Use Data to Personalize and Improve Your Loyalty Program

When Meineke Car Care Centers discovered that more than two-thirds of its customers visited just once per year, they realized their customer retention campaigns needed an overhaul. Repeat customers orders were on average 25 percent higher than customers who only visited once. Executives knew that even a modest increase in repeat visits would have a significant impact on the company’s bottom line.  

The Power of Thank You

Clutch redesigned Meineke’s loyalty program to encourage repeat visits. It did this using two tactics: capturing more emails and rewarding customers in a way that introduced them to new services.

The Clutch platform powers a robust program of targeted and personalized email and direct mail campaigns to support these tactics. Due to a deep integration with Meineke’s point of sale systems, Clutch is able to enhance Meineke customer profiles with new data in real time like services redeemed, sales, and even services declined. Specific events trigger communications to customers like a thank you email after a service is complete. Or, if a technician recommended a particular service, like tire rotation or new brake pads, but the customer declined in store, the Clutch platform will also send an email to the customer reminding them that maintenance is still needed. Clutch and Meineke also calculate when a vehicle is due for maintenance based on estimates of how often the owner drives, automating outbound communication at just the right time. Finally, Meineke sends customer retention emails if a driver hasn’t visited in 6 and 12 months.

Retention Pays Off

Customers now accrue points under Meineke’s revamped loyalty program which allows them to earn one point for each dollar spent. Each customer communication, whether by email or direct mail, includes a points balance and the customer’s name, along with service, like wiper blade changes, tire rotation, and synthetic oil changes, that can be redeemed  based on the points the customer has accrued.

Meineke centers that focused on enrolling new rewards members saw clear gains. Stores that signed up more than 300 members saw a two percent bump in average ticket value, while those that signed up more than 1,000 members saw an increase of six percent. These results allowed Meineke to show results that tied revenue to e-mail capture and demonstrate the power of their improved reward program. Rewards members are:

• 62% more likely to have three visits in a single year,
• 69% more likely to have more than one car serviced in a single year,
• 200% more likely to sign up for a Meineke Credit Card.

By looking at its data, Meineke was able to identify potential areas of growth. With clearly defined goals, Clutch and Meineke were able to employ tactics that had tangible, measurable results. Meineke’s initial success with Clutch’s revamped loyalty program has encouraged the company to pursue new opportunities in data analytics and customer engagement, while at the same time building on the success of its ongoing efforts.

Want to read more about how Clutch helped Meineke redefine how it uses data to improve revenue and marketing spend?

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