSTRUCTION.

WHAT PROFESSION OTHER THAN YOUR OWN WOULD

YOU LIKE TO ATTEMPT?

IVE ALWAYS WANTED TO BE AN INTERIOR DESIGNER BUT MY RECENT PASSION HAS BEEN AROUND ORGANIZATIONAL PRODUCTS FOR MOMS. THE IDEA IS CREATING ORGANIZATIONAL PRODUCTS THAT LOOK GOOD. KIND OF WHAT MARTHA STEWART HAS DONE FOR PET PRODUCTS. SAD, BUT TRUE. IM AN ORGANIZATIONAL NUT(CASE).

WHAT PROFESSION WOULD YOU NOT LIKE TO DO?

HOSPICE CARE. IT HAS TO BE ONE OF THE SADDEST JOBS.

IF HEAVEN EXISTS, WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO HEAR

GOD SAY WHEN YOU ARRIVE AT THE PEARLY GATES?

WELL DONE.

* Inspired by James Lipton on Inside the Actors Studio we asked Angela to share her quick fire response to the questions originating from the French series, Bouillon de Culture hosted by Bernard Pivot.

QUICK FIRE QUESTIONS*

1234

5

6

8

7

910

FAVORITE LEISURE ACTIVITY? DOES THIS INFLUENCE YOUR WORK?

Its hard to pick just one! Born and raised in California, leisure time is spent mostly outside as the weather is usually pretty fantastic: hiking, going to the park, riding bikes, camping, you name it. Ive always found nature inspiring but its having time to decompress that really stokes creativity.

DO YOU (OR WOULD YOU) LIKE TO VOLUNTEER? WHAT ORGANIZATIONS OR CAUSES ARE YOU MOST PASSIONATE ABOUT?

The motto in our home is leave it better than you found it. Im drawn to causes that support the environment, education and helping the disadvantaged. Ive done everything from donating time to the Family Giving Tree, providing free tutoring to students, participating in fundraisers, beach cleanups, you name it.

Ive also volunteered for the Taproot Foundation in the past and encourage people to check it out! It allows marketers to donate their time to non-profits in need of specific help around branding and marketing promotion.

HOW DO YOU MEASURE SUCCESS OR FAILURE?

I measure success on whether Ive learned something that will allow me to improve in the future. I believe you have to take risks and cant be discouraged by failure. Its applying the knowledge that youve learned from that failure that sets you up for future success.

WORDS OF ADVICE FOR THE NOVICE MARKETER?

The market changes so quickly, at end of the day, everyone is a novice marketer. The most innovative (and sometimes successful marketers) think bigger and challenge status quo. Just because everyone else is doing it, doesnt mean you should too. Be open to exploring and taking risks. Just be smart about it. Start small. Learn. Iterate. L

Behind the Brand with Angela Sanfilippo continued...

I measure success on whether Ive learned something that will allow me to improve in the future. I believe you have to take risks

and cant be discouraged by failure.

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LOYALTY FORUM: 360 INSIGHTS

Mark Johnson Loyalty360


I have had the fortune - or perhaps the misfortune - of traveling more this year than in the past 18 months and I have had the opportunity to attend more conferences (both for business development and as a member of

the press to cover trends and topics related to the bigger picture issues of loyalty). We continue to believe that loyalty is undergoing a major transformation, a renaissance unlike any we have seen before.

Yet, as we roll out the Brand Forum area of our website, with the new councils, communities, and other tools intended to proactively address challenges resulting from this transformation, we continue to see brands struggle. In the past, we have addressed the challenges of listening and the need for simplicity. We spoke of expectation matching and the 4, 5, and now 6 Cs of loyalty. We have posited big ideas that resonate remarkably with the market and we are also developing metrics much needed and long overdue - with our Landscape reports and we continue to see the struggle of confidence.

It is quite fortunate that at Loyalty360, we continue to see great innovations in technology and opportunity. We have the pleasure of working with wonderful technology providers. Yet most importantly, we continue to grow as a trusted adviser for brands who are looking for the ideas, insights, and metrics they can use to help increase the performance of their programs and, more importantly, the processes. Yet when we take a step back, we see that the challenge is deeper. Most brands lack the confidence (as we spoke of in the Loyalty Landscape report) to prosper in this new marketing and customer-centric paradigm. The challenge of confidence is growing and can only be assuaged by the commitment to change.

I continue to see discussion about the increase of information, the need to make insights actionable. Yet, I am amazed at how vapid some of the conference presentations are. We know that we live in a continually changing alphabet lexicon, yet I honestly feel that the strategy of some technology companies is to drown clients in new acronyms, confuse them with nihilistic jargon that is not intended to elucidate, but to obfuscate. I wonder if they think: If I make this problem so grandiose, so arcane, and so vapid, that they will realize I need them.

From the irrational perspective, what we see is that when brands do not have the talent or intellectual wherewithal to develop these programs, they are more reticent to open up, admit they do not know, and ask for help. We see so many brands (we talk to them) that know they need help, but are challenged to define the program in a manner that they understand and can communicate back to their senior leadership. Yet this same senior leadership is telling them to make it work, prove the numbers, the ROI, and operationalize the processes.

So can one operationalize loyalty? Can you use Six Sigma or Kaizen the idea of loyalty? Loyalty has emotional connections that are hard to measure and even more difficult to wrap a process around. I believe that the contract of a loyalty process argues against the rigid-ity of the process mentality. Yet without processes and executional prowess, the programs are destined to fail. Processes have to be put in place to increase the flow of insight/data and make it again actionable.

Lost in Translation! The Adjacent Possible!!

The Challenge of Listening:

I read an interesting piece on LinkedIn about the creative class within enterprises and those entities that are removing them and putting in place operational imperatives that are needed to execute. While we all want to be creative and drive that process, it has always been to me a way to delay the execution. We can pontificate all day about what the customers want, and how we should engage them and what loyalty means to the soccer mom persona. Yet this overcomplication of the marketing process continues to call for simplicity. The big ideas are there, yet the simplicity in approach and process and having a roadmap to follow (not necessarily for the customer, but for the company) is the Clarion call we see today.

I am a bigger picture guy and have never been accused of having an operational prowess, yet when I speak big picture, I relate it to the customer in a manner they can understand, with an attempt to know how complex or rudimentary they are individually, what the confines of the organizational structures are, and how confident they are to execute and progress.

