The term “inflection point” has multiple definitions. In differential calculus, an inflection point is a point on a curve at which the concavity changes from positive curvature to negative curvature, or vice versa. In political science, an inflection point is a moment in history that dramatically alters a geopolitical situation, for better or worse. In business, Intel co-founder Andy Grove has described a strategic inflection point as “an event that changes the way we think and act.” Each of these definitions describes a moment at which our fortunes change — and in many cases, we can’t recognize the moment until after it’s passed.

1. INFLECTION
POINTS
SEIZING THE MOMENTS IN
CUSTOMER LOYALTY
RETAIL BRIEF
Cindy Faust,
Vice President,
Product Management
Paul Sage,
Product Management Director,
Loyalty Management Systems

2. 02 / Inflection Points
REMOTE
EMPOWERING
LOYALTY
CONTROL
POWER + EASE = CONTROL
Our loyalty toolkit makes it easy to control powerful loyalty programs when
and how you want to. That unique combination of power and ease gives you
improved control over the customer experience. We can help you.
Visit us at aimia.com
© 2013 Aimia Inc. All Rights Reserved.

3. Inflection Points / 1
INTRODUCTION
The term “inflection point” has
multiple definitions. In differential
calculus, an inflection point is a point
on a curve at which the concavity
changes from positive curvature to
negative curvature, or vice versa. In
political science, an inflection point is
a moment in history that dramatically
alters a geopolitical situation, for
better or worse. In business, Intel
co-founder Andy Grove has described
a strategic inflection point as “an
event that changes the way we think
and act.” Each of these definitions
describes a moment at which our
fortunes change — and in many cases,
we can’t recognize the moment until
after it’s passed.
“So while marketing
utopia may yet lie over
the horizon, our vision
of this future remains
firmly fixed: Reward
and recognize best
customers throughout
the purchase cycle.”
When it comes to customer loyalty,
inflection points are no less important.
Every customer interaction — from
her first encounter with your brand,
through her first purchase, at each
touch point she encounters in your
loyalty program, and into each
post-purchase service encounter —
can make or break her relationship
with your brand. In today’s recovering
global economy, recognizing and
positively influencing these loyalty
moments of truth has become our
singular challenge.
Indeed, this challenge has led
customer-facing businesses to
reinvest in and refocus on the
customer experience. Consulting
firm Temkin Group, for example,
found that a modest improvement
in the customer experience by a
USD $1 billion company can generate
between USD $141 million and
USD $382 million over three years.
Companies such as U.S.-based Delta
Air Lines are paying heed to this advice,
investing more than USD $3 billion
in airport facilities, global products,
services, and technologies that
enhance the customer experience
in the air and on the ground.
series of white papers, Millennial
consumers around the globe are
massively influenced by social and
mobile channels, crowd-sourced
recommendations, and demand
instant gratification from brand
interactions. Building loyalty with
Generation Y consumers requires a
holistic approach, one that connects
data dots between channels and
touch points to provide a rich flow of
customer insight into the business.
The problem is that no one has
yet assembled a complete view of
customer relationships. Interaction
data are often unstructured or locked
in silos inside the business. Starbucks,
for example, collects rich social
media data, and funnels a quarter
of its transactions through its
My Starbucks RewardsTM loyalty
program. But even this retail loyalty
leader is still searching for ways to
unlock the power of its data. “We
haven’t figured out what exactly to
do with it yet,” said Joe LaCugna,
Director of Analytics and Business
Intelligence at Starbucks, about the
company’s customer data.
So while marketing utopia may yet
lie over the horizon, our vision of this
The business press is also full of
future remains firmly fixed: Reward
stories heralding the rise of Big Data
and recognize best customers
as a business imperative. But
throughout the purchase cycle.
success requires more than a
In this future, we can build loyalty
blanket investment in data. The most
at every stage: When consumers
important data are not big, but rather check in at your store, when they
“core” customer data — that data the make a purchase, when they share
closest to, and the most predictive
the purchase on Facebook, or even
of, relationship value. Historically,
when they upload post-purchase
traditional transaction-based loyalty
usage data via an interactive app.
programs have served as a rich source We may not be there yet, but today’s
of behavioural data. Loyalty analytics
loyalty platforms and solutions
translate that data into action, and
hold the potential to turn this data
customers respond with increased
into the marketing fuel that powers
spend, tenure, and advocacy.
sustainable, reciprocal, and profitable
customer relationships.
But in today’s multichannel,
message-saturated, always-on
To take the first step on this path,
marketplace, a one-dimensional
you’ll need to identify the most
loyalty program is no longer
important inflection points along your
enough. In traditional programs,
customers’ journeys from curious
relationship-building efforts happen
newcomers to brand loyalists. In this
only after the purchase — and can’t
Retail Brief, we identify the 10 most
leverage data and insight from preimportant loyalty moments of truth —
or post-purchase interactions. As we
and offer a few guidelines for getting
revealed in our 2011 “Born This Way”
them right.
© 2013 Aimia Inc. All Rights Reserved.

