Every business thrives on a strong customer base. Just like the customer needs you to achieve their goals, you need them just as much to grow in your business. Having someone’s loyalty will always be beneficial. But gaining that loyalty requires gaining their trust and providing a good customer experience. A business can gain its customer’s loyalty and trust by giving them incentives and giving their efforts due to recognition. This can be done through a channel loyalty program which gives the client incentives for their participation and contribution to your business. Customer relationship management (CRM) is crucial because your clients can make or break your business.
A loyalty program is basically one where you give your clients some sort of incentive or rewards for engaging with your business. These programs are implemented with an intent to retain the customers and build a strong customer base which is important for the business in the long run. If you are looking for a CRM program Singapore, Edenred can provide the perfect CRM and PRM (partners relationship management) solutions for your business. Their products are designed to identify valuable clients, boost sales, increase partner loyalty, achieve goals, etc. and strengthen customer relations.
Organisations have two main sources of business, which is b2b and b2c. B2B, or business to business is an important channel for any business. This is vital for businesses because every organisation has to work with their business partners, distributors and service providers in harmony and also because these clients, though smaller in number, account for a big portion of the revenue. B2C, or business to the customer is also an important channel for any business, as these customers are huge in number, so they generate a significant amount of revenue for the company.
An organisation engaged in providing products and services for both types of customers needs to focus on retaining them as well, which is a hectic task for the management. To take care of this, a company may bring in force a loyalty program, specific to the two different customer groups. No loyalty program can be one-size-fits-all because every client has different needs. Curated by keeping the client in mind, the loyalty program can offer incentives that target the client’s wants and deliver the kind of service they desire. Most companies will have a B2B loyalty program and a separate B2C loyalty program, both of which provide rewards to the client based on their engagement with the business.
What is a B2B loyalty program?
A ‘business to business’ loyalty program is one that offers the clients incentives and rewards for doing business with them. Many companies offer products and services to other businesses, making it a b2b channel of business for the company. These clients happen to be very important for the company as these clients can generate a lot of revenue for the company as their sales cycle is longer than others. These clients can also open many doors for the company in the business world, as these clients may have connections with many potential clients. Having a loyalty program specifically for such clients not only helps in providing a good customer experience but also helps in retaining the customer. A loyalty program should offer lucrative rewards for the client so that they keep coming back. It should also give them a good experience so that they stay loyal to your company.
What is a B2C loyalty program?
A ‘business to customer’ loyalty program offers the customer incentives and rewards for purchasing the company’s products and services. Here the sales cycle is shorter but that does not make it any less important. Since the sales cycle is shorter here, there are more customers than b2b, which makes up a big chunk of the revenue. Here, the customer buys depending upon their emotions, so having a loyalty program that triggers a response for impulse buying helps boost the company’s sales. The customers can be given certain rewards like discounts on purchases, free trials to services, etc. When customers get such incentives for spending their money in combination with a good overall customer experience, they become loyal to the company.
How is B2B different from B2C?
Both B2B and B2C loyalty programs have a similar structure but they cater to two completely different sets of customer bases. B2B is targeted towards the needs of clients that happen to be other businesses, while B2C is targeted towards the regular customers who have needs that are different from business houses. Both loyalty programs give incentives to their clients, but the type of incentive is different in each program. Incentives in the forms of discounts, free trials, free samples, surprise gifts, early access, rebate, cash bonus, etc might be common in both loyalty programs, but the extent and type of product offered in the reward might be different. In essence, they are the same, but in detail, they are different from each other.
Is it worth it?
Having two separate loyalty programs for B2B and B2C allows the company to really focus on giving the client a good customer experience, which is vital in gaining their loyalty. B2B and B2C have different goals and motivations, so a loyalty program that targets these objectives and aligns itself with the client’s requirements will surely give the client a reason to keep coming back and continuing the business relation with you. A loyalty program that is easy to understand and has attractive incentives will act as a motivation for the client to continue to buy from you. So, it is worth having a B2B and B2C loyalty program, as it will allow you to build and grow both partner and client relationships respectively.
A loyalty program that is difficult to understand and even harder to access will only deter the client from doing business with you. If you want to successfully implement a loyalty program, it must be easy to understand for the client so that there’s full transparency and the client should be able to access their rewards easily.