I continue to see individuals who know they face challenges, but are more reticent to take risks or look at new options. They want their own roadmap; they need help and the context of the approach is the key. Big picture can be wrapped in a process, yet is time-consuming and challenging. Yet is that not what loyalty is? Understanding the diverse expectations of their audience; market, sell, assist them in their journey?

At a recent conference, I sat in on a multitude of presentations and the buzzwords without context flowed: information, self-service, need for convenience, transactional versus interaction, Analyze, Create, Optimize, Execute. I already have attention issues and I rarely walk away from a presentation with that wow moment. Yet I look at all the brand presentations (where the most value is exchangedas a tangible process that was undertaken and effectively communicated). Brands speak one language, yet I continue to hear so many suppliers talk of the myriad of ills that they can solve for the brand: a cornucopia of panacea. Yet who is defining the problem and who should be listening, and why are people still preaching when eyes have glazed over and tuned out?

There was an idea put forth recently by a keynote speaker who was very tactical in his approach and from which I had an a-ha moment. He spoke of the adjacent possible and the importance of understanding the context of the situation, however challenging. We need to look at this idea in most, if not all, situations. He posited that there are always options when creating a roadmap, yet factoring for appropriate context is hard. We make the wrong decision so often just because we can and it is easy. The adjacent (what is next) needs context. He argues that just because it is possible does not mean it adds value and is the right decision. The easiest choice may be a rational or irrational decision, yet in the context of this loyalty transformation, it needs to make sense. Perhaps the biggest challenge facing brands is really the challenge of the adjacent possible? L

Perhaps the biggest challenge facing brands is really the

challenge of the adjacent possible?

LOYALTY FORUM: BY THE NUMBERS

At a Glance

Loyalty360theAwards

For the inaugural Loyalty360 Awards, the field was highly competitive and the winners were celebrated for the impressive success metrics that set them apart.

The field was large; a jury of experts

analyzed each entry

6

24

187

8categories

expert judges

total entries

58 brands nominated

platinumwinners

A snapshot of their successes:83% 57%reduction in reward fulfillment costs

44%more spend for members vs. non-membersdecrease in complaints from top-tier loyalty program members

43% 20%increase in loyalty program enrollment decrease in call center volume54% increase in unique website visitors, resulting in 77% increase in online sales

Winners are taking calculated risks with their loyalty strategies, using these

innovative tools and techniquesEmployee Rewards

Mobile Enrollment

Easy Points Sharing with Family and Friends

Geo-location Targeting

Intuitive ShoppingExperiencesExperiential Rewards

loyalty360.org/the-loyalty360-awards

LOYALTY FORUM: Q&A


A Roundtable with the Loyalty360 Award Winners:

The inaugural Loyalty360 Awards showcased brands that are leading the way when it comes to using innovative tools and techniques to build lasting relationships with customers. Our community has asked us for insights from the winners to better understand the strategies and tactics they are using to achieve success.

In all of our conversations with the winners, some commonalities emerged in their philosophies, approach and focus areas. A customer-centric vision is the driving force behind the loyalty strategies of the winners. They are using customer data and feedback to truly understand customers their motivations, preferences, habits, triggers and are using that insight to influence consumer behaviors in a way that leads to a lift in revenue and customer loyalty. The plethora of data thats resulted from newly emerging technologies is approached as an opportunity, rather than a challenge. The key, they tell us, is collecting as much data as possible, but focusing on metrics that are directly tied to the organizations broad business objectives.

Herewith, a roundtable chat with some of our winners:

- Ryan Massimo | Director, Customer Strategy & Loyalty | Dell

- Mark Stevenson | Marketing Director of Priority and Sponsorship | Telefonica O2

- Kristi Gole | Director of Loyalty Marketing Global Hotel Alliance

- Michelle Malish | Senior Director, Customer Relationship Marketing & Loyalty | TGI Fridays

- Mike Armstrong | Lead Marketing Manager | AT&T

- Glen MacDonell | Managing Director Best Western Rewards

- Natalie Treibatch | KeyBank Product Manager KeyBank Relationship Rewards

PERSONALIZATION. A warm greeting by name at check-in. A relevant message in your inbox. A video explaining details of your telecom bill. No matter what the delivery mechanism is, personalized experiences are a focal point of the winners loyalty marketing strategies.

Q: We know that personalization is a critical component of creating lasting relationships with customers, but what degree of personalization is needed and how are brands approaching it with success?

Personalization is extremely important. We like to ensure our customers understand we are constantly evolving our program to meet their needs and interests. When we are able to send personalized offers, we tap into their emotional response and raise awareness of our full catalog. We are currently working toward increasing personalization in our online store suggesting technology based on previous purchase/browse behaviors and rewards balances.

-Ryan Massimo | Dell

Naturally personalization has to be a key part of any marketing strategy and we personalize based on what we know about our customers from what they tell us and also their behaviour. For example, our Thank-you rewards have a personalized approach, and weve also introduced a new HTK system to reach our customers via all their communica-tion channelsbased on age, location, sex and behaviour.

-Mark Stevenson | Telefonica O2

All of our Marketing communications are personalized by language preference (we currently support 7 languages), membership level (3 public levels), enrolling brand (24), and other geographic attributes, stay behavior or preferences. Personalization adds complexity, but is necessary and is expected.

-Kristi Gole | Global Hotel Alliance

Personalization is extremely relevant in our CRM and loyalty strategy. Through segmentation and personalization, we are able to be much more relevant in our communications and channel interactions. Depending upon the marketing program, we may use behavioral and personal profile data to tailor messaging content, copy tone, offer strategy, channel, and contact frequency. Our goal is to deliver memorable guest dining experiences, reward members for their loyalty, inspire social sharing, and create brand fans. We want to help our Give Me More Stripes friends go out better and maybe even go out more.

-Michelle Malish | TGI Fridays

We start and finish with personalization. Without personalization, a generic video could sit on the Web for anyone to view at any time. However, I doubt it would get the benefits we are realizing with a personalized video. Where we hit the mark is being able to deliver this program (video bill emails) in your personal email, address you by name within the video, talk to you about your specific bill and charges, and based on your profile, be able to present products and services that are relevant to you and your account.