4. 2 / Inflection Points
I: BEFORE SHE WALKS IN THE DOOR
According to McKinsey & Company
Director David Court, consumers
encounter two-thirds of
brand touch points during the
“active-evaluation phase” — when
they seek out online reviews and
peer recommendations, when
they’re browsing in the store,
or when they encounter brand
offers and messages. A fair
amount of relationship-building
work, therefore, happens well
before your customers have
made a conscious decision to
purchase. These early encounters
collectively comprise your first
loyalty inflection point.
evaluation-stage data at their disposal.
But how do you know which data hold
the most insight?
Your challenge is to understand
which data points will give you
a head start in building loyalty
before your customer walks in the
door. She may have “liked” your
Facebook page, or contacted your
call center — but if the data from
these channels lie stored in disparate
silos within your organization, then
you’re missing key puzzle pieces that
can help you assemble a complete
picture of customer potential. Here
are two first steps to leverage that
data to build loyalty:
Because these pre-purchase touch
>> Break down the silos. Virtual
points have become so important,
retailers such as Amazon have
traditional loyalty programs that don’t
been linking evaluation-stage data
provide insight into evaluation-stage
points to customer purchase data
behaviour leave marketers at a decided
for years. Thanks to web analytics,
disadvantage. The good news: Many
online retailers can link data from
retailers already have a fair amount of
web searches, site page views, and
abandoned shopping carts to serve
up relevant offers and emails to
consumers, their response to which
signals their intent to purchase.
Fortunately, next-generation loyalty
software platforms now give
multichannel retailers the same
opportunity to break down the
data silos.
>> Leverage predictive analytics.
By looking at the historical
behaviour of current best
customers — first point of contact,
pages viewed, Facebook posts
“liked,” offers clicked on, etc. —
you can become adept at
understanding which real-time
behaviours are most predictive of
future relationship value. Predictive
models fine-tuned to your business
can now identify loyal customers —
sometimes before they even
know they’re loyal.
II: AT THE FIRST SIGN OF TROUBLE
Every fledgling relationship hits
a few early snags. Time-starved
customers are distracted
in-store by a rival offer received
via mobile device. An early
customer service interaction
goes awry. Retail showroomers
find a lower price online and
walk out of your store. By
leveraging interaction data,
you can identify and act on
these inflection points with
relationship-saving tactics.
A recent report from consulting firm
Accenture highlights the challenge.
The report claims that “companies
are losing loyal customers at an
alarming rate because of poor
customer service and rewards.”
Clearly employee engagement
matters more than ever before.
Nearly 85 percent of surveyed
customers feel companies could
do more to retain their loyalty.
Sixty-nine percent would have
stayed loyal if the company had
resolved a customer service
problem upon their first contact,
while 55 percent would have
© 2013 Aimia Inc. All Rights Reserved.
remained loyal had the company
offered them preferential treatment
and rewards.
An Aimia retail research study
conducted in Canada in early 2013
revealed that certain factors can
play more of an influencing role
than others in driving successive
switching behaviour. The top three
factors driving switching behaviour
were price, product quality, and
location. These top factors were
consistent for individuals who
switched main retailer(s) in a given
category and those individuals
who remained loyal to their main
retailer. However, the study did
highlight that for individuals
showing a propensity to switch
their main retail store multiple times,
customer experience factors, like
staff quality and store location,
begin to hold similar importance
in driving these “high switchers”
to shop elsewhere.
How can you leverage data and
insight to smooth out these rough
patches? Here’s how:
>> Leverage data to improve service.
Through loyalty analytics, you can
identify current and potential best
customers. By funnelling this insight
to your frontline customer service
channels, you can flag these best
customers for preferential
treatment, more liberal return
policies, and recognition.
>> Embrace in-store mobile
activity. Combat showrooming
by embracing showroomers.
Techniques such as locationbased offers, geo-fencing,
and smartphone apps allow
you to connect in real time
when a customer is in the aisle
contemplating a purchase and
allows them to pull up offers for
themselves. Retailers such as Kohl’s,
Target, Debenhams, John Lewis,
and Gap have installed free Wi-Fi
in their stores. At Target, customers
can now access the chain’s mobile
app to redeem coupons and scan
QR codes throughout its stores.

