Chip Bell is a noted expert and author in the field of consumer loyalty – he has authored or co-authored several best-selling books, most recently, Take Their Breath Away: How Imaginative Service Creates Devoted Customers. His work has been featured on various news networks including CNBC, CNN and Fox Business Network and in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, USA Today and Business Week. A renowned keynote speaker, Bell has served as consultant or trainer to GE, Microsoft, CVS/pharmacy, Marriott, Ritz-Carlton Hotels, Harley-Davidson and Cadillac.

Tell us about your background in loyalty marketing.

Our focus is around creating “devoted customers”.  We think of a continuum with satisfied customers being at the C-level, loyal customers that companies retain being at the B-level and the A-level would be the devoted customer.  We work with organizations who are interested in elevating the experience of their customers to the highest level so that they can build a much deeper, more devoted customer base. 

What are some of the best practice approaches to loyalty and rewards programs that you've seen during your career?

Some of the most effective programs are those that feel homegrown to the customer – they create an experience that feels tailored and highly personalized. 

The basis of most loyalty programs is to thank the customer for their business.  The more that feels like it was made for them personally, the more it works, because it doesn't feel like this could be a message for just anybody.  It doesn't feel like just another mass marketing technique. 

By contrast, have you seen any examples where companies have hit roadblocks in their approach to their programs?

Some companies believe that all they need is a good loyalty or affinity program and that will do the trick – they’ll get customers who really like them and want to come back every time.  What they forget is that while loyalty programs are important and very valuable because of that unique expression they provide, the experience needs to match it.

So I think one of the biggest mistakes is to think that if you’ve got a great loyalty program then you’ve achieved something great without realizing that there is much more to what builds customer loyalty and devotion than simply a program that expresses your appreciation for their business. 

Do you think that current recessionary times bode well for loyalty and rewards programs?

I think the tougher the times, the more critical it is to make sure we’re segmenting the market so we provide a more tailored approach.  Today's customer has far more options than they've ever had before, which means they will look at their experience and the way they are treated as a way to choose between service providers or products.  So experience becomes a part of their definition of value rather than simply a great product or great service at a fair price.  But I think tough times give us greater opportunity, not less.

How have you seen social media affect customer devotion and brand loyalty?

There was a time when we used to say: customers who have a good experience tell three people; if they have a bad experience, they tell ten.  Today they may tell 1,000 via social media like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube and trash you overnight.  And thousands of customers who get a negative Tweet can have a big impact. 

Because of social media, the customer has the capacity to get instant reviews from any organization they're considering from countless previous customers.   

Tell us about your most recent book which you co-authored with John Patterson, ‘Take Their Breath Away’ – what is the basic premise behind it?

The premise is that in tough times, the concept of ‘value added’ becomes very expensive.  There was a time when an airline could thank a customer for their business by upgrading them immediately to first class.  In today’s economy, it’s getting tougher, and businesses with thin margins have to sell that seat at a first class price, not give it away as a token of appreciation.

In the book, we speak about how to create an unexpected experience; how to create an imaginative surprise that often costs you nothing or very, very little.  So it's not just service with generosity, it's service with imagination.  So many options are simple and don’t cost anything but could absolutely blow the customer away.

What is the most satisfying part of your work?

Working with clients who are committed to taking service to a whole new level; who are open to exploring new ways of doing things and not simply looking at it from the same old perspective and are willing to take some risks.  Not foolhardy risks, but appropriate risks to try new things. 

And if you look at the organizations out there that are winning and being the most successful, like Amazon.com, Zappos.com or Ritz Carlton Hotels, you find there is a willingness to be inventive, to try new things and that's exciting as a consultant to work with that kind of client. 

Over the next year or two what are your goals?

John (Patterson) and I are working on a new book already.  It's going to be a very unique book and focused on the concept of hosting.  And hosting is a concept that comes from our everyday personal life; we’ve found that organizations that have helped their frontline deliver service as if they were a great host tend to be the ones that are being very, very successful, including brands from Chick-fil-A to the Ritz Carlton Hotels. 

Regardless of the business you’re in, the goal is to make the customer feel that they are being hosted in a way that is very unique and very special.  And so the book is going to discuss how to create that in organizations. 

What are the simple truths you can offer senior level marketers regarding their loyalty marketing programs?

Be in the field.  Get out there and spend time where the work happens.  You have geniuses working for you in the field – who knows more about your customers than the people who deal with them every day?

Women Want More: How to Capture Your Share of the World’s Largest, Fastest-Growing Market
By Michael J. Silverstein and Kate Sayre

Globally, women control nearly $12 trillion of the overall $18.4 trillion in consumer discretionary spending. By 2013, women will add $5 trillion to the global income pool and will control this incremental earnings as well.   The rise of this female economy represents a greater commercial potential than the growth of the consumer economies of India and China combined.

Yet despite their hard-won economic power and social influence, women are still under-estimated as consumers and, all too often, find their needs marginalized and their opinions ignored. Moreover, women the world over are often dissatisfied with the variety, quality, convenience, and performance of the goods and services they spend so much money on.

