Fresh Tips For Building Customer Loyalty

It is impossible to attend a franchise conference or read a trade magazine without being inundated with discussions about "engaging your customers". Everyone wants to tell franchise systems the best way to build brand loyalty. It is hard to know who to listen to and what advice to take. A recent article by Jitendra Gupta in Franchising World, however, contained both pretty interesting and easy best practices for moving away from stale paper punch and swipe cards to build "brand advocate" customers.

1. Surprise Your Customers. Everyone knows that just giving away free "stuff" alone does not build loyalty but people like fun surprises. Gupta discussed how Capriotti's Sandwich Shop randomly selects customers in its loyalty program and provides them with a free sandwich. The random shot at a freebie may help increase occasional customers' visits.