5. Inflection Points / 3
MOBILE
MOBILE
Be with the
Being with the
customer, wherever
customer, wherever
and whenever
and whenever
INTERACTION
CENTRICITY
SOCIAL
SOCIAL
Create social
Creating social
currency, not just
currency, not just
a points currency
a points currency
CREATING THE
CREATE THE
RIGHT CUSTOMER
EXPERIENCE
Recognize and
Recognize and
respond to
respond to
every interaction,
interactions, not
not just the
just transactions
transaction
Technology represents the floor
Technology represents
of your marketing of your
the foundation potential,
rather than the ceiling
marketing potential
SCALE
REAL-TIME
REAL TIME
Allowing for breadth
Build loyalty
and depth across
solutions that
every customer
grow with your
touch point
customer base
Shortening time
Shorten time
between action
between actions
and reaction
and reactions
ACHIEVEMENT
Deconstruct
individual behaviours
to provide individual
recognition
© 2013 Aimia Inc. All Rights Reserved.

6. 4 / Inflection Points
III: DURING A LIFE CHANGE
Retail analytics have become so
sophisticated that retailers can often
anticipate major events in their
customers’ lives — a pregnancy, a
marriage, the purchase of a new
home — with uncanny precision.
Sometimes we even know more
about our customers than they
might want us to. As marketers,
our task is to wield these tools to
build relationships with the building
blocks of trust, commitment,
and reciprocity.
likelihood to switch retailers
were most often within the
consumers’ control.
Here are a few tips to influence these
life events:
>> Counter-program against the
offer blitz. If you’re not ready to
invest heavily in new data sources,
you can always take advantage of
the data you already have. A DIY
retailer, for example, may have
a pretty good handle on which
>> Aimia’s Canadian retail research
of its customers have purchased
evaluated a cross-section of life
a new home. But rather than
events that were either within
contribute to the blizzard of offers
individuals’ control to initiate (i.e.
with which new homeowners
home renovation, exercise/diet
are inundated, why not send an
program, etc.) or outside of the
offer for gardening supplies the
individual’s control (i.e. death, injury,
following spring — when many new
etc.). Overall, nearly three out of every homeowners invest in landscaping?
five life events (59%) were found to
be within the control of the individual >> Help them navigate the journey.
Customers who do volunteer
to initiate the experience. Those
events that precipitated a higher
life-change information derive the
most value when you use these data
to help them navigate specific stages
of the journey. The Pampers “Gifts to
Grow” reward program, for example,
provides multiple points of engagement
for expectant and new mothers who
join the program. Through data analysis,
P&G has identified key inflection points
within the motherhood journey where
the company can help a new mother
with information, education, and
offers that are about more than
diapers and wipes — she receives
information about making the right
decisions for her family.
These examples are simple, yet
powerful, loyalty-building tools that
help marketers build relationships
based on mutual expectations of
value. By demonstrating commitment
to the customer journey, you can build
brand loyalty that lasts well beyond
the customer’s initial entry into a
new life stage.
IV: WHEN SHE JOINS YOUR LOYALTY PROGRAM
The modern loyalty program
is arguably the most effective
means to build relationships
with loyal customers through
the exchange of value for
information in an environment
of permission and trust. When
you invite a customer to join
your loyalty program, you must
execute this inflection point
flawlessly — if the experience
is cumbersome, or if you fail to
deliver on promised value, then
the relationship might take a
permanent turn for the worse.
Loyalty programs typically fail
when the operator assumes that
the loyalty journey ends when the
customer joins, and that offering
a basic point-per-dollar or flat
discount reward, with no further
© 2013 Aimia Inc. All Rights Reserved.
effort to build value and relevance
into the program, is sufficient to
maintain loyalty. Avoid dropping
the ball with this inflection point by
considering the following tips:
>> Make joining seamless. Jimmy
Buffett’s Margaritaville Casino &
Restaurant in Biloxi, Mississippi,
for example, equips employees
with iPhones and iPod Touches so
they can sign up new guests for
the Players Club reward program
right on the casino floor, instead
of having customers wait in
line at a central program desk.
This tactic allows employees to
interact with customers — and
gives customers more time to
spend on the gaming floor. Guests
can also start using their cards
immediately, which translates into
more immediate customer data
flowing into the business.
>> Demonstrate immediate value.
Aimia’s research into the Millennial
generation reveals that Generation
Y holds high expectations for
instant gratification from reward
programs. That expectation doesn’t
mean you have to fund expensive
rewards for new members. But
it does mean your program will
need to incorporate engagement
tactics such as gamification and
social media channels. It also
means you’ll need to focus on
that most underserved element of
program value — offer relevance.
By demonstrating relevance early
in the program, you can satisfy
Millennial value expectations
without breaking the bank.

