In these tough times when households are under pressure to make ends meet, perhaps it is time to have a closer look at loyalty programs to unlock some value to help get through. The more successful loyalty programs help you to change towards lifestyle behaviours which align with their business models and they reward you with useful benefits for doing so.
Here are some areas you should focus on with your loyalty program to ensure that you max out the benefits on offer.
Understand the program
Understand as much as you can about the program. What you have to do to get the most out of it. If you just, say, join it for a free gym contract, then you probably will miss out on a whole lot more.
There was probably a lot more to understand about the program in terms of its philosophy of say” wellness”. It probably would encourage you to eat well and focus on other areas like stress and mental health. The program probably also offers much more and the more instant the rewards the more gratifying it will be. So, getting to understand the program completely will obviously unlock a lot more value.
Are the values real?
As a premium member of one of my loyalty programs, I have diligently kept up the required behaviours towards a healthier lifestyle. The rewards, in the main, are real and immediate with discounts on healthy food and retail items. However, when booking an air ticket recently, I realised that my 35% discount was applied to the “rack rate”. This ended up being no cheaper than similar air tickets available on the “Travel Start” website. So this reward had no real value. Check out the actual value of what is promised and try not to be lulled into perceived values.
Commit fully to the program
You will do better with fewer programs. You should align your goals with the program. If the program sets out to encourage you to improve your health, help you to drive better or manage your money more efficiently then you should commit fully. By so doing, you will enjoy most of the rewards on offer and improve your lifestyle at the same time. Dabbling in the program won’t unlock much in rewards and will just end up being a cost to you in membership fees.