BackConnection is a powerful loyalty driver. When consumers feel connected to a brand, more than half (57%) will increase their spending, and 76% will buy from that business over a competitor. Forging connections has become the gateway to meaningful engagement, enhanced satisfaction, and long-term retention. The only question is, what’s the path to building strong connections?
The answer is a reliable Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. CRMs centralize customer data making it easier for brands to connect with consumers on an individual level. In the context of loyalty program management, CRM integrations help brands — especially those in the travel sector — gain deeper customer insights and generate personalized communications.
In today’s guide to CRM and loyalty programs, discover how customer data can forge sustainable (and scalable) customer connections.
Understanding the Basics of CRM Systems
Let’s start with the basics: What is a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system? CRM systems are software tools designed to help businesses manage interactions with current and potential customers. These systems consolidate a variety of customer data — including names, contact details, and interaction history — to power more effective customer relationships.
While the features of CRM software vary by provider, the core components of these systems include but aren’t limited to:
- Data management tools like a contact database, log of customer service requests and support tickets, and historical view of customer interactions (i.e. purchase history and products they’ve viewed but did not purchase).
- Customer engagement tools like email and chat functionality, features to log phone calls and track call history, and marketing campaign widgets (i.e. tools for planning, executing, and tracking marketing efforts across platforms).
- Analytics and automation tools like customizable dashboards that monitor key performance metrics, produce sales reports, track sales pipeline stages, and streamline data analysis (i.e. analyze trends and predict customer behavior).
These CRM system components offer a comprehensive view of customer behavior to better understand their needs and preferences. This can explain why travel CRM solutions have been on the rise in recent years, namely due to their ability to track desired travel destinations, traveler search history, and in-demand itineraries.
Enhancing Loyalty Programs with CRM Capabilities
Loyalty programs are one of the longest-standing customer retention strategies, namely because they work to engage customers, increase spending, and create positive experiences. So, how can CRMs enhance loyalty programs? The combined capabilities of CRM and loyalty programs enable businesses to turbocharge data collection, customer segmentation, and marketing automation:
Data Collection and Management
Personalized loyalty programs are no longer a nice-to-have, they’re a must-have — and this is an area where CRMs shine. The combination of CRM and loyalty programs enables businesses to easily collect and manage customer data to offer tailored promotions, customized rewards, and personalized messaging, factors integral to enhancing customer loyalty and long-term retention.
Customer Segmentation
Beyond data collection, CRM capabilities also help businesses segment customers and program members based on insights like behaviors, preferences, and engagement levels. Segmentation allows for more granular loyalty program management, enabling brands to hyper-focus on each stage of the sales funnel, encourage repeat purchases, and drive more customer interactions.
Automated Marketing
Speaking of hyper-focusing on each stage of the sales funnel, CRM and loyalty programs allow businesses to target customers with personalized offers, helping to accelerate marketing campaign development. With dozens of datasets available by the minute, CRMs help populate and automate relevant marketing messages, then share them on the channels most interacted with by customers.
Benefits of Combining CRM and Loyalty Programs
At a time when nearly two-thirds of consumers (64%) want brands to connect with them, the power of amplifying a loyalty program with CRM software cannot be overstated. What are the benefits of integrating a CRM with a loyalty program? CRM benefits for loyalty range from improved customer insights and increased engagement to enhanced customer retention and streamlined operations:
Improved Customer Insights
CRMs analyze vast amounts of customer interaction data to uncover insights into member preferences. By tracking purchase history and engagement patterns, CRMs help understand customer needs and reveal hidden trends. Advanced analytics then anticipate future behavior and tailor relevant marketing strategies, focusing on smarter rewards aligned with customer activity.
Increased Customer Engagement
The combined power of CRMS and loyalty programs enables personalized interactions and targeted loyalty rewards that can significantly boost member engagement. Customized experiences make members feel valued and understood, and when rewards align with their individual preferences and interactions are tailored to their interests, members are more likely to stay engaged long-term.
Enhanced Customer Retention
More than half of consumers (51%) say their relationship with a brand starts when they feel the business understands them and their desires, but that relationship is maintained when brands continue to deliver on that understanding. CRMs track customer behavior over time — and across platforms — to monitor ongoing preferences, track satisfaction, and improve retention rates.
Streamlined Operations
CRMs are outfitted with several workflow automations beyond personalized marketing features, allowing businesses to streamline loyalty program management. With a CRM, you can automate repetitive tasks and business processes, allowing team members to focus on other objectives. Plus, CRMs track member interactions, personalize rewards, and analyze engagement all in one place.
Key CRM Features for Loyalty Program Management
Whether it’s through simplified rewards personalization or streamlined marketing campaigns, CRM and loyalty programs are a simple formula for boosting customer engagement, member satisfaction, and ultimately, retention. So, what features should a CRM have for effective loyalty program management? CRM features for loyalty management boil down to these four components:
- Data analysis and reporting features are essential to comb through thousands of seemingly unrelated data sets and successfully apply them to segmentation, rewards personalization, and monitoring consumer behavior.
- Automation capabilities are integral for effortlessly managing marketing campaigns, accelerating customer communications, and streamlining customer-facing and internal workflows to advance (and scale) program goals.
- Integration flexibility is necessary to allow for seamless connectivity with other systems outside of the customer loyalty program, such as additional marketing platforms and travel booking engines for travel-based loyalty rewards.
- User-friendly interfaces are vital for both administrators and loyalty program members, allowing internal team members to easily navigate the multiple components of the CRM and enabling members to interact with various features.
Integrating CRMs and Customer Loyalty Programs
When it comes to CRM integration with loyalty programs, the first step is to select a CRM that meets your program’s specific needs. For instance, you must find software that accommodates your entire contact list and then some, meaning the features must be scalable. Moreover, it must integrate with your existing tech stack, from legacy account management systems to marketing software.
On the topic of legacy systems, be aware that it’s common to encounter a few hurdles with data migration, especially if you’ve already collected a vast amount of insights but have yet to clean and organize the data. It’s helpful to have a sales rep from the CRM company walk you through elements like staff training and system customization, so the final integration matches your needs perfectly.
Explore arrivia’s CRM Features for Loyalty Solutions
Now, more than ever before, consumers are craving connections to the brands they support. Deliver that connectivity by leveraging CRM and customer loyalty data for marketing messages and rewards that are more relevant to the members who sign up for your business’ loyalty program. Begin to forge deeper, more data-driven customer relationships with the experts at arrivia.
Arrivia’s white label travel rewards platform is a turnkey solution for capturing customer data and customizing loyalty experiences. We deploy several CRM strategies for travel, using data collected through your loyalty program and your customers’ online behaviors to craft personalized campaigns that result in more bookings, greater redemptions, and enhanced customer satisfaction.
Learn more about arrivia’s offerings for sustainable, highly scalable customer connections.