7. Inflection Points / 5
MILLENNIAL REWARDS
The key difference between Millennial loyalty program participation and participation by older consumers:
Millennials expect immediate gratification and transparent value from your program. These expectations will
require marketers to reinvent programs in traditional sectors. Data from Aimia’s U.S. Millennial Survey, 2011.
PLAYING THE GAME: Millennials play the loyalty game to win…
Q: How long should it take to earn a reward?
Q: Are you a member of a loyalty program? (yes)
Millennials
Non-Millennials
77%
< month
41%
28 21 9
43%
82%
35 13 9
< 3 months
< 6 months
< 1 year
Millennials
Non-Millennials
So they expect programs to be free, fast, and relevant…
Q: Top reason to join a reward program:
It’s free to join:
Millennials
Rewards can be earned quickly:
66%
55%
44%
36%
Exciting rewards such as trips, etc.:
It’s easy to join and participate in:
40%
37%
It’s connected to a social cause:
25%
20%
Rewards are relevant to my life:
42%
50%
It’s a company I feel loyal to:
Millennials
69%
50%
44%
Retail
Groceries
25%
45%
Travel
26%
Non-Millennials
45%
55%
21%
23%
Credit/Debit
22%
20%
Online Shopping
admit one
19%
18%
9%
11%
Q: Top program sectors:
56%
Non-Millennials
Restaurant
18%
Entertainment
And they’re open to more non-traditional rewards.
Q: Preferred reward categories:
$
$
83%
Millennials
85%
80%
80%
Gift Cards
Cash Back
24%
15%
Home Electronics
admit one
12%
6%
35%
42%
19%
35%
9%
47% OFF
5%
Discount Coupons
22%
18%
Travel
Entertainment
10%
4%
Music
Fashion
Non-Millennials
VIP Access
$
$
Charity
6%
8%
1%
1%
Mobile Downloads
© 2013 Aimia Inc. All Rights Reserved.

8. 6 / Inflection Points
V: AT THE FIRST SIGN OF LIFE
Experienced loyalty marketers
know that early signs of program
engagement can be highly predictive
of future customer value. Conversely,
poor communication or lack of
reinforcement of early, positive signs
of interest can derail a promising
relationship. Ensure the formation of
long-term, profitable relationships
with your best customers by acting
on insight from these early loyalty
program interactions to reinforce
desired behaviour and enhance the
customer experience.
Sometimes, the simple things can
be the most effective — say, when a
member earns program currency for
the first time, and you send an email
to thank and congratulate her right
away, in the moment. Or perhaps you
reinforce the value of connecting her
Facebook account to the program
with a surprise-and-delight benefit.
By rewarding these early signs
>> Personalize as quickly as possible.
Savvy loyalty marketers now
leverage loyalty data as early in
the relationship as they can to
personalize the customer experience.
To get started, consider these
Transactional data is useful for more
best practices:
than just rewarding points — you can
leverage it to provide personalized
>> Supplement with soft benefits.
offers, enable preferences, and
Program disengagement often
even derive early segmentation
occurs when members don’t feel
benefits. U.S.-based luxury hotel
they’re earning hard currency
chain Kimpton Hotels & Resorts, for
benefits quickly enough to make a
example, personalizes the experience
difference. Engage these customers
of its loyalty program members when
with early-stage soft benefits that
they hit specific eligibility milestones:
reinforce program value for
Threshold-reaching members can
high-potential customers who have
request their favourite snacks, receive
yet to shift spend. For instance,
upgrades to preferred room types,
U.S.-based hotelier Lexington
and earn surprise gifts. UAE-based
by Vantage Hospitality Group,
airline Emirates captures passenger
rewards leisure travelers in its
preferences like favourite beverages
points-based reward program with
and uses this information to ensure
such immediate benefits as free
that on future journeys, business
upgrades, late check-out privileges,
class seats are decked out with
and discount car rentals.
preferred drinks.
of life with positive, responsive
reinforcement, you can lay the
foundation for enduring relationships.
VI: DURING PROGRAM REDEMPTIONS
Reward redemption is the heart of
the customer loyalty experience.
It’s the inflection point at which
your program proves its value, and
loyalty marketers know that multiple
redemptions are a demonstrable
indicator of increased customer
value. While short-term financial
concerns might lead the unwise to
discourage redemptions in favour
of increasing program breakage,
we must resist the urge — in fact,
Aimia research demonstrates that
customers who redeem at least three
times maintain higher spending and
greater lifetime customer value. And
the customer insight you gain from
redemption data drives even greater
value throughout the enterprise.
The trick today is to encourage
redemption without breaking the
bank. To receive the full benefit
of increased loyalty through the
© 2013 Aimia Inc. All Rights Reserved.
redemption experience, incorporate
these best practices:
>> Deliver a flawless redemption
experience. One certain way
to damage relationship value is
to fumble reward fulfilment —
particularly during a member’s first
redemption experience, when her
expectations are high. From the
software that deducts the points
from her account, to the email that
confirms her order has shipped, to
the delivery method you choose
to fulfil the order, every step of
the redemption process must
proceed without a hitch. Should the
process break down at any point
on the fulfilment chain, apologize
immediately and fix the problem.
Each successful redemption
reinforces relationship value and
increases loyalty.
>> Add value through partnerships.
A sound partner strategy can
enhance redemption value
on both sides of the program
experience. On the earn side,
partnerships increase earn
velocity while helping you control
costs. My Starbucks Rewards, for
example, has expanded earning
opportunities to grocery store
purchases of Starbucks products
as well as purchases at Starbucksowned Teavana stores — a change
expected to double program
membership. On the burn side,
coalition loyalty programs like
Aeroplan in Canada and Nectar
in the United Kingdom (both
programs operated by Aimia)
offer a variety of redemption
partnerships that expand member
opportunities and increase
program value.

