As you may have noticed, I’m a big fan of loyalty programs. In recent weeks, I’ve written about the value of having a loyalty program, shared five fundamental factors for success, and explained the difference between loyalty programs and discount programs.
Let’s say you’re on board with all of the above, you’ve got your loyalty program in place, and your clients are loving it. Now what? Is that it? Not even close!
[bctt tweet=”There are so many ways to leverage your loyalty program to drive additional revenue”], and increase compliance in the areas that you are looking to improve upon. You could, for example, introduce tiered rewards, earning sprints and seasonal promotions. Let’s take a closer look.
Tiered-reward loyalty programs
Let’s say that a) you currently reward clients with one loyalty stamp for every $100 spent per invoice, and b) you offer them a $100 credit towards a future visit once they’ve collected 16 stamps. With a tiered-reward program, this still stands, but you also offer a few interim redemption options.
One of my favorite tiered-reward programs looks like this:
 |
FREE nail trim |
 |
$50 dental gift certificate |
 |
$100 credit for a future visit |
Of course, your program doesn’t have to be exactly the same. You might allow your clients to cash in just two stamps for a free nail trim. Or, instead of a nail trim, you might give away a bag of treats. Tip: Consider asking one of your vendors to provide sample bags for the treat giveaways.
With respect to the $50 dental gift certificate, remember, it’s not a $50 discount. It’s a gift certificate, and it’s only good towards a dental cleaning. I especially love this reward because it encourages clients to do one of the best things they can probably do to keep their pets healthy and comfortable. Plus, it’s good for the practice, revenue-wise.
Earning sprints and seasonal promotions
Unlike marathon-style promotional programs that are designed to run for a year but tend to fizzle out after a couple of months, earning sprints and seasonal promotions alternate throughout the year, run for one to two months each, and are a great way to [bctt tweet=”keep your loyalty program fresh and in the forefront of your team’s mind.”]
With the example below, you would offer your clients a free loyalty stamp one month for performing a specific task, take the next month off to regroup, and then repeat.
Month |
Offer a free loyalty stamp in exchange for: |
| February | Purchase of any dental product |
| April | Purchase of a 12-month supply of parasite prevention |
| June | A review of your practice on Facebook/Google/Yelp |
| August | Getting pet microchipped |
| October | Submitting a selfie of pet wearing a Halloween costume (great social media content!) |
| December | Donating to your practice’s charity of choice |
Think about it. What are five or six things that you want to do better at this year? Improve compliance? Increase your social media presence? [bctt tweet=”Consider how you might leverage your loyalty program to achieve some of your veterinary practice goals.”]
You might even use your loyalty program as a way to give back to your community.
At my practice in Colorado, I used to run a loyalty program promotion every November to benefit our local soup kitchen. Clients were rewarded with a stamp in exchange for donating at least one bag of non-perishable food. (I made a point of specifying that we would only be giving away one free stamp per client.) I placed a collection bin in the front lobby and arranged for the soup kitchen to stop by each week to pick up the donations. The promotion was a huge success. Granted, there was no financial benefit for the practice, but it was great PR, our clients felt good about supporting the cause, and they were delighted to get their free stamp.
Put one of the above loyalty program strategies into practice today!
| Your VetSuccess Compliance Tracker clearly shows you how many patients have purchased 9-12 doses of parasite prevention. If this number is not as high as you’d like it to be, offer your clients a free stamp when they pick up a 12-month supply in a single purchase. Not only will they earn loyalty stamps based on their invoice total; they’ll get an additional stamp, just for being a great pet owner. As for your veterinary practice, your reception team will find more joy in the check-out process and you’ll benefit from the added revenue. |
And there you have it. A win-win-win!
Karyn Ekola, CVPM is Director of Operations at Vet2Pet and a strong advocate of using technology to improve veterinary practice efficiencies. She can be reached at [email protected].