Women Are Upfront About Their Sources of Joy and Dissatisfaction

Women Want More is based on The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Global Inquiry into Women and Consumerism, a comprehensive survey of more than 12,000 women in more than twenty-two countries. The wealth of data this survey provided was supplemented by dozens of in-depth interviews with individual women to gain a deep understanding of many aspects of their lives.

We also studied the companies and categories, looking for patterns in those that serve women well and those that do not. We found that the most successful companies are the ones that, first and foremost, recognize the enormous opportunity represented by the female economy. They listen carefully to what women say they need and respond with products and services that enable women to save time, fulfill their roles, and deliver emotional engagement, as well.

Companies in All Categories Should be Focusing on Women: They Control, and Increasingly Make, the Money

Success for consumer-facing companies increasingly depends on how well they understand and respond to women’s needs and desires.

In the United States alone, women control half the wealth, own 40 percent of the businesses, make up 57 percent of the college population, and influence more than 70 percent of the purchases made in a wide variety of product and service categories. The opportunity offered by the female economy will only grow larger in the years to come.

Women Are Overwhelmed with Responsibilities

Women are not only increasingly the primary breadwinners and spenders; they also continue to shoulder the majority of household responsibilities, including cooking, cleaning, childrearing, and shopping. On top of this, about 70.9 percent of mothers are in the work force. On average, women are committed 113 hours per week.

This lack of time influences women’s spending and buying decisions. They will quickly embrace products or services that save them any time or that help to expedite any of the myriad tasks they need to accomplish in a given day. They will shun those that add complication or inconvenience.

Reaching Women with the Four R’s

We found that a number of companies truly understand women, and these provide models and examples for others to follow. In its own way, each of these successful companies follow a set of practices that we define as the Four R’s: Recognize, Research, Respond, Refine.

They recognize that women are actively seeking goods and services that help them leverage their time, offer value, and deliver on all of their practical and aesthetic demands. They conduct extensive research, listening to women’s opinions — both the good and the bad — and building a comprehensive portrait of their target consumers. These companies respond to the research by producing straightforward solutions that deliver specific, value-added improvements to their offerings. Finally, they constantly refine their products and services in response to changing conditions and shifting sensibilities. They are forever devising improvements in design, materials, applications, and time savings reductions for their prized consumers.

Companies That Successfully Serve Women

The companies that win women’s loyalty are those that deliver on all of the basic criteria that women respond to: they save women time in a specific and consistent way; they cater to women’s needs in a manner that is personal, emotionally resonant, and not superficial or insulting; and they recognize women as their primary consumers, and treat them with the respect that position warrants.

Amy’s Kitchen has devoted women customers because it offers healthy, affordable, fast food with enough variety to appeal to women’s interest in food and enough taste to be sensual. That’s an important differentiation for time-pressed women, who feel a responsibility to feed healthy food to their families even when they don’t have time to cook from scratch.

Curves fitness centers offer cheap, fast exercise routines in convenient locations. Each location features the same easy, standardized workout circuit. There are no men and no mirrors, so women don’t have to worry about their looks while they exercise. Curves is a gym for women who just want to be healthy and fit, and who don’t have the time or the desire to become workout buffs.

Banana Republic understands the importance of pants for women — and that finding pants that look and fit well is nearly impossible. It developed a range of different styles, with consistent sizing and fits within each style. Once a woman has found the style that suits her, she can buy anything in her size without trying it on.

Categories that Disappoint Women — and Market Opportunities for a Player that Gets it Right

Categories that women find dissatisfying — both in their product offerings and in the way they treat women as consumers — include healthcare, cars, electronics, and insurance. The greatest offender, however, is financial services.

According to the survey, women value money as a way to care for their families and themselves, improve their lives and assure long-term security. They want solutions that help them with their most frustrating task: managing household finances from day to day and month to month. Women want advisors and services that recognize their need for short-term simplicity and long-term stability.

Women aren’t getting these solutions.   In fact, they were scathing in their comments about dealings with financial services and institutions. They experience a lack of respect, poor advice, contradictory policies and an obstacle course of red tape and forms.

This presents a major opportunity in financial advice: Institutions and individuals that can provide better information sources and education materials may appeal to women. Women are also willing to “trade up” to an advisor whom they can rely on to help with important investment decisions, without being condescending or pushy.

Women Represent a Vast Opportunity

The size of the prize for companies is enormous — an estimated $5 trillion in incremental spending in the next several years. It may very well be that women will be instrumental in pulling us through the current economic recession. The companies that recognize the opportunity and respond to it with skill, nuance, and genuine engagement are sure to occupy a privileged position in the future economy — which, given the ever-rising number of women in the workforce and their ever-strengthening position in the consumer market, truly may be a female economy.  Companies that create their own 4 R work plan – recognize, research, respond, refine – will prosper and take leadership in the Female Economy.