9. Inflection Points / 7
78%
of U.S. Millennials are more
likely to choose a brand that
offers a loyalty program
— Aimia 2011
Millennial Study
74%
of UK Millennials are more
likely to choose a brand that
offers a loyalty program
— Aimia 2011
Millennial Study
Share shift can
increase by
20-25%
for brands after implementing
a loyalty program
— Aimia proprietary
program data,
2009-2013
A loyalty program
can improve customer
acquisition by
5-10%
— Aimia proprietary
program data,
2009-2013
Loyalty programs influence
84%
of U.S. members*
— ACI Worldwide Study,
January 2012
*84% of members are likely to choose
a retailer over its competitor if they are
members of the retailer’s loyalty program.
© 2013 Aimia Inc. All Rights Reserved.

10. 8 / Inflection Points
VII: DURING MAKE-GOOD OPPORTUNITIES
Of failure, Henry David Thoreau once
wrote, “If we will be quiet and ready
enough, we shall find compensation
in every disappointment.” For every
company, failure to deliver a flawless
customer experience is inevitable
— what counts is how we react to
that failure, what we do to rectify it
for the customer, and what we learn
from it. That our flaws are often
now broadcast to the world via the
bullhorn of social media makes our
recovery from failure exponentially
more challenging — but those same
channels also provide opportunity to
highlight your strengths.
If the flip side of every problem is an
opportunity, then you won’t want to
miss the chance to take advantage
of the loyalty-building potential
of make-good moments. A recent
RightNow Customer Experience
Impact Report found that 89 percent
of consumers began doing business
with a competitor following a poor
customer experience, but 92 percent
of the same group said they would
be willing to return to a company
after a negative experience if they
got an apology.
To turn customer service lemons
into loyalty lemonade, consider these
best practices:
>> Develop a 360-degree customer
view. Your challenge in resolving
service issues in real time is to
connect your customer service,
communication, and loyalty touch
points on the back end. If one team
manages customer complaints,
while another team monitors social
media, while still another manages
loyalty program and CRM data,
you end up with a Rashomon-like
view of the customer relationship,
with no one able to identify or
distinguish high-value relationships
that require extra care. Tearing
down these data silos is the great
marketing challenge of our time.
>> Use the loyalty program as
brand insulation. The reward and
recognition tools inherent in your
loyalty program provide powerful
relationship insulation. If a service
issue disgruntles a premium
member, a bonus point offer or a
surprise-and-delight benefit can
quickly assuage bruised feelings.
Amsterdam-based KLM Royal Dutch
Airlines does a nice job of using
surprise-and-delight techniques
based on life events learned via
social channels to make sure it
manages its customers’ experiences.
For new customers, auto-enrolment
in your program with an immediate
earning bonus can also soothe
perceived injuries.
VIII: WHEN YOU EXCEED EXPECTATIONS
Customers are so well trained by
experience to expect the bare
minimum in service and attention
that even modest efforts to exceed
baseline expectations can pay
dividends in customer loyalty.
Best practice dictates that you
provide basic, quality service
to all customers and reserve
high-touch service opportunities for
high-value customers. But how do
you recognize best customers when
they walk into your store, call in, or
complain on your Facebook page?
That’s where customer data and
insight can spell the difference.
The ultimate winners in the marathon
race for customer loyalty will be
those marketers who develop a
holistic, analytical view of customer
relationships by linking data from
loyalty, CRM, web, social, and mobile
© 2013 Aimia Inc. All Rights Reserved.
channels. But if that blessed day
has not yet arrived, you can take
smaller, immediate steps to improve
baseline customer service, as well as
provide opportunities to exceed best
customer expectations:
>> Deploy the right tools. U.S.-based
home improvement retailer Lowe’s
recently outfitted its 1,700+ stores
with Wi-Fi and iPhones for
associates to improve in-store
service by, for example, helping
customers search for products
online and buy them on the spot.
Associates can also cross-reference
answers to questions posted to the
retailer’s Facebook and Pinterest
pages with links back to the
company’s website to provide cost
estimates and product numbers.
As well, UK-based British Airways
recently deployed 2,000 iPads for
data capture. The airline said the
biggest benefit was just having
customer information in hand and
being able to offer local travel tips
and advice to passengers on select
long-haul flights.
>> Refocus on the customer.
Lowe’s rival, U.S.-based retailer
Home Depot, is famously returning
to its roots as a customer-centric
enterprise. For instance, the
retailer has recently expanded
its “Customers First” initiative
to include “Power Hours” where
associates focus on in-aisle
customer service during high-traffic
times. The retailer is also training
associates to analyze customers’
shopping carts to suggest missing
products required to complete a
home improvement task.

