By: Erika Stevens

So you decided to start a loyalty program for your business.  You’ve nailed down the options - your choice of enrollment, award structure, what rewards to give and now you are ready to go.  You sign up your customers and they start earning points and rewards.  That’s it, right?  As everyone’s favorite Ronco infomercials would say, “Set it and forget it!” 

The truth is if you are not evolving your rewards program you are wasting a huge opportunity.  Your loyalty program should be in a constant evolutionary state leveraging feedback from your customers, members and employees.  Beyond listening to feedback pick specific loyalty goals that you want to accomplish with your rewards program and share these with your members, employees and customers when appropriate. 

I loved the way Parasole Restaurant Holdings communicated its goal to reach 50,000 members in their rewards program the Parasole Dining Club.  The 50,000th member that signed up was rewarded with a $100 gift card for each of their 14 restaurants.  Communicating this goal inevitably resulted in excitement for members enrolling in the program.  After the 50,000th member was identified they made use of their member’s attention to communicate the continued benefits for participating in the rewards program. 

Parasole Restaurant Holdings engaged their members further by asking them to participate in a survey to gather feedback about the rewards program offering five more $100 gift cards to those who participate.   The same page highlights enhancements to simplify the program for the members that may seem small, but they are a testament to the continuous evolution of the Parasole Dining Club rewards program.  Beyond their dedication to their customers the restaurants themselves are fantastic and a must if you live in or are visiting the Twin Cities. 

Congrats to Parasole on their accomplishment!