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You are here: Home / Marketing / Novel Idea: Actually Rewarding Your Customers

Sarah Worsham / May 19, 2009

Novel Idea: Actually Rewarding Your Customers

rewardFreeWineI was shopping last week at Eddie Bauer in the mall.  The customer service was great and I had an enjoyable shopping experience.  At least until I checked out.  Then I was asked if I had a rewards card.  No, thank you.  It’s free.  I’m not interested. Why?  Because I hate carrying around 2309238098 cards from different companies.  I don’t feel that’s a reward.  You assign me a number, make me carry a card, track what I purchase and occasionally give me coupons for your stuff.  I think the reward is surely in your favor.

First off, these types of rewards programs bother me because they’re already tracking what I purchase.  I usually pay by credit card, so that pretty much assigns my identity to what I purchase.  They just want my permission to market to me.  I get it, but I don’t want it.  Instead, how about randomly giving me a coupon at time of purchase?  That would be much more of a reward than this veil of a supposed rewards program.

Don’t get me wrong.  I think you should reward your customers…and your business partners…and your referrals.  I just think they should actually be rewarded.  Give them something they want.  It can be a discount on your services or a referral fee or whatever.  Just don’t pretend you have a rewards program when you actually have a direct marketing program.

Be open.  Be honest.  Reward your customers.

(photo by FreeWine @ Flickr CC)

Technorati tags: direct marketing, referrals, customer rewards, business, rewards programs, marketing

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Filed Under: Marketing, News & Notes Tagged With: Business, direct marketing, Marketing

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About Sazbean


Sarah Worsham (Sazbean) is a Webgrrl = Solution Architect + Product Management (Computer Engineer * Geek * Digital Strategist)^MBA. All views are her own.

Business + Technical Product Management

My sweet spot is at the intersection between technology and business. I love to manage and develop products, market them, and deep dive into technical issues when needed. Leveraging strategic and creative thinking to problem solving is when I thrive. I have developed and marketed products for a variety of industries and companies, including manufacturing, eCommerce, retail, software, publishing, media, law, accounting, medical, construction, & marketing.

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