A loyalty program has to be easy and embedded into something a customer already does.
This insight comes from Terri Micklin (bottom left, on left), president of Pittsburgh-based GetGo, speaking at the C-Suite in the Hot Seat forum at CSP’s 2024 Outlook Leadership conference last week in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.
Not everyone wants a bunch of apps on their phone, said Micklin, who was interviewed by co-moderator Abbey Lewis (bottom left, top right), CSP’s vice president of content strategy. “We’re serving up loyalty right at the point of sale, right at checkout, every day. The customer who comes in every day can see how many points they’ve earned, what their options are for redemption. Whether they want to save it or stack it into another promotion. We’re making it really easy. It’s on their receipt every time. They don’t ever have to open the app ever if choose not to. Now if they want to use it digitally, we’re right there for them as well.”
GetGo recently introduced optionality, she said. “We’re letting the customer tell us how they want to engage with loyalty rather than forcing it upon them.”
One example is if a customer is filling up at the fuel court, they’ll get the option to redeem perks for gas as dollars off their total purchase or as cents off per gallon.
“I think optionality is the big new thing,” she said. “What’s coming right on top of that is personalization. We’ve already started with the app. We’ve launched all sorts of personalized offers straight to the app. We’ve begun to get into age-restricted products with some of our vendor partners, offering personalization through that, and really talking to the customer they want to be heard.”
GetGo is getting customer feedback, she said, by “always listening. That’s part of the business. You need to engage with the customer.”
Spinx
Process was the next subject, as co-moderator Derek Gaskins (bottom right, top left), Fort Worth, Texas-based Yesway’s chief marketing officer, interviewed Stewart Spinks (bottom right, on right), chairman and founder of The Spinx Co., Greenville, South Carolina.
“What my team does now better than I could ever do is process,” Spinx said concerning advice to start or grow a business. “You have to react to the customer and to your associates and the community, and what really happens is you start to connect, and then I say to our people, ‘Don’t worry about—we’re not going to make any money on that right away. The consumer’s happy, there are smiles on the faces of our associates and the customer, so we’ll figure out a way to make money on it later. That’s secondary’.”
Stinker Stores
Lewis then spoke with Nate Brazier (top right, on left), president and CEO of Boise, Idaho-based Stinker Stores. Brazier said that Stinker Stores wants to execute at a more precise level.
“You have to be nimble,” Brazier said, adding that changes they have made in the last 18 to 24 months on the leadership level have enabled Stinker Stores to better align and cross-collaborate among the various teams. This helps change directions more quickly when they need to.
When asked the key qualities he looks for in leadership team members to help Stinker, Brazier, said, “First, and most important, is a certain level of craziness to be on the team. We embrace crazy ideas.”
On a more serious note, he said, he looks for people-focused behaviors, “truly understanding our people on our team and how can we help them get to that next level of their career. What do they need in development? But sometimes that next level of their career might not be with Stinker, but of course I want everyone to stay with Stinker. But if that next level in their career is somewhere else, we want to be a part of helping them get to that next level.”
Qualities, Brazier said, also include having “a lot of moxie, a little edginess; that’s who we are, that’s our brand. As leaders, we have to have that moxie. Don’t mistake that with arrogance. Moxie is confidence with humbleness.”
“Last but not least, you gotta have a lot of fun,” he said. “We don’t take ourselves too seriously.”
Global Partners
Finally, Gaskins spoke with Lorraine, Spadaro (top left, on right), chief information officer at Global Partners, Waltham, Massachusetts, on the customer experience.
Spadaro, who previously worked for the Boston Bruins, said one thing she can take from her long career in sports and entertainment is the importance of the customer experience.
From “literally the moment you purchase that ticket to leaving your driveway or get on the subway to get to the venue to the moment you walk out, we journey-map that entire experience and really try to understand every single customer touchpoint along the way,” she said.
Spadaro said they have brought in team members to improve Global Partners’ game in strategic and digital marketing.
“I’m really excited about it,” she said, adding, “We all have a limited set of tools we work with in our industry. We’re trying to find new ways to bring some of more of the sophisticated tools in. We’ll be launching some new apps with new capabilities.”
These tools will help to better understand their customers, when they come to visit, how often they come and what motivates them, “so we’re speaking to them and engaging with them the way we need to,” Spadaro said.
Along with this, it’s important to “pull those levers and measure and understand what’s successful,” she said.
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