-Mike Armstrong | AT&T

One of the biggest requests from frequent travelers is simply being recognized by the hotel staff and being appreciated for all the business they bring to the hotel. Technology is desensitizing consumers, and Best Westerns entire organization is focused on personally caring about the experience of the guest standing in front of you. The other part of this is where big data comes in. When were able to look at customer segments, were able to customize messages to our members and engage them to a much better degree. It also makes the program more efficient and allows further resources to be placed in more developing parts of the program.

-Glen MacDonell | Best Western

Delivering on a Customer-Centric Promise

Continued on page 18


LOYALTY FORUM: Q&A Customer-centric Promise continued...

INTELLIGENT MEASUREMENT. New technologies and platforms are emerging at a rapid pace. As a result, the ways in which to engage with consumers is also rapidly expanding. Its difficult to make sense of the data that is generated by those initiatives. The winners remind us of the importance of identifying and focusing on the metrics that are tied to the organizations overarching goals.

Q: How has measurement of your loyalty strategy evolved in light of the challenges presented by new technologies and ROIs?

Three to five years ago, call shed or call deflection would have been the only indicator of the video bill. Throughout the maturation of the program, we have realized that the video also has had a positive impact on customer satisfaction and a customers willingness to recommend AT&T to his or her friends or family.


KeyBank Relationship Rewards was enhanced in 2011 from a rewards program, awarding only for debit card transactions, to now awarding for a variety of banking activities as well as credit card. We continue to explore ways to enhance our program with the new technologies available. We have recently completed an in-depth analysis of our program. Previously, we would have only reviewed ROI on debit card activity. With our most recent review, we focused on the benefits from engagement, profitability of the checking account, retention, and cross-sell instead of before focusing on interchange from debit card as the benefit.

-Natalie Treibatch | KeyBank

As our company continues to grow, so does the amount of data we have to sort through to gain customer insights from. There are so many ways to look at purchase behaviors, it is easy to get overwhelmed so weve learned to stay focused and hone in on the data that will tell us the most for our loyalty program-such as cost of acquisition, retention and customer feedback. Once we have those three data points, we can decipher what to act on or improve. While the analytics have gotten more sophisticated, we have to remember, at the end of the day, our goal is to delight our customers.


TENETS FOR SUCCESS. You are building a new loyalty program from the ground up. Its time for your existing loyalty program to get a re-boot. Putting the customer at the center of your loyalty framework and all that it encompasses is critical for success.

Q: We are in the early planning stages of launching a new customer loyalty program. What are some critical tenets we need to think about focusing on in todays complex environment?

Focus on the customer-Best Westerns mission statement of providing industry leading superior customer care extends throughout the customer experience. Whether that be customizing the data we have and promoting a specific offer to them, responding to them in a timely manner through our call center, or simply providing them a good experience at the property.

-Glen MacDonell | Best Western

One word: Simplicity. Dell Advantage has a simple value prop that both draws first-time customers, such as free 2nd day shipping, as well as incents loyalty and return purchases with a clear reward value in 5% cash-back. We find with this value prop top-of-mind, customers are more open to our entire portfolio of products beyond what they initially turned to us for. It increases awareness for both those customers and their networks through word-of-mouth.


360-degree integration. We deliver the program where the customer wants it and allow them to choose how and when they want to view the video. It is available online through att.com, a personalized email, and also available through the myAT&T mobile experience.


One word: Simplicity.


FEATURES

Jim Tierney Loyalty360

That is exactly what Best Western has done through its Best Western Rewards customer loyalty program, which took home the 360-Degree Award, Platinum Winner award at the inaugural Loyalty360 Awards at the 7th Annual Loyalty Expo, presented by Loyalty360 The Loyalty Marketers Association.

Garners Top Honor at Loyalty360 AwardsThe 360-Degree Award is given to the company that earned the highest cumulative score across the five categories evaluated: Reward Program, Customer Experience & Engagement Strategy, Technology in Loyalty Marketing, Creative Campaign in Loyalty Marketing, and Customer Insight or Voice of the Customer in Loyalty Marketing.

Glen MacDonell, Managing Director, Best Western Rewards says the simple reason his company won the award and continues to run a highly successful loyalty program is its deep commitment to the customer.

Were in the business of hospitality, and taking care of our guests, the customer, is our first order of business, MacDonell explains. The loyalty element is only as good as the guest experience in many ways. Clearly, the guest experience is the essential part for someone to recommend your brand. So the loyalty program is really integrated into that.

Loyalty Program and Commitment to Guest Satisfaction Hand in GloveMacDonell explains that Best Westerns loyalty program and aggressive commitment to guest satisfaction work hand in glove.

We want to exude the spirit of hospitality to the guests who come in, he said. Theres a lot of competition and where you differentiate is really by having great customer service. Were not a luxury brand nor do we claim to be. We provide great value. We want our guests to feel the reservations and check-in process is easy. We want them to have a clean, affordable room, and help them make their travel less stressful. This ties back into our loyalty program. Guest satisfaction and growth of our loyalty program are interchangeable.

Best Western uses guest satisfaction surveys, which as-sess the entire customer experience from reservation to check-in, breakfast, and checkout.

Were continually surveying our guests and measur-ing all hotels on guest satisfaction scores and we hold each property accountable to achieve certain levels, MacDonell says. Its vital we have a strong intent to recommend from our guests. We continue to look at that, grow that, and increase net promoter scores. Its critical because thats going to make or break the brand.

Customer ServiceSome companies might excel in one or two areas related to their

customer loyalty programs and for most that is a notable achievement.

But to excel across multiple loyalty categories, with a steady eye on creating exemplary customer service experiences on a daily basis while monitoring and

implementing new technologies, is an estimable tour de force.


Focus on Exemplary

Propels Best Western

Continued on page 20


While amenity offerings may vary by descriptor (BEST WESTERN, BEST WESTERN PLUS, and BEST WESTERN PREMIER), MacDonell maintains that the guest experience should be consistent regardless of hotel type or location.

We feel theres an appropriate way to take care of our guests, he says. For elite level members of Best Western Rewards, we want to recognize them when they come to the hotel. They travel frequently and by the time they get to our front desk theyve had a long day. We want to quickly and efficiently check them in, but we also want to let them know how much we appreciate their business and make sure their stay exceeds their expectations.