11. Inflection Points / 9
CONNECTING
THE DATA DOTS
Modern loyalty
systems must allow
for the capture of
brand interactions
throughout the
purchase cycle —
before, during, and
after the transaction
Reward and recognize
customers to encourage
them to provide data,
link data sources, and
identify themselves
during transactions
Link search data to
provide targeted,
relevant offers
Link social data to
reward and recognize
brand interactions,
likes, and referrals
Link location data to
encourage time shift,
cross-sell, and up-sell
Link loyalty program
data to connect insight
to transactions
© 2013 Aimia Inc. All Rights Reserved.

12. 10 / Inflection Points
IX: WHEN YOU ANTICIPATE HER NEEDS
Steve Jobs once reportedly said
of Apple customers, “People don’t
know what they want until you give
it to them.” To deliver a flawless
customer experience, the brass
ring is the ability to use customer
data, multichannel communications,
and predictive analytics to send a
relevant offer or fulfil a customer’s
need before she’s even aware that
her need is unfulfiled. With today’s
modern loyalty technology and
analytic platforms, that brass ring is
within reach. But if your touch points
can’t talk to each other, then this
promise may go unrealized.
Nurturing loyalty requires rewarding
and recognizing best customers,
anticipating their needs, and guiding
them through a relevant, personalized
customer journey. But even if your
marketing resources and technology
are not yet at the level required to
deliver real-time offers based on
sophisticated predictive models, there
are still relatively simple steps you
can take to anticipate and fulfil your
customers’ needs. Here are two:
>> Help your channels talk to each
other. Even with today’s
web-enabled commerce, call
centers are still critical customer
touch points. But very often,
call center staff can’t see what
offers the customer has received
or responded to — which can
lead to conflicting or duplicative
communications. Providing your
call center staff with customer
profiles allows them to reinforce
existing offers or make the next
offer — leading to additional sales
and a better customer experience.
>> Practice surprise and delight.
U.S. online retailer Zappos is
famous for its surprise-and-delight
customer experience efforts, such
as upgrading a percentage of
first-time purchasers to overnight
shipping as a way to reinforce
relationship value. Adopt these
tactics with high-value customers
to create personal, emotional
connections. The bonds you create
will demonstrate commitment and
fuel both trust and reciprocity in
your customer relationships.
X: WHEN SHE SINGS YOUR PRAISES
If there is a holy grail for marketers,
it’s that moment when a best
customer becomes your vocal
advocate. Whether she gives you a
glowing review on a social network,
tweets about a great experience,
or forwards a new product offer
to her inner circle, her advocacy
exponentially increases the value
of the relationship. With the right
technology, you can identify,
reward, and recognize these
customer advocates and reap the
benefits. Not all best customers
are vocal advocates — but all
vocal advocates are potentially
best customers.
In fact, in Aimia’s Canadian
retail research, 39 percent of
“high switchers” liked a brand on
Facebook, which is 2.6 times higher
than that of consumers loyal to
their retailer. As well, they are
3.5 times more likely to tweet about
a brand and 2.4 times more likely
to comment on Facebook.
© 2013 Aimia Inc. All Rights Reserved.
The retailer also hosts a blog and
Creating advocacy requires more
than just raising your aggregate
YouTube channel especially for
Net Promoter Score. It requires the
them. By providing these platforms
ability to connect the data dots from
for mutual interaction, Walmart
your social media and web channels
makes these customer relationships
to your core purchase data. It also
more valuable — both to the
requires the analytical ability to
retailer, and to the Walmart Moms.
understand which of your advocates
are really impacting your bottom
>> Give advocates a seat at the
line, and the means to reward
table. In 2011, Google held its
them accordingly. And finally, it
inaugural Global Top Contributors
requires seamless, multichannel
Summit at its Mountain View,
communications that send the right
California headquarters. These
messages to the right customers
Top Contributors are not Google
through the right channels. Here are
employees, but rather Google
a few other ways you can help foster
advocates — in this case, unpaid
customer advocacy:
product forum participants.
Google rewarded them for their
>> Exploit the network effect.
loyalty, sought their feedback,
Customer networks become more
and offered educational resources
valuable when you give customers
to help them become better
a platform to talk to each other,
advocates. Toy manufacturer
as well as to you. For example,
Lego has even turned some
Walmart flies a handpicked,
fanatical Lego customers into
exclusive club of 20 influential
paid employees who evangelize
bloggers dubbed the “Walmart
about Lego and help design new
Moms” to its Bentonville, Arkansas
headquarters to test new products.
product lines.

