Customer loyalty programs -- pricing for vendor programs vs. homegrown programs
My company is considering purchasing a loyalty solution or starting our own loyalty program. If we decided to buy an off-the-shelf solution, what can we expect to pay? What is the typical industry price range for a loyalty solution -- both set-up and ongoing/maintenance fees? Could you please recommend any helpful sources to help us perform a cost evaluation?

    Requires Free Membership to View

    When you register, you'll begin receiving targeted emails from my team of award-winning editorial writers on the latest customer relationship management (CRM)and call center technology issues today. Our goal is to keep you informed on the hottest issues facing this fast-changing industry.

    Hannah Smalltree, Editorial Director

    By submitting your registration information to SearchCRM.com you agree to receive email communications from TechTarget and TechTarget partners. We encourage you to read our Privacy Policy which contains important disclosures about how we collect and use your registration and other information. If you reside outside of the United States, by submitting this registration information you consent to having your personal data transferred to and processed in the United States. Your use of SearchCRM.com is governed by our Terms of Use. You may contact us at webmaster@TechTarget.com.

While I'm not a strong proponent of off-the-shelf, or cookie-cutter loyalty programs, the best resource for this kind of information is Colloquy, a company responsible for many of the major players' loyalty programs. Another great resource is The Loyalty Guide, an encyclopedia of loyalty program information published by The Wise Marketer. As a rule of thumb, any program designed to optimize desired loyalty behavior should be customized and empirically tested for effectiveness, because customers of different suppliers have varied needs and perceive value in different ways.

This was first published in September 2006