Most retention programs are built before anyone decides what they’re for. 

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The perks come first. Points, tiers, maybe a paid membership on top. Then, it launches, and everyone’s disappointed for a different reason. 

Pick the behavior first

Start the other way around. Pick one behavior you want patron to repeat, and build the perks around it.

Car washes are the cleanest version of this I’ve seen. The monthly subscription price sits close to what two washes cost, so the math is easy enough people can do it quickly in their head. Members pull in on the way home, or randomly while they’re out and about because it’s “already paid for”. The operator’s buying a habit and revenue they can forecast. The savings angle is just how it gets sold.

So, what do you want people to do?

• Do you want them to make another purchase inside the next 30 days?
• Book the next appointment before they pay?
• Show up on a Tuesday instead of a Saturday?
• Bring a friend next time they shop?

Or maybe nothing is necessarily “broken” and you just want more of what you already get. Your regulars come in twice a month and you want four. That works too. 

Pick one and make it the entire point of your next program update.

What to measure

When I audit a program, I review the automations, the messaging going out and the rewards, and work backwards to the behavior they encourage. Usually it’s “wait for the next promo”.

When I ask how the program’s doing, what I get back is enrollment and redemption numbers. Okay, so people signed up and used a perk. Did anybody come back sooner than they would have in the first place? Spend more? Buy something they wouldn’t typically?

“But our redemption rate is great.” Sure. The regular who was already coming in every week redeems too.

Pick the number that IS the behavior. If the job is a second visit inside 30 days, your number is what percent of first timers come back inside 30 days. Document when, and what you changed so you can review the metrics in a month. If it hasn’t moved, then make adjustments.

Until next month 🙂 

~ Steph