13. Inflection Points / 11
SEIZING THE MOMENTS
These 10 inflection points mark the most critical stages in a customer’s journey from newly acquired to brand
advocate. By deploying loyalty systems, analytical tools, and best practices, you can ensure deeper relationships,
enhanced loyalty, and greater lifetime value.
BEFORE SHE WALKS
IN THE DOOR
AT THE FIRST SIGN
OF TROUBLE
DURING A
LIFE CHANGE
WHEN SHE JOINS YOUR
LOYALTY PROGRAM
Break down the
data silos and leverage
analytics to identify
high-potential customers.
Use customer data
and in-store
technology to
improve service.
Deliver personalized,
relevant offers to
help her navigate
the journey.
Make enrolment
seamless and
demonstrate immediate
program value.
1
2
3
4
DURING MAKE-GOOD
OPPORTUNITIES
DURING PROGRAM
REDEMPTIONS
AT THE FIRST SIGN
OF LIFE
Connect your
touch points to
resolve service issues
across channels.
Deliver a flawless
redemption experience
and add value
through partnerships.
Reward early
signs of relationship
engagement with
positive reinforcement.
7
6
5
WHEN YOU EXCEED
EXPECTATIONS
WHEN YOU ANTICIPATE
HER NEEDS
WHEN SHE SINGS
YOUR PRAISES
Deploy the right tools
and training to go
above and beyond
for best customers.
Distribute customer profiles
across service channels to fulfil
a need before she’s even aware
that her need is unfulfiled.
To foster advocates,
give best customers
a voice and a seat
at the table.
8
9
10
© 2013 Aimia Inc. All Rights Reserved.