To keep pace with changing whats most important with guests, MacDonell adds: We harvest comments from our guests, our call centers and our hoteliers. It helps us keep things fresh on whats most important to our guests.

Shift Toward Growing Targeted Customer SegmentsBest Western has shifted from looking at overall growth of the program to focus on growing targeted customer segments, MacDonell explains.

When we are able to customize our promo-tions and messaging, we get stronger and more engaging outcomes, which make our investments more efficient, he says. New technologies have presented better ways to reach out to these segments.

Speaking of technology, MacDonell says its an imperative piece of the hospitality industry.

In our space, its a matter of competitiveness, he says. To be competitive, you have to be out there, on the shelf. When we look at where

shopping and reservations occur, more and more are purchased via mobile devices. So we need to always have a product or service thats easy to consume on those devices.

Loyalty Program Redemption Thresholds Unchanged in Past DecadeBest Western has considerable, genuine competition, MacDonell says. He cites Best Westerns Status MatchNo Catch program along with the fact the company has main-tained its loyalty program redemption levels for the past 10 years as two successful strategies that still resonate with consumers.

This shows our customers that we put their needs first, he says. Our award-winning Status MatchNo Catch program was another opportunity. It takes time to build elite status with a brand, and were willing to match the elite status of any other brand to give those travelers an opportunity to experience our brand without sacrificing their hard-earned status.

MacDonell explains the often difficult dilemma of understanding customers disparate expectations.

Some guests are traveling for business, some for leisure, some for both and we need to cater to each of their needs based on their trip persona, he says. We encourage our staff to adapt to the customer standing in front of you. If Im in a suit, Im looking for something quick. If Im in shorts, maybe I need directions to some place nearby. Its difficult to know just from the reservation what the purpose of the guests trip is. Its an area we want to further develop, but weve done a good job of setting expectations for what the experience should be like and personal touches are the biggest hallmarks of that.

Best Western Rewards members earn 10 points for every U.S. dollar spent or airline/partner rewards with each qualified stay; hotel stay rewards with no blackout dates; exclusive offers; points that never expire; and Diamond, Platinum, and Gold Elite status tiers.

Whats more, as an extension of Best Western Rewards, Best Western offers co-branded programs, partnering with AAA and CAA in Canada and Harley-Davidson through its Ride Rewards program. Best Western also offers Service Rewards for men and women in the armed forces, Speed Rewards (targeting motorsports fans), and Business Advantage targeting small- and medium-sized businesses.

These partner programs are yet another great way for Best Western to engage on a personal level with its loyal customers.

Tying Together From a Value StandpointWe try and tie all that together from a value standpoint, he says. From a loyalty stand-point, we have different layers that resonate well with our customers.

Developing and growing its targeted customer segments is a matter of being able to communicate effectively.

Were always visible and promoting the program in different ways, MacDonell says. We identify our customer base and see who will be in the market to travel again and ensure they receive a relevant offer from us. We look at our data very carefully and look at a customers propensity to travel. Were constantly reaching out at the right time using data that leads us to understand what makes them tick.

Returning to the topic of technology, MacDonell says Best Western studies the industry and trends very closely.

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Best Western continued...

21Loyalty Management SECOND QUARTER 2014 21Loyalty Management SECOND QUARTER 2014

10 Years of

Nights per Year to Elite Status

Status Match... No Catch

1029,000

4,00057%

1m20m

#2#1

300,000

Compliments

Guests per Night

Hotels Delivering Exceptional Customer Experience Consistently

Decline in Complaints

Facebook Fans

Best Western Rewards Program Members

Ranking in U.S. News & World Report Best Hotel Rewards Program

Loyalty360 Awards - Platinum Winner


FEATURES

Best Western continued...

Mobile is the Key ThingWithout a doubt, the key trend is toward mobile in the hotel industry and its absolutely, positively a competitive necessity for us to be visible in the space, he explains. Consumers are searching, shopping and buying through smartphones and tablets and weve made sure we have integrated reservation capabilities and the Best Western Rewards program into these platforms.

Recently, Best Western announced that it will become the first hotel chain to offer rich 360-degree photography of all of its North American hotels through Google Maps Business View.

Google is interested enhancing the user experience by giving consumers the ability see exactly what theyre buying, MacDonell says. Were confident in what were selling. With Google Maps Business View, you can look at lobby, fitness center, breakfast room, and guest rooms all before you make a reservation. We look forward to showcasing our hotels and think that will be another game-changer that will make shopping and buying decisions much easier.

MacDonell points to Wi-Fi as a recent example of Best Western refining its offering.

Weve been offering free Wi-Fi at our hotels for over 10 years and recently increased our standards for bandwidth as studies show that Wi-Fi is now valued more than breakfast, he says. This is a perfect example of how we respond to the Voice of the Customer.

For MacDonell and Best Western Rewards, which launched 26 years ago, only opportunities exist.

We want to get more customers enrolled in the program and activate more of our existing membership, he says. There is a lot of competition out there and we need to

always listen to what is most important to the prospective member. Once theyve enrolled in the program we want them to know we know them, providing offers that makes sense for them.

Best Western aspires to deliver great value, MacDonell says.

Best Western hotels are available just about anywhere you need a hotel, are competitively priced, offer breakfast, free Wi-Fi with the Best Western Rewards program as an added benefit, he says. Keeping it simple and focusing on the basics of delivering value to them is a hallmark of the program. Make sure youre prepared to bring in the right data to measure the business results and customize promotional initiatives to your guests. Keep the program simple for consumers.

Loyalty Program MetricsBest Western measures the effectiveness of Best Western Rewards through revenue con-tribution of the loyalty program to the brand, incremental room nights, revenue added by members, and member retention.

Loyalty programs are an important marketing program for many companies because research shows that customers who enroll are more likely to give that brand a greater share of their wallet, MacDonell explains. Competition in the hotel industry is fierce, but with more than 300,000 guests per night, Best Western has the ability to cultivate a strong base of loyal customers to grow its share of the market.

Best Westerns brand promise, Stay With People Who Care, is a guiding light for the companys ongoing commitment to deliver greater value to members.

Reward it ForwardOne of the most recent additions has been the brands award-winning Reward it For-ward employee recognition program, where guests have the opportunity to recognize a Best Western employee for outstanding customer service. In 2013 alone, employees received more than 20,000 compliments for superior customer care.

