It’s so nice to be appreciated and acknowledged by those in your field/area of interest, isn’t it? After reading a couple great articles in CRM Magazine (www.DestinationCRM.com) I wrote in to provide some additional AU insights. The editors in turn decided to merge the two letters and publish them in their print version (July/August 2008 issue), as well as post on their web site.

To read the letter in, as well as links to the articles what inspired them (both of which are highly recommended), please click here.

Mr. Lior Arussy’s reply is also on point. His ability to pick up the lead and fill in the blank that my “straight guy” routine left off was flawless. It’s sad that too many hiring managers, decision makers, etc. overlook the fact that history is filled with countless examples where passion, belief and determination defeated the “superior” enemy (e.g., Giants over the Pats, David over Goliath).

Sure an MBA helps but being over-prepared, overconfident and boxed in by rules (when the market knows no rules) is rarely going to lead a team to reaching it’s full potential. But that’s the difference between organizations who are driven to succeed and those who are just trying to mitigate failure.

The June 2008 issue of CRM magazine featured a worthy article on Loyalty Programs.

David Myron, the editor, lead in with “Fix the Problem, Not the Symptom”. While he makes some good points the key here is the last paragraph: “Clearly loyalty programs, when properly executed, can bring tremendous value to companies and their customers…” The fact is, you can substitute just about any guest facing business offering for loyalty programs and his statement would still be true.

The point is, a loyalty program is just one tool of many that is useful for connecting to guests. It is not a “magic bullet”, nor will it make up for any other deficiencies in The Guest Experience. In fact, just like anything else a business does – a LP should raise the bar, differentiate and/or reinforce the positioning & perception of the brand. Just blindly adding a generic “loyalty program” in a world overflowing with LPs is pointless. Unfortunately, me-too is too often the way of most marketers.

The featured article “Lollipop Loyalty” by Jessica Tsai is a good article in that it doesn’t just focus solely on loyalty programs. Ms. Tsai touches upon other aspect of marketing, as well as engaging guests, and how everything ties back to The Guests Experience with the brand.