14. 12 / Inflection Points
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Cindy Faust, Vice President,
Product Management
Cindy Faust drives strategy, development,
and revenue of new and existing products
to help position our clients for success.
She is responsible for setting the strategic
direction of product development based
on client and market needs, and works in
close collaboration with our clients and all
areas of the Aimia business, both in the
U.S. and globally.
loyalty technical solutions for clients in the
financial services, travel and hospitality, retail,
CPG and telecom industries. She joined the
company in 2005 with a main focus on business
development for new loyalty programs.
Prior to joining Aimia, Cindy held various IT
leadership positions with Carlson Companies
and GE Capital ITS. She started her career at
Entex Technical Solutions as a consultant on
the American Express account.
Prior to her current role, she was VP, Loyalty
Technology Services, aligning information
technology design and delivery with other
Aimia capabilities to create fully integrated
customer and business loyalty marketing
programs. Before this, she was Senior Director,
Technology Services, delivering consumer
Cindy is a member of the IT Service Management
Forum and is a Menttium alumna. She earned
various collegiate degrees including an MBA
from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson
School of Management. In addition, Cindy was a
contributing author for the IHRIM Shared Services
book, Transforming the Organizational Mindset to
Embrace Shared Services.
Paul Sage, Product Management Director,
Loyalty Management Systems — U.S.
brought on board three fully integrated loyalty
programs in CPG and retail during 2011/12.
Paul Sage is responsible for product strategy
and positioning of Aimia’s Loyalty Platform
within the U.S. region. Paul coordinates client
collaboration, market analysis, and industry
leader feedback to inform the global product
development of requirements for ongoing
investments in the Loyalty Platform. His
responsibilities extend to delivering sales tools,
product management processes, content, and
positioning for all aspects of the product.
Prior to Aimia, Paul was on the board of a UK
social enterprise organization supporting NGOs,
charities and not-for-profits in their efforts to
leverage social media to drive donations and
communications. As well, Paul is owner of a
UK marketing consultancy firm specializing in
securing government digital presences.
Prior to his current role, Paul managed the
IT architecture and consulting team in the
U.S. region. As part of his responsibilities, he
repositioned the team to a product strategy
and sales engineering team which secured and
With two decades of international experience
Paul has worked extensively with marketing
services and data analytics organizations in
the United Kingdom, United States and Asia
for clients in oil and gas, financial services,
retail, high tech, government, non-profit and
CPG verticals.
About Aimia
Aimia Inc. (“Aimia”) is a global leader in loyalty management. Employing more than
4,000 people in over 20 countries worldwide, Aimia offers clients, partners, and
members proven expertise in launching and managing coalition loyalty programs,
delivering proprietary loyalty services, creating value through loyalty analytics, and
driving innovation in the emerging digital, mobile, and social communications spaces.
Aimia owns and operates Aeroplan, Canada’s premier coalition loyalty program, Nectar,
the United Kingdom’s largest coalition loyalty program and Nectar Italia, Italy’s first
independent loyalty coalition program. In addition, Aimia owns stakes in Air Miles
Middle East, Mexico’s leading coalition loyalty program, Club Premier, Brazil’s Prismah
Fidelidade, and i2c, a joint venture with Sainsbury’s offering insight and data analytics
services in the UK to retailers and suppliers. Aimia also holds a minority position in
Cardlytics, a U.S.-based private company operating in transaction-driven marketing for
electronic banking. Aimia is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: AIM).
Visit us at www.aimia.com.
© 2013 Aimia Inc. All Rights Reserved.

15. Inflection Points / 13
SAMPLE OUR BRAIN FOOD.
Sample some of our loyalty thought leadership in the Knowledge section at aimia.com.
THE FOUR FUTURES:
The Digital Loyalty Survey
By Martin Hayward,
Vice President,
Global Digital Strategy
To help marketers divine
the proper strategy for
navigating the digital future,
Aimia has conducted a
research study designed
to understand consumers’
current attitudes and
opinions about data sharing
and control, the role of
digital media in their lives,
and about the nature
and frequency of digital
marketing communications.
We found that marketing
success in the digital future
will depend upon how well
marketers use data to build
relationships dependent
on two primary variables:
the degree of engagement,
and the degree of consumer
control over their
personal information.
THROWING OFF SPARKS
:
Reigniting Retail
Loyalty Programs
By Alan Goldstein,
Vice President,
Managing Director
Retailers attract loyal
customers based on the
quality of their products,
a positive customer
experience, and competitive
prices. Loyal customers
respond by buying more,
buying more often, and
telling their friends. To reach
your relationship potential
with your best customers,
you must reignite your
customer strategy — and
fan the flames continuously
— through data-driven
marketing, a robust value
proposition, and dynamic
customer segmentation. It’s
the best way to keep the
sparks flying.
MOVING PICTURES:
The Future of Customer
Loyalty in Canada
By Kevin O’Brien,
Chief Commercial Officer,
Aeroplan and
Michael O’Sullivan,
President Proprietary
Loyalty, Canada
While portraits of customer
behaviour used to be static,
they’re now moving targets
which scroll into the past
like social media news
feeds. Loyalty marketing
offers the best set of tools
available for capturing
these moving pictures.
THE RISE OF THE
SAVVY SHOPPER:
The Impact of
the Recession on
Customer Loyalty
By Maria Sealy,
Director of
Research Services
The recession may be
over, but its impact still
reverberates everywhere.
From the corner shop to
the high street or shopping
mall. Despite the stark
headlines, however, the
news isn’t all bad. Even
as the going has gotten
tougher, some brands
have risen to the challenge
and built loyalty around
customer experiences,
redemption touchpoints
and the value exchange.
© 2013 Aimia Inc. All Rights Reserved.

16. 14 / Inflection Points
YOUR
BUSINESS
RESULTS
DELIVERED
OUR
INSIGHT
With more than 4,000 talented professionals in 20 countries,
we can deliver results for your business using our loyalty insights.
We see relationships differently. Visit us at aimia.com.
© 2013 Aimia Inc. All Rights Reserved.