The goals of the Reward It Forward program are to:

Promote random acts of kindness from hotel staff toward guests, particularly Best Western Rewards members.

Ensure Best Western Rewards members and Best Western guests know their opinions are valued and that they have a say in rewarding hotel staff.

Create a seamless process for the guest and Best Western Rewards member to recognize a superior act of customer service.

Integrate acts of customer care with marketing efforts, content marketing and social initiatives.

Launched in January of 2013, the Reward It Forward engagement initiative comprised the following components:

Elite Best Western Rewards members (those staying more than 10 nights per year) were provided Reward It Forward certificates to distribute to deserving hotel associates, along with program details.

Guests were also provided an email address to which they could send positive comments about associates superior service.

Hotel associates who received the certificates submitted them to Best Western in exchange for 250 points which could then be redeemed for rewards.

Best Western measures the effectiveness of Best Western Rewards through revenue contribution of the loyalty program to the brand, incremental room nights, revenue added by members, and member retention.


Best Western tracked certificate redemptions in order to further recognize efforts by distributing gift baskets and other items to the hotels and hotel associates with the highest number of certificate redemptions.

Whats more, the customer service team has implemented many new services to allow members greater access to information, reducing 20% of calls into the service center.

This year Best Western Rewards account information was also integrated into the brands Best Western To Go apps, MacDonell explains. Each of these steps was designed from customer feedback to create more program value.

Best Western has maintained its point redemption thresholds for free nights for more than 10 years, resisting the industrys trend at devaluing currency. Best Western Rewards has several award-winning loyalty programs including Status MatchNo Catch, Reward it Forward, Travel Hero, and Vacation Citation.

Tripled Program Membership in Past DecadeBest Western Rewards has more than tripled its member penetration since 2004.

The program benefits are truly some of the most generous in the industry and have been tremendously effective in creating loyal guests for Best Western hoteliers, MacDonell says. Members redeem millions of points each year for global free nights, partner programs, merchandise, and retail gift cards providing great rewards for their loyalty.

The program is also an important part of Best Westerns global marketing strategy to expand its customer base and move market share to its hotels. The program enrollment growth, combined with the activation of existing members, has helped boost the brand to record financial performance.

Delivering an exceptional customer experience consistently at more than 4,000 hotels worldwide is a challenge, MacDonell says. We teamed up with our most loyal guests to recognize hotel associates who have gone above and beyond to ensure guest satisfaction. The Reward It Forward program leverages customer responses, data, and emails to help provide a consistent experience at our hotels. The program brought greater awareness of our brand promise to both guests and hotel employees. We tracked the certificate redemptions and customer emails across the brand, and we provided gift baskets to top-performing hotels giving general managers another motivational tool for their staff.

Far Fewer Complaints from Elite MembersMacDonell cited a whopping 57% decline in complaints from elite members of Best Western Rewards due to the companys customer experience and engagement strategy.

This relatively small portion of our overall program membership drives a very significant portion of our program revenue, he says. Therefore, any program that reduces complaints and increases their brand activation has significant ROI for Best Western.

Whats more, the interactions and rewards were integrated into social media programs.

Every week we would highlight a wow moment in customer service on our social media channels based on a guest comment, generating additional engagement with the brands more than one million social media connections, MacDonell explains.

Social media is the top-rated online activity currently with a 72% participation rate from U.S. adults.

Huge Social Media PresenceKnowing that engaging with existing and future guests via social media channels is more important than ever, Best Western wanted to design a campaign that would have a strong social component and allow the brand to interact with its more than 1 million Facebook fans, including its Best Western Rewards members, MacDonell says. Recent insights shared through social media, coupled with a survey conducted by the United States Tour Operators Association, reveal a common sentiment that customers consistently leave their hard-earned vacation days on the table, forgoing much-needed time off. Best Western also partnered with a research firm to do some of its own research surrounding this notion. Results showed that more than half of U.S. travelers expected to leave unused vacation days on the table in 2013. Further, when they did take time off, travelers found it difficult to leave the stresses of work at the office.

As a result, Best Western leveraged these findings to create a unique spring Facebook Be a Travel Hero campaign, inviting travelers to build a vacation for friends and family on Best Westerns Facebook page and be entered to win great prizes and for being a hero to their family or friends by using their points earned while on business for vacation hotel stays.

This engaging social media campaign also created an opportunity for customer relationship management enabling Best Western to better deliver promotions and programs that resonate with what matters to customers based on their feedback, thereby extending the customer life cycle, MacDonell says.

Vacation CitationIn 2013, Best Western launched the Vacation Citation digital campaign on Facebook. Participants who issued themselves or someone else a Vacation Citation were entered in weekly drawings for prizes and a grand prize of a dream vacation. Whats more, Best Western Rewards members were automatically registered for the Spring Promotion and a chance to earn a free night stay. The interactive social media cam-paign successfully targeted businessin particular road warriorsand leisure travelers that were not previously engaged with the brand and the more than 20 million Best Western Rewards program members.

Best Western was recently awarded the No. 2 spot on U.S. News & World Reports inaugural list of the Best Hotel Rewards Programs. It also garnered the TravelClick eMarketer of the Year award for integrated use of multiple digital platforms to drive bookings and engagement.

MacDonell says Best Western reaffirmed its commitment to helping guests and loyalty members through its online and mobile offer-ings, introducing last year a redesigned version of the Best Western To Go app for iOS, Android and a specifically designed iPad app. L

FEATURES


We always want to grow our program, Nelson explains. Much of our marketing strategy is built upon the MVP Program, so utilizing all the insights we have in conjunction with increasing our membership is very important. At the same time, we do want to be sure we prevent fraud and get usable data from our members. We require a valid email address in order to participate in the program. By switching to Paytronix email, we are able to monitor and administrate this in real time. With these types of added capabilities, we will be able to move members with invalid data into a tier that will prevent them from redeeming their benefits, discounts or rewards for the first time. If such a guest visits a store, the server will see on their points receipt that their email came up invalid, and we can capture the correct information to update their accounts.

Instead of resting on its laurels, Duffys Sports Grill has expanded its loyalty program through highly targeted emailing. Since the inception of its MVP loyalty program in 2003, Duffys has seen great success.

