1to1 Magazine Demo

Tully’s Coffee Brews Loyal Customers or businesses, gift cards—unlike loyalty cards—often present a lost opportunity to interact with customers. But not any longer. Some companies are combining the benefits of both, adding a loyalty component to the gift card model without adding to the points clutter. Tully’s chain of coffee shops may differentiate itself as a “handcrafted retailer serving small-batch roasted specialty coffee,” but its loyalty strategy is progressive. Customers register their information when they purchase a Tully’s Coffee Card, which can be reloaded and used as a personal account, not just as a gift card. Tully’s works with loyalty provider Chockstone on the initiative. The chain also still sells anonymous gift cards as well. “We launched our loyalty program in 2006 after selling fixeddenomination gift cards before then,” says Martin Walker, vice president of marketing and merchandising at Tully’s. “Our offer to customers with the new cards is that if they load at least $30 onto it, they get 10 percent added for free.” Customers register their cards in the store or online with their name, address, phone number, and email address. It allows them to use the card instead of cash, and Tully’s can track every item purchased, the store it was used in, and at what time of day. Using this information, which pops up on the register, Tully’s employees can personalize the customer experience to offer immediate, relevant discounts or present product offers. For example, if a customer typically visits during the morning, a Tully’s associate might offer him discounts on his favorite items as an incentive to return later in the day. This is just one option; the customer database can be divided into as many segments as f necessary to run multiple campaigns at once, Walker says. Online, cardholders can create a secure login to access mytullyscard.com, where they can check their balances and replenish their card. “We’re a small, family-operated business and ultimately our differentiator is the coffee itself,” he says. “Any time we can offer our customers something like a loaded card to keep them connected to the brand, we will.” As for results, Walker says, “we carefully track our card sales as a percentage of our overall business. When we started, it was only about 4 percent of our business; today it’s 14 percent.” Because of that, he says, Tully’s is looking to expand the loyalty program by adding points and incentives this fall. Though Tully’s has yet to tie its loyalty program to a credit card, it does use its Coffee Card to collect the same type of preference data, from which Walker and his team decide when to offer various promotions, what days of the week to offer discounts, and when to reward loyal customers with a few dollars off. “We just did a customer survey and overall we got high marks for a positive experience,” Walker says. “We had high scores for cleanliness, friendly service, and order accuracy, all things we strive for in this industry. This loyalty program builds on that positive experience and gives our customers another reason to come back.” > Jeremy Nedelka “Any time we can offer our customers something like a loaded card to keep them connected to the brand, we will.” Mothers Work’s Rewards Program Gives Parents a Helping Hand m aternity apparel retailer Mothers Work has taken the Wireless, to allow customers to earn extra rewards and points. idea of a rewards card to a whole new level. Its “Our loyalty program is not about just getting you back FutureTrust credit card program is designed to encourage into the store,” Bashe says. “It’s really about education and college savings beyond the nine-month customer lifecycle. the future of your family.” Only the FutureTrust brand The FutureTrust program launched in 2003 after founder appears on the card, to encourage customers to use it after Rebecca Mathias learned from customers that they were they stop shopping at Mothers Work stores. concerned about saving for their children’s college educa- “It’s more than just a Store employees prequalify customers and take applicaregular card program.” tions directly at the point of sale. Once signed up, customers tions. The company, which operates more than 1,000 stores under four brands—Motherhood Maternity, A Pea in the get a packet of information about how to link the credit card Pod, Mimi Maternity, and Destination Maternity—runs on the corporate to a 529 college saving program, as well as financial tips and a list of retail philosophy of “giving the customer what she wants, when she wants it.” network partners. New employees get trained on the program, and inAs a result, its loyalty strategy became one about giving customers inforstore employees receive weekly updates about program changes and mation and tools to save for tuition. customer feedback. Bashe says employees are compensated with a storewide bonus on the number of linked 529 accounts created, not on the “It’s more than just a regular card program,” says managing director number of applications. As a result, card accounts have increased threeAdam Bashe. Instead of a branded credit card or rewards points for fold in the past two years, as have the number of cards linked to 529 store merchandise, the FutureTrust credit card, developed with accounts. He adds that FutureTrust members tend to purchase more from Barclaycard U.S., is linked to a 529 college savings plan. Customers Mothers Work and return when they have other children. He says, “We can use the card anywhere Mastercard is accepted to accrue points hope that 18 years from now, when a child starts college, parents will that transfer into savings deposits. And Mothers Work has established look back at how they had a little help.” > Elizabeth Glagowski a network of retail partners like Target, Citimortgage, and Verizon September/October 2008 13 http://mytullyscard.com http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/?p=WEB22882UAMW3E

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of 1to1 Magazine Demo

1to1 Magazine Demo Contents 1to1media.com Editor's Note Feedback Putting Care in Patients' Hands Loyalty at Work Redefining the Contact Center Agent Introducing Enterprise 2.0 Cigna Dental Drills for Loyal Customers On the Beat 19 Ways to Succeed Miami Heat Schools Its Staff on Sales and Service Marketing Lends a Helping Hand More Than Meets the Eye Customer Service by Committiee Textron's Business Soars by Tracking Customer Loyalty Resources Contact Center Agent as Trusted Advisor Mastering Global CRM Face to Face with Don Peppers and Martha Rogers, Ph.D.

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