Asterisk together with Microsoft, held an event last March 8, 2012 at the lovely Maxwell Chambers, along Maxwell Road. With the theme "Rising to the Challenge: The Fight for Customer Loyalty", other partners were invited to speak for the said event, such as those from Sharon Teo from Inspire-Tech, with a special participation of Sharon Ng from NUS.

With the rising issues concerning retail industries and related businesses, the event focused on how to effectively target, acquire and customers through social media marketing, mobile marketing and ultimately, through a CRM or a Customer Relationship Management system, emphasizing on the key benefits of a Membership & Loyalty CRM system.

With the declining economy, customers are getting pickier and smarter about their choices, focusing more on the bargain and low price A shift in this mind set results usually from a recession, a typical action yet not a very advantageous sign for retailers and business owners alike.

Reward programs or Member and Loyalty techniques are your best bet in retaining your best customers and in keeping your business afloat. Consider this: only 12 percent to 15 percent of customers are loyal to a single retailer, but they represent between 55 percent and 70 percent of sales. Loyalty program members are 70 percent more likely to be "word-of-mouth champions", individuals who actively recommending a product, service or brand, with no financial gains in mind.

Having a Membership & Loyalty CRM system gives you the advantage of having a comprehensive view of your most loyal members and how to maintain and even spread that loyalty. With the right system, specifically designed for a multi-branch retail business environment, get more detailed information about your customers, their activities, demographics, purchasing history and more.

Enhance your membership acquiring activities by allowing your customers to easily print their own membership cards online, even letting them upload a picture upon registration on your website. Let them manage their membership by giving them full control of a type of membership selection (individual, family or corporate). Reward them with points when successful referrals are made.

With a Membership & Loyalty CRM system, you can also keep track and generate Loyalty points for your most valued members, by monitoring their purchase history based on their POS membership purchase data uploads. Let them know automatically of their garnered Loyalty points by sending them a monthly update via email. Keep them updated as well with a Campaign and Promotion Management function, included automatically within the Membership & Loyalty CRM system, allowing you to create and send newsletters to subscribed members, even letting you send mass SMS to immediately inform members of updates, latest promotions and on-going sale activities. It also let you have a portal for submission of feedbacks and complaints from your most valued customers.

With a Membership & Loyalty CRM system, you can be assured of keeping your best customers on your sight and under your wings, prioritizing their needs and quickly anticipating their purchasing decisions. You do more than targeting, acquiring and retaining them, you increase opportunities for other revenue-generating methods and you also induce word-of-mouth marketing in your efforts by more than satisfying your customers.

To learn more about our Membership & Loyalty CRM, visit our website at or email us at sales@asterisk.com.sg