We had an aggressive loyalty model that was more robust than many competitors, Nelson explains. Within a few years, we had 200,000 members, and as we were analyzing the data to grow the program.

Nelson says Duffys has a pretty intense set of triggered email messages and campaigns.

Now were able to be a lot more strategic on when and how we communicate with our members, she explains. Before we could never include someones points balance in an email. Now we can include their points and reward balance in real-time on every email we send. This feature spurs additional visits for guests who may not have realized they have rewards to spend or

for other guests who are getting very close to earning a reward. Nelson outlines the current three-tiered loyalty program:

MVP (which is free to join): You earn 1 point per each $1 spent. When you reach 100 points, this automatically converts to $10 in rewards on your card. We offer guests a free gift on their birthday which varies based on their frequency (varies between Free Dessert, Free Appetizer or Free Entre - any item on the menu). We offer double points on Tuesday. MVPs get call-ahead seating and 40% off our food menu weekdays from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. This discount is automated through our POS so servers dont have to search for managers to manually apply discounts.

All Star MVPs (guests who spend $1,000 or more in a 12-month period): All the regular MVP benefits, but they earn 1.25 points per $1 spent. They get a personalized silver All Star card; On Deck seating, which allows guests to go to the top of the list when the store is on a wait; a dedicated All Star Hotline; and their birthday gift is a $25 bonus loaded on their cards.

Hall of Fame Members (guests who spend $3,000 or more in a 12-month period): All the regular MVP and All Star benefits, but they earn 1.5 points per $1 spent. They get a personalized black Hall of Fame card, free ticket offers to local sports events throughout the year, the exclusive option to make reservations, their own Hall of Fame hotline, no cover charge for pay-per-view boxing events and on their birthday they get $50 loaded on their cards.

Enhances MVP Loyalty Program through Highly Targeted Email

Sandy Nelson, Director of Marketing, Duffys Sports

Grill, says that a staggering 73% of company sales are loyalty-related across its 24

casual-dining restaurants in southern Florida.



Nelson says Duffys is doing a lot of things with apps and alternate ways for guests to access the MVP program. Duffys Sports Grill has expanded its MVP loyalty program with the addition of mobile check in, mobile sign-up and real-time messaging capabilities. Duffys MVP rewards program now boasts more than 425,000 active members.

With check-level data and other metrics provided by the POS integrated solution, Duffys is able to strategically design messaging, offers, and promotions tailored to each tiers behavior.

Duffys Sports Grill MVP programs enhancements include:

Mobile Check-in: Allows members to go cardless and still earn points or redeem rewards when they check in to identify them-selves at the location; it also allows Duffys servers to see who has checked in via the POS so they can better acknowledge guests and inform them of any rewards available on their account.

Mobile Signup: Eliminates paper applications and the store-level administration of the MVP program in favor of digital enrollment. This will provide Duffys with much better, quali-fied data from guests when they sign up via Duffys Mobile App, Text, or online via their website. New members can also join via the MVP Kiosk in the lobby of each restaurant.

Real-Time Behavior-Triggered Messaging: Enables Duffys to quickly communicate with guests on pertinent limited-time offers, new-menu-item surveys, and distance to the next reward, plus remind guests of rewards earned as well as applicable expiration dates.

With the integrated data available, we can easily issue different rewards for different segments, Nelson says. Were able to offer incentives and rewards based on the MVPs behavior.

Nelson explains that Duffys doesnt conduct formal surveys.

Our MVPs are very engaged, and we get a lot of response anytime there are changes to the program. We have a Help Desk dedicated to MVP Guest service, and we respond to all emails we receive, she says.

Nelson said Duffys maintains a slightly older demographic, which is not so tech savvy, but value savvy. Its hard to quantify, but a good portion of each segment is trying to move up to the next level. People are vigilante about their points and rewards. Weve been successful in increasing both frequency and spending levels of each of our segments.

Duffys looks at other programs to see what theyre offering.

But its hard to find many programs as robust as ours, Nelson says. Our percentage back ($10 on $100 spent) to guests is higher than any other competitors we come across. We spend much more time analyzing our data and improving our results year over year.

In fact, Nelson says Duffys conducts an intense analysis of the MVP program twice per year.

Typically, we split the entire database into a few predetermined segments and compare to the previous years statistics for average number of visits and spend per member along with the growth of each segment, she says. Since we have check-level integration, we also closely monitor promotion expense, or the cost of the various discounts and rewards that we provide to our members. Its helpful to see how that changes over time so we can fine tune benefits and promotions to stay aligned with our profitability goals.

What plans does Duffys have for its loyalty program?

The most significant plan for the loyalty program this year is to enhance the technology and grow the program using digital platforms, Nelson says. We just launched a new way to join the program. There are no more handwritten applications. Instead MVPs can join online via our website, our Duffys app, in the stores lobby on a kiosk by texting to join. Now, potential guests can join before visiting or at their leisure instead of having to take the time to write everything down. We think this will enhance the quality of our data and ensure we can effectively communicate with our MVPs.

In conjunction with this initiative, Duffys is encouraging its members to go cardless.

They can Text to check in to earn points, redeem rewards and access their discounts using the cell phone that is listed on their MVP account, Nelson says. This is a huge upgrade for many folks who dont want to carry another card in their wallet and also helpful if a guest forgets their card. They will never miss out on rewards or points with this new method. Guests who join can stay completely cardless or get a physical card when visiting any Duffys location. L

FEATURES


Too often, call center agents dont receive as much credit as they should as they are relegated to the back-end-but absolutely crucial-side of the business. At Xerox, though, it has developed a game-changing technology armed with gamification tools that is engaging call center agents like never before.

The technology is called Xerox Agent Performance Indicator Software (Xerox API).

Social scientists at the Xerox Research Centre Europe in Grenoble, France studied various aspects of how call center agents work to gain a better understanding of their daily challenges.

Two members of the Xerox Research Centre Europe-Tommaso Colombino, Researcher, Work Practice Technology; and Francois Ragnet, Chief Innovation Officer, Xerox Services Europe-discussed the innovative technology with Loyalty360.

Colombino says he and Ragnet set out to study the life of a call center agent.

