In a traditional loyalty program, the key component of dialogue is the value exchange — you provide value-added information to your customers, and they respond by telling you more about themselves.
“Drip” dialogue is a smart way to facilitate that exchange. It involves asking just one or two questions at a time, responding to the answers with relevant information or offers, and then inquiring with another drip or two in an unobtrusive and precisely focused feedback loop.
FOLLOW THESE TIPS TO EXECUTE A SUCCESSFUL DRIP DIALOGUE:
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Get organized. Think strategically about what actionable information you want to collect. What areas of your business specifically might generate the right questions to pose to customers to collect that information? Then develop a short list of prioritized questions that gathers that information.
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Ask predictive questions in three powerful categories — needs, preferences and future intentions. Don’t ask who customers are (age, income, etc.) or what they’ve done, but who they seek to be and what they want to do. Data overlays can supply demographic information and the like — concentrate on what only you can gather.
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Act naturally. Employ methods of asking questions as a part of normal customer engagements at various touch-points for natural, seamless data-gathering: a one-question mini-survey during a website visit, a conversational preference question at point of sale, or a “while I have you on the line…” query in the call center.
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Order your questions for cumulative impact, gathering the next answer during the next engagement. To do this, all touch-points must have access to what’s already been asked and is known about the customer.
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Respond promptly. When you ask a question, act on the answer quickly. This not only delivers timely relevance, but also demonstrates that you’re listening. Besides, data you can’t or don’t use doesn’t do you much good.
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