Loyalty programmes or rewards programmes are a major revenue generator in the hospitality industry and keeping operators front of mind, seeing as it is offered to customers that regularly support a company. This is according to leading independent CRM company, LoyaltyPlus, a specialist in complete client retention via cutting-edge loyalty programmes and partnerships.
Frik van der Westhuizen, Marketing Director at LoyaltyPlus, stated there are very good reasons why loyalty programmes have become increasingly popular in hospitality, especially in customer-facing businesses, such as hotels.
The key objective is not only to keep the current customer happy, but to open the door to new prospective customers.
"There are a number of perks attached to these programmes that people are more aware of, from free WiFi to building up points to secure free accommodation, free room upgrades, spa treatments, guaranteed room availability and much more. Business operators are more aware that programmes have to offer much more than mere points in order to keep the customer happy," says Van der Westhuizen.
Research also suggests that being considered first and immediate access to premium services are the least that customers expect from a loyalty programme. For this reason, more operators are competing for brand awareness and market share in the hospitality industry; they also invest in software solutions to sustain and promote loyalty programmes. These solutions are incrementally cloud-based, which drastically reduces the time to go to the market and the cost of ownership.
Van der Westhuizen adds: "Apart from our flagship product offering, which is based on a cloud deployment methodology, we also offer services ranging from loyalty business design (including actuarial financial design) to bespoke software development and specialised hosting needs. These are gaining popularity in a competitive marketplace in which businesses are only as good as their most recent customer experience or engagement."
"The LoyaltyPlus product models are designed to cater for small to large customer bases for airline, hospitality and retail industries worldwide, providing a quick and effective passage to owning a loyalty programme in the cloud. Due to the cloud-based shared methodology, the enterprise benefits from the economies of scale with regards to licence fees, software and hardware infrastructure," Van der Westhuizen continues.
Social media is a powerful and accessible tool to spread the word about the benefits of loyalty programmes.
LoyaltyPlus believes the arrival of digital channels, including the cloud, Internet of things (IOT) and social networks, has opened up numerous avenues through which the hospitality industry can capitalise and effectively market loyalty programmes.
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