We went to call centers and conducted observational studies, Colombino explained. We sat with agents, shadowed them, and observed their work trying to understand what their routine is. What struck us was the call centers generate a lot of data but because of the organi-zational structures, its designed to push data upstream and generate reports. So they are not easily accessible to people who do work.

Colombino says their concept was fairly simple.

From a technological aspect, we wanted to aggregate data from these various reporting mechanisms and make it available to agents, he explains.

After ethnographers studied customer care workers and wanted to increase productivity, and address boredom and

feelings of isolation they reported experiencing, Xerox data scientists created a tool that uses gaming techniques to provide feedback and encourage teamwork.

The XAPI technology tool has already been deployed with 1,500 agents in Europe and achieved impressive results. It will continue to be rolled out around the world to other centers and agents as Xerox has more than 40,000 agents. At this time, it will not be sold as software to third parties.

Ragnet refers to the XAPI technology as one of our success stories. It helps how they do their day-to-day job, focuses on interaction between team leaders and agents, and how do we motivate everyone to go further into their work. Its a technology that came out of research, bringing to the agent the awareness of how well they are doing.

Heres how the XAPI technology works in the call center:

Over the course of the workday, Xerox API provides agents with continuous feedback on their performance in a fun, interactive way. Using green, yellow and red color codes, agents can see how they are doing in areas such as time spent on a call, number of calls handled, and other key performance indicators. Traditional feedback methods involve a manager emailing performance reports to agents once or twice a day.

This gives the employee immediate and continuous feedback on his own perfor-mance on the phone and his or her position to the best performer in the team. The team manager has a widget of his entire team at a glance which he has insight into the performance of his team in real time.

Agents using the technology show significant improvement on standard performance measures such as the amount of time

Engaging Call Center Employees in Fun, Innovative Ways

The daily tasks of call center agents around the world may seem mundane to many, but to brand executives, they are the heart and soul of any successful company.

Companies are constantly seeking more efficient and innovative ways to engage their customers. But many times, these same companies dont place as much emphasis on employee engagement. Happy and motivated employees act as the fulcrum upon which success and memorable customer experiences rest.



spent solving a customer problem. The tool also has helped streamline the relationship between managers and their teams.

Whats more, the XAPI technology encourages collaboration and setting goals combined with some fun and healthy competition.

It provides real-time feedback, Ragnet says. Its also a tool for helping agents and team leaders interact. It has been successful and heightens the interactions between call agents and team leaders, and everyone is performing better in a more customer-oriented environment.

Colombino says throughout the research process, his team addressed the problem of weekly coaching sessions.

It was very difficult for agents to tell where they were based on weekly coaching sessions and thats where the original idea came from, he explains. Its important for agents to be able to self-monitor. We felt it was necessary for them to have access to that information whenever they need it.

Ragnet says since the XAPI tool has been deployed, call center agents have fewer questions because they know how they are doing.

The sessions now are more to the point and more accurate, he says. The technology allows them to focus on a lot of quality time and, ultimately, its helping with the KPIs and with customers.

Xerox started deploying the technology in early 2013 and is looking at implementing it in its U.S. facilities this year.

Ragnet admits that, at first, the reception from call center agents to the XAPI technology was rather cool.

Initially, there was a bit of reluctance or distrust like Big Brother is watching you, he explains. Once they understood the value of the tool, and actionable KPIs (wait time,) once they have this in their hands the feedback has been very positive. When the tool is deployed correctly, its getting a lot of acceptance. Agents see value in their day-to-day jobs and added some more motivation by bringing some fun elements to the job.

Ragnet says Xerox is looking toward adding badges and avatars, along with creating individual and team challenges to increase the employee engagement levels even more.

The team leader can see whole team performance, knows what the target is and what his own benchmarks are, Ragnet adds.

Ragnet says the big objective with gamification was to make the job more fun and turn it into an awareness tool.

As soon as you have actionable KPIs, gamification could potentially apply, he says. The model is mostly to run internally rather than make it a commercially available product. Getting social media engagement tools that allow us to spot trends and then engage

customers we see that as future of our business. The goal is to have agents have this data at their fingertips.

Colombino believes the XAPI technology sets itself apart because its deeply rooted in Xeroxs ethnography and was essentially designed and built from observations of actual work practices in Xerox call centers

That is one significant difference from deploying tools based on the perceived needs of call center management, he explains. It was designed to address the challenges that were confirmed and/or uncovered during the studies as well as learning from existing current practices.

A key element to better employee engagement is transparency, Ragnet says.

Enabling the agent to have easy access to their performance in real-time as well as using the same information as a basis for their coaching and communication sessions with their manager empowers them in fixing different objectives that they are engaged in and motivated to realize, he explains.

The second element to better employee engagement is gamification.

Gamification is an emerging business practice, applying lessons from psychology, design strategy and technology, but its harder than it appears, Ragnet says. PBLs (Points, Badges and Leaderboards) are not enough to engage agents in a Call Centerit is important to find the right balance between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, fun, progression and engagement loops, using different channels to engage agents and keep them motivated towards a common goal-making the Call Center more effective and satisfying the customer. This ultimately improves Customer Satisfaction (engagement and experience)a happier agent, with better feedback and control over his/her performance will have a more positive interaction with the customer. And, of course, Customer Satisfaction is one of the key performance metrics communicated to the agent. By using this technology, we are turning un-skilled agents into to professional, empowered agents.

Colombino says it was crucial for call center agents to be able to see at a glance where their current performance stands with respect to their goals, and how it is trending.

This is important not just because goals have to be met to respect the SLA, but because agents are expected to effectively balance quality (i.e. taking the time to ensure the needs of any particular customer are met) with quantity (i.e. ensuring all the customers are attended to within a reasonable time frame), Colombino says. We were already working on a technology concept designed to visualize personal metrics and this was a different domain which seemed to present similar challenges. L

Over the course of the workday, Xerox API provides agents with continuous feedback on their performance in a fun, interactive way. Using green, yellow and red color codes, agents can see how they are doing in areas such as time spent on a call, number of calls handled, and other key performance indicators.

The team manager has a widget of his entire team at a glance which he has insight into the performance of his team in real time.



BehindtheBrand

PLEASE GIVE US A LITTLE BACKGROUND ON YOUR FOCUS AT C SPIRE AND HOW ITS EVOLVING TO ANSWER THE NEEDS OF TODAYS CUSTOMER.

