With customer loyalty becoming the main focus of many small business owners, the demand for loyalty management tools is swiftly increasing. A well-developed loyalty manager helps you automate your loyalty programs, engage with customers, and track the success of your loyalty campaigns. However, for someone without a lot of experience in purchasing software products, choosing the right tool can seem daunting.
With so many digital loyalty managers on the market, picking the right one for your business depends on a few factors.
What is your budget?
While the features and efficiency of a software product are more important than its price, for most customers, price does matter. Small business owners who are struggling to attract their customers and keep them loyal will also be restrained in their budget. So consider your financial situation and make a plan for how much you can and should spend. The good news is, cloud-based loyalty programs offer monthly and yearly subscription plans, which are surprisingly accessible. Choose subscription-based customer loyalty software to stretch your budget and access top-notch features.
What are your loyalty goals?
While most businesses seek loyalty programs to retain their customers and encourage them to purchase repeatedly, there are other business goals as well. It is important to make a list of reasons why you think you need customer loyalty software.
Please note that sometimes it’s important even to explain the actual customer loyalty definition, which benefits it offers. If you would like to save time, money, and energy, an automated loyalty program can get you to those goals.
An automated loyalty manager such as Glue can help put your loyalty program on autopilot so that you can focus on building your business and enjoying your profits.
What features do you need?
There are loyalty managers that offer a plethora of features, many of which may not be relevant to you. Small business owners usually need a robust loyalty management tool that helps them automate their loyalty marketing. Here are some of the most important features to look for:
- A members club for your customers
- Digital points earning system
- Digital Coupons and loyalty cards
- Subscriptions and prepaid multi-passes
- Play-to-win games
- Loyalty strategy builder
- Geo Push Notifications
- Tracking success and self-optimization
- Growth analysis and reporting
As you can see, the basic features are quite simple, and that is probably all you will need. However, do make sure that the software interface is insightful and uses some form of artificial intelligence.
What technology is best for you?
While many customer loyalty software programs are out there, they are not all the same. To make sure that you pick the best loyalty tool available, here is some criteria you need to keep in mind:
- Makes use of artificial intelligence
- Automates all its features, including reports and analysis
- Is cloud-based and requires no hardware of your own
- Is updated regularly by its developers
- Offers timely customer service and technical assistance
- Has an excellent user interface (UI) and delivers a top-notch user experience (UX)
If you are unable to make an informed decision yourself, do speak to the vendors and urge them to help you understand what technology goes behind their products.
Will you find excellent support?
Even a great software program is limited if it does not offer five-star customer service. While deciding on a software program for your loyalty management, you can shortlist a few vendors and interact with them. Observe their website, FAQ section, how timely their responses are to your queries, and if they are able to assist you in picking a customer loyalty software that is best suited for your business. Based on these objective observations, you can decide to use a loyalty program that offers consistent and friendly customer service.
Keep your business priorities at the top of your list while picking a customer loyalty software
Picking the right customer loyalty software can be difficult, time-consuming, and quite confusing. However, by asking yourself these five basic questions, you will be able to zero in on a loyalty manager that will help you achieve your desired goals.
If you are still confused about which loyalty software is best for your business, contact us today. Our solutions focus on small businesses that seek to grow locally and retain customers.