Within every company there is a need to ensure you're engaged with your customers at the appropriate level of interaction. It's important to keep them informed but in a way that doesn't annoy them with information they don't find useful. Sending emails is useful, but does it give them the proper incentive to return to the space and environment you have created?
If you think for a moment about the business you use and then continuously return to, what is the driver? Some examples could be:
Amusement Parks
Natural Spaces (Forests, Rivers, Lakes, Parks)
Virtual Gaming Worlds
Grocery Store
Restaurants / Bars
Gas Stations
Government Facilities
Doctors / Dentists Offices
Each of these spaces provides different experiences and invoke different emotions when customers think of them. One of the common themes for all of these places is the customer has a choice on what provider is used. Customers have choices:
Disney or Universal
Grand Canyon or Niagara Falls
Minecraft or Facebook
Whole Foods or Wegman's
The gas station around the corner or the gas station with sandwiches and coffee
The DMV that is more efficient or the one nearby that forces you to wait
What Makes Loyalty
To better understand what motivates customers to stay loyal try putting the customer in the center of the experiences provided and understand the journey they take. Before you create a service or new offering first understand what makes customers happy. This will give valuable insight to add value to your business.
Having the tastiest food, cheapest price, fastest service and nicest people isn't always enough to attract and retain customers. These qualities are certainly important, but there is always competition. The introduction of apps, loyalty points and rewards has become something that everyone expects to see as part of the experience. If a company or government office consistently causes negative responses and evokes a bad memory, there is a good chance that people will seek alternatives.
What Will Change in the Future
The use of apps, rewards and loyalty points provides another incentive to use one space/service/vendor over another, but what happens when everyone has adopted that function? What is required to keep customers interested in what you are offering? A community and shared, positive experiences is what is necessary to keep people involved and willing to give their time. This community shouldn't have the single motive of removing money from the customers' wallet. Instead companies and brands should look to offer ways to grow, provide ownership in the ecosystem, and embed a sense of pride in belonging to a common area where everyone can participate in the communities success.
Consider an example. Imagine an artist offering the ability for people to participate in the direction of the next collection of artwork. As someone who owns an artist's digital product (e.g. NFT) you can show your loyalty and appreciation for the work that is produced. You have direct connection with the artist and have access into their private channels that influence what you like to see and gives an NFT holder the ability to interact with others that share in the love for this artwork.
This exclusive area can be restricted by the number of NFTs created and in turn makes having this access scarce and valuable. Holders of this exclusivity, through the purchase of an NFT, could sell their place (the NFT) and relinquish their ability to participate in this community for a fee. If they really believe in the artist and think this person and this group will be more successful and more exclusive over time they can hold their NFT and see if the value increases as more people want entrance into this community. The artist could open up other services and look for other projects. The shift from a loyalty card to actual ownership of a community provides a different experience to happen. A contract, established by an NFT that is found on the blockchain, with an artist and ecosystem owner, can now be established. This contract (supported by NFTs and the blockchain) creates a space for others to share in experiences, give direction, and in turn to create value and memorable experiences.
Here is an example:
Cryptobaristas allows those that participate in their NFT project to have added services, exclusive benefits and the ability to resell their ownership in the community on digital markets. https://cryptobaristas.com/
Where Should I Start
With everything, start small. Always focus on the customer and participants first. Create an experience that is new and exciting. Ensure you are allowing them something that makes them feel special. Don't worry if it is a little clunky in the beginning, learning to iterate is an important skill that will be necessary to be successful. Maybe offer a packaged service through the purchase of a digital product. For example every digital purchase in this collection includes a private engagement with me the artist (virtual or in person).
I hope to work with some brave creators in the future to test out some of these concepts and give some real work feedback on what does and doesn't work. I hope to provide additional real world perspectives in the coming weeks and months. Good Luck!!
About the author:
Curtis Lupton is a curious entrepreneur who has successfully developed improved customer experiences for private and public organizations. If you would like to learn more about ValueProve and how they can help you in your re-imagined CX/BX journey please visit www.value-prove.com
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