Im responsible for facilitating the creation and discovery of must-have experiences and products. This includes planning, creation and management of innovative, useful and intuitively designed consumer products. Im also responsible for all consumer products and experiences in wireless, fiber to the home, mobile, web, applications, and our loyalty rewards program

Being in the technology space, we are constantly evolving for competi-tive, technology and customer expectation needs. We never rest on our current product and service innovations. We consistently are pushing to get better, go bigger and change the industries that we compete in.

WHERE DO YOU SEE THE GREATEST OPPORTUNITIES?

Specifically around loyalty, I see the biggest opportunity around rewards programs and analytics platforms. I see rewards programs as a key differentiator in the wireless space. In an industry where phones are the same and network build outs will eventually be similar experi-ences and plan pricing is a becoming more commoditized, service providers will have to differentiate based on the service and support experience and the rewards they offer.

Loyalty rewards, tied with analytic platforms that allow for incredible targeting capabilities and access to data at the user level to help both the marketing and operational side of the business become much more efficient and effective, is an incredibly powerful 1, 2 punch.

IF YOU WERE GRANTED THREE WISHES TO HELP YOU REACH YOUR OBJECTIVES WHAT WOULD THEY BE?

1. Go back in time and tell my past self all the learnings weve had over the past few years with our experiences

2. See into the future to better predict consumer behavior and technology evolution

3. World Peace

WHAT TRENDS ARE YOU SEEING IN THE MARKETPLACE TODAY?

People are consuming more and more information at a faster pace. This gives marketers and brands more opportunities but less mind share and time. Companies need to be much more agile and leverage technologies to become more efficient with every dollar they invest.

IF YOU COULD PICK ONLY ONE THING, WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE MOST INFLUENCES A GREAT CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE? AND WHY?

Customer Inspired Simplicity this applies to everything from the user interfaces we create to the experience a customer has when they come into a store for service. It should be simple to understand, simple to use and not add complexity to their life. We start with what is the best experience for the customer and work our way backwards on how to execute.

WITH KALE SLIGH | C SPIRE

Kale Sligh is Director of Brand Experiences & Products at C Spire. Kale is a marketing strategist with extensive experience in innovative and multi-platform development projects. He has a passion for developing and managing talented individuals, including leading the team that won the Platinum Loyalty360 Award - Best Use of Customer Insight or Voice of the Customer in Loyalty Marketing.

WHAT WAS YOUR LAST AH-HA CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE? WHAT MAKES THIS MEMORABLE?

Every time we do any type of usability research, there are always generally a lot of these moments. The most memorable is one that is always recurringno matter how simple you may think youve made something, generally theres a way to do it better. There are always moments where we just didnt spell out the most basic things that we thought everyone would assume. Never assume consumers will understand what youre alluding to and generally most people dont read a lot of detail. Keep your messages short, clean and simpleand say what you mean clearly. Be upfront.

WHAT IS YOUR PERSONAL MOTTO?

Quote from legendary UCLA Bruins basketball coach John Wooden: Be quick, but dont hurry. In my world, that means we must move quickly to be competitive, but at no point should we ever jeopardize an experience for speed.

IF YOU WERE NOT DOING WHAT YOU DO TODAY, HOW WOULD YOU BE SPENDING YOUR TIME?

Coaching or teaching

IF YOU COULD INVITE FOUR PEOPLE TO DINNER (PAST OR PRESENT) WHO WOULD THEY BE AND WHY?

My wife, son and mother for the obvious reasons and John Wooden very inspiring individual and could learn a lot about life and leadership

WHICH BOOK(S) ARE YOU CURRENTLY RECOMMENDING?

I dont read a lot of books, but I read a lot. Mostly technology outlets and publications. Good book as it pertains to business Good to Great by Jim Collins

WE LIKE TO END THESE INTERVIEWS WITH SOME WORDS OF WISDOM. WOULD YOU PLEASE SHARE ONE OR TWO KEY LESSONS YOUVE LEARNED OVER THE YEARS THAT COULD HELP THE NOVICE MARKETER?

Dont over think things and trust your instincts. Generally whats valuable to you will be valuable to others. If what youre doing doesnt seem valuable or isnt something that you would act on personally, then there is probably a problem.

Your internal communications must be as strong as your external. Often in marketing, a lot of thought goes in to building incredible marketing campaigns, but not as much as internal. Your internal teams are your front lines and ultimately will make or break any program, campaign, or product. Bring them along, help them believe and consumers will follow. L

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE WORD? KRISTIAN, MY SONS NAME.

WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE WORD?

I ASSUMED WHAT FOLLOWS THESE WORDS USUALLY IS NOT GOOD IN BUSINESS.

WHAT TURNS YOU ON CREATIVELY, SPIRITUALLY,

OR EMOTIONALLY?

MY FAMILY AND MY PASSION TO BE THE BEST AT WHATEVER I DO. IM NATURALLY VERY COMPETITIVE.

WHAT TURNS YOU OFF? LACK OF ORGANIZATION AND CLEAR VISION.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE (PG-13) CURSE WORD? CRAP.

WHAT SOUND OR NOISE DO YOU LOVE? SONS LAUGHTER.

WHAT SOUND OR NOISE DO YOU HATE?

SONS CRYING ANY TIME PRIOR TO 6 OR 7 A.M.

WHAT PROFESSION OTHER THAN YOUR OWN WOULD

YOU LIKE TO ATTEMPT?TEACHING.

WHAT PROFESSION WOULD YOU NOT LIKE TO DO? TELEMARKETER.

IF HEAVEN EXISTS, WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO HEAR

GOD SAY WHEN YOU ARRIVE AT THE PEARLY GATES?

YOU DID YOUR BEST WHILE YOU WERE THERE, YOUR FAMILY IS SAFE, AND COME ON IN!

* Inspired by James Lipton on Inside the Actors Studio we asked Kale to share his quick fire response to the questions originating from the French series, Bouillon de Culture hosted by Bernard Pivot.

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Always ask myself: Is this the best possible experience for the customer, is this valuable and is this truly impactful?


QUICK FIRE QUESTIONS*

LoyaltyInnovation

Products, Advancements & Technologies

LOYALTY FORUM: LOYALTY INNOV

Documents

Loyalty Management Second Quarter 2014