EPISODE 28 OF WHAT WOULD THEY DO? THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE PODCAST FOR SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS
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In this episode, I answer a powerful listener question: “I’m considering a loyalty program for my online business, but can’t afford to discount my offers. What are the alternatives?”
If you’ve ever felt caught between wanting to reward your most loyal customers and the fear of undercutting your pricing structure, this episode is a must-listen. I share why discounts aren’t the only (or the best) way to nurture loyalty, and what to do instead. Whether you’re a service provider, course creator, or membership owner, you’ll walk away with practical, high-impact loyalty strategies that protect your margins and strengthen your customer relationships.
From surprise-and-delight perks to status-based incentives, this episode is packed with creative, conversion-smart ideas you can apply right away without touching your pricing.
What we cover:
Why discounts aren’t the only way to drive urgency or reward loyalty—and how they may actually hurt your brand long-term.
What a value-driven loyalty program really is, and how it deepens brand commitment without eroding your margins.
How exclusivity and recognition can drive repeat purchases more effectively than promo codes.
Real-life loyalty perk ideas you can start implementing today—tailored for service providers, course creators, and membership owners.
How to use status markers and private experiences to reward loyalty, create urgency, and boost word-of-mouth advocacy.
Soundbites:
“Value-driven perks basically just mean that your customers are happy to pay full price because you are giving them a gentle nudge by adding a bonus, an incentive, a perk, an opportunity that’s only available to them because they have a certain status, they are your best customers and it makes them feel appreciated, makes them feel special and pulls them even further into the experience around your brand.”
“Non-monetary perks feel exclusive and they elevate that perceived brand value. It also encourages advocacy. Your students, your 1:1 clients are more likely to share a surprise bonus perk or an exclusive invite they have received than a coupon code or a discount they scored.”
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Episode Transcript:
Hey hey, and welcome back to the podcast. In this week’s episode, we’re going to look at one of my favorite topics, loyalty programs, reward programs. I have one in my business and I am currently considering extending it. The question we’re going to answer goes like this. I’m considering a loyalty program for my online business, but can’t afford
to discount my offers. What are the alternatives? And this listener is definitely not alone. As online business owners, we are often operating under the assumption that discounts are the only way to sell our offers, to create a sense of urgency for people to jump on that next purchase. When in fact,
There are alternatives that can add value instead of cutting into your margins. today’s episode is all about non-monetary perks and a value-driven loyalty approach that you can use in your business to reward your best customers, no discounts required. But before we get into some ideas to get you started,
We are going to look at the definition of a value driven loyalty program, what it is and why it can totally be the answer to your reward question. So a value driven loyalty program basically is a system of perks, exclusive experiences or status markers that deepen the loyalty.
in your brand, in your offers, in you as the personal brand potentially, by recognising your customer’s commitment and their repeat purchases, the investment they’ve made in your business, in your offers. And that does not require lowering your prices. Discounts overall, absolutely train your customers to buy only when you drop your prices.
If you are constantly discounting, people are actually waiting for that discount, they are not investing in your offers at the full price. So value-driven perks basically just mean that your customers are happy to pay full price because you are giving them a gentle nudge
by adding a bonus, an incentive, a perk, an opportunity that’s only available to them because they have a certain status, they are your best customers and it makes them feel appreciated, makes them feel special and pulls them even further into the experience around your brand. So the benefit of a value-driven loyalty system is that
It obviously protects your margins. It means you are not cutting into your profits. You are making awesome money and simply by adding exclusive opportunities, you are seeing the same effect, potentially even a better effect because people are getting closer to you as the business owner. They are getting better experiences and that obviously elevates the trust in your brand and encourages them to stick around. It also builds
equity. What I mean with that is that non-monetary perks feel exclusive and they elevate that perceived brand value. So the value they’re getting from their experience with the particular offer they’re buying. And it also encourages advocacy. Members of your membership, for example, your students, your 1:1 clients are more likely to share
a surprise bonus perk or an exclusive invite that they have received to experience the brand even further than a coupon code or a discount that they scored. So it opens up even more opportunities for word of mouth and your customers actually becoming your brand advocates. So I have a handful of ideas for you. Obviously they’re only scratching the surface. It depends on your business, your offer.
your audience. So have a look at how you can apply these to your business and use these ideas to spark your own. I’m a huge fan of using little hints to then create your own exclusive value add that you can offer your best customers. So some ideas here, if you are a service provider, for example, you could offer a quarterly
office hours, you want to call them, Q &A sessions, where existing clients get first dips on the limited spots that are available to this quarterly Q &A session. The Q &A session itself might be free, but the spots are limited and to get first dips and a guaranteed spot to those quarterly Q &A sessions, you have to be an existing customer.
You can also look at something that I’m doing in my business. I have a client and student only collaboration directory that you only get access to after you have worked with me. So after we have off-boarded you, after I have ended over the deliverables, I invite you to join the directory, add your details and then have a look who else is in there.
and check out potential collaboration opportunities. So again, that is something that’s not necessarily advertised, but it adds value and encourages people to stick around and spread the word. It also could involve inviting your highest paying students or your highest paying customers to an exclusive private podcast that you only get access to once you have purchased a course.
once they have worked with you one-on-one, the definition and the parameters are totally up to you, but getting exclusive access to your thought processes to behind the scenes looks into your business can be totally irresistible for the right person. And looking at memberships here, you could totally create a badge system of some sort: your loyalists, your founding members and
Once you reach a certain status and that could be if you’ve been in the membership for six months, then you can unlock extra perks: first look at new resources, you can be involved in beta testing of new features, it could be exclusive invites to, loyalist only Q &A sessions, whatever that looks like. Have a look at your offer.
have a look at your audience and what they are craving and then turn this into a value add to encourage people to go for the 12 months plan over the six months plan because that gets them the loyalist badge and ultimately invites them to this extra opportunity. So take a closer look at your offers, take a closer look at the opportunities that you can create for those best customers and have a look how you can make it happen and incorporate it.
into your launches, into your ongoing business processes to encourage clients to work with you again. It absolutely also works for one-on-one clients. let’s say, after the second client project, you get access to XYZ. After the third one, you get access to XYZ. So it really just is a matter of communicating that extra value people can unlock once they meet certain criteria. So
This is it for today, Bitesized. I just wanted to spark that thought process in you to consider stepping away from constant discounting because you absolutely train your customer to watch out for those discounts. And if they pick up a pattern, they absolutely are going to wait for that next discount you’re dropping. So loyalty programs absolutely don’t have to be all about discounts. You can use discounts
but absolutely think about, extra status levels, extra access and insider perks as a way to create the same effect and the same urgency. So I would love you to start thinking about one non-monetary perk that you can incorporate in your business,
have a look what you can offer that’s totally irresistible that will encourage your best customers to stick around and to buy from you. So if you want your question answered by me in one of my bite-sized episodes, then share your question via the link in the show note. You can do that anonymously or leave your details and I’ll give you a little shout out.
And if you enjoyed today’s episode because it sparked something in you, absolutely share it with your friends, connections, business buddies. And thank you so much for tuning in. I will see you next week.
