Why Your Wellness Center Needs a Loyalty Rewards Program
Is client loyalty a top priority for your wellness center? It should be! Because client loyalty is the key to successfully increase your revenue, develop client relationships and grow your brand awareness in your community.
Why is Client Loyalty Important?
Never mind important, client loyalty is absolutely crucial to building your business. Think we’re exaggerating? Studies indicate that clients who connect with a brand will bring in 306% more revenue, stick with them for 5 years or longer, and are 71% more likely to recommend that business.
Sounds like what you need for your wellness center? Building client loyalty is how it’s done!
What Is a Loyalty Rewards Program and Why Do You Need it?
A loyalty rewards program is an incentive-based program implemented by your wellness center to encourage and increase client loyalty.
How does it work? It’s based on the premise that people are more motivated to spend money at an establishment if they are rewarded for that behavior.
Here are some tangible benefits of implementing a rewards program at your wellness center:
1. Higher client retention
The concepts of client loyalty and client retention go hand in hand! Translation: loyal clients don’t leave, which means your client retention rates goes up.
Not sure how that works? Think about it this way: If you already frequent a particular yoga studio and they offer rewards for visiting their studio, wouldn’t that motivate you to keep coming back? Why would you go to another studio where they don’t offer any rewards?
Here’s a winning formula: consistently excellent service + rewarding clients for their business = life-long relationships and reliable revenue.
2. Bigger customer base
How can a client loyalty rewards program increase your customer base? It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3! First, you offer incentives for happy customers to refer or review your wellness center. Next, those referrals and reviews reach brand new clients. Finally, those clients visit your business and your client base grows!
Best of all, the credibility that comes with a reference from a friend is priceless! Clients are sure to give much more weight to a referral or review over any other type of marketing.
Consider this: a coffee shop around the corner claims to serve the best coffee in town. That could well be true, but who wouldn’t advertise by saying they’re the best?
However, when a friend tells you that same coffee shop serves the best coffee they’ve ever tasted, you’re likely to give them a try! This concept translates to your wellness center too. Motivate your clients to rave about your business and your client base will reach new heights!
3. Increased income
We’ve mentioned higher revenues already, but how exactly does this work? With loyalty, comes investment. People like to stick with what they know and love. That means that the longer they remain loyal, the more money you will make from them. That, in itself, will raise your bottom line.
Something you may not have considered is what’s happening with all this motivation to earn rewards! While they’re striving to reach the next tier or earn enough points to be rewarded, they’re spending money in your center.
When you do a great job by motivating your clients to participate in your program, they’ll increase their spending without even knowing it! And by gaining more clients and more income, your business will stand out from your competition—another advantage you can look forward to with your client loyalty rewards program.
4. Better brand awareness
You can also count on your client loyalty rewards program to help you build your brand and distinguish yourself from your competition. The world of wellness centers is a competitive one, and anything you can do to make a name for yourself is definitely the way to go!
So how does any of this affect your brand? There are a few ways that a loyalty rewards program can be relied on to get your brand out there:
Reviews and Referrals
We’ve mentioned reviews and referrals as part of the program, but they can also be responsible for skyrocketing your brand! For someone who may not have heard about your business, reading about you online or hearing the news from a friend can easily turn a stranger into a loyal client.
Getting your name out there in this way will solidify you in the marketplace, and with social media in the mix, people can learn about your brand, look you up and plan a visit with just a few clicks!
Better Exposure
Choosing a loyalty rewards program that includes free merch as a perk is definitely a win for your brand! All those people earning free t-shirts, water bottles or gym bags are using those items when they’re out and about. That means that they’re exposing your brand to a whole new market, one that you might not even be able to reach on your own.
Whether that merch is being shown off on public transit or at the grocery store, free advertising is an amazing way to gain attention for your brand and your business!
Stand out From Your Competition
By increasing your perceived value, you make your business more desirable than your competition. If you’re scratching your head, let us explain! It’s a simple enough premise: even if your services are within the same price range, the fact that clients can earn points with you adds to your perceived value.
That’s the great part of a rewards program! Giving your clients the impression that they’re further ahead with their loyalty to your wellness center will earn you faithful clients and revenue that’s based on relationships. Now that’s a long-term guarantee!
5. Building relationships
Relationship building is the mecca for loyalty. Once you’ve built a community based on solid relationships, your clientele is reliable and long-term.
When people do business with people they like, it seems less like a business transaction and more like a dealing with a friend. That’s what happens when you develop relationships with your clients.
By building relationships, you also naturally up the trust and loyalty your clients feel for your wellness center. By receiving perks and rewards, even though they’re working for them, clients feel like you appreciate them and their support for your business.
How is this related to your client loyalty program? It’s a natural progression: once you’ve built a community of invested clients, you’ve got a great way to get to know them!
Start looking at the stats! By analyzing the data, you’ll be able to connect with your clients on a whole new level. Develop a following, build relationships, and increase client loyalty. Study their buying habits, look at what motivates them to buy and analyze how they participate in your program.
The way it works is by motivating your clients to participate in your loyalty program, you build relationships and get a better understanding of your clients overall—and better relationships mean better business.
Get Started
Wondering whether this actually works? According to a study conducted by Forbes, 78% of people believe that loyalty programs save them money, and nearly half of those polled said loyalty programs have an influence on what they buy. So, if you’re looking to build your client base and up your game, it’s time to set up a client loyalty program.
What’s your best approach? Before you get too deep into it, try and gauge what would appeal to your clients.
You might adopt a points system, where clients reaching a certain tier receive free merch, services or any other perks you think would motivate them to spend money. Some other options might include rewards or freebies for referrals or positive reviews.
The bottom line is: determine the best way to garner loyalty and long-term business and then go for it!
In Conclusion
A customer loyalty program can take your wellness center to a whole new level! By growing a loyal community, you can retain clients, grow your customer base, build a strong brand and foster relationships.
The whole idea is to get as many people as possible participating so that your loyalty grows and as a bonus, so does your bottom line! Convinced yet?
At WellnessLiving, we can help you build your business, starting with loyalty! From app customization (that lets your clients interact with your rewards program on mobile) to easy online booking to getting your client loyalty program off the ground, we are wellness experts trusted by businesses worldwide. Book a free, no-commitment demo with us today and start reaping the rewards!