The Challenge:

Verizon Business Link Rewards is a points-based customer loyalty marketing and retention program for Verizon’s small- and mid-sized business customers. Members earn points (Bonus Credits) based on their monthly spending with Verizon phone, Broadband, and long distance services.

This B2B loyalty marketing program had been in existence for ten years when Verizon selected Kobie as its customer loyalty provider. Prior to Kobie, Member participation was stalled, customer retention was stagnating, and annual expenses were increasing. Reporting on the financial performance of the customer retention program came three months or more after the fact, making timely responses to changing conditions difficult.

In the face of stiff competition, the retention of current customers is a key strategic goal, as well as increasing spend, encouraging loyalty, customer retention and successfully cross-selling additional Verizon products and services.

The Solution:

Kobie won the business on the strength of our vision for the program. After completing the transition in less than six months, we implemented a sweeping set of changes that totally revitalized the customer loyalty program, including: monthly performance analysis and online reporting; new Key Performance Indicators to measure the program’s financial performance; member features and benefits such as point auctions, member surveys, a customer referral program, new rewards and partner offers, and co-funded promotions; and a comprehensive non-member database to serve as a source of new enrollments and comparative data.

The Result:

The results of the loyalty marketing program have been impressive, with record achievements in customer retention and customer spend on Verizon products and services. The customer loyalty and retention program has truly delivered on its promise. In addition, member participation almost doubled.

Feedback from members indicates a very high level of member satisfaction, which is substantiated by a significant decrease in customer churn among customer loyalty program members.

But don’t take our word for it. Here is what Verizon had to say:

"We had managed the customer loyalty program for 10 years. The original loyalty marketing agency that we worked with had a good reputation and was effective in managing Business Link Rewards initially. In 2005, we issued an RFP to evaluate new agencies and were impressed with Kobie Marketing's expertise and depth of loyalty marketing knowledge. In January 2006, we thought we were taking a risk and offered the business to Kobie. We believed they could bring our loyalty marketing program to the next level. We now know it was not a risk, it was a welcome opportunity. Since the transition, the truth is that Kobie Marketing has brought us technology improvements beyond our wildest dreams. We’ve saved money with improved pricing, enjoyed an extensive array of new customer loyalty program marketing partners, and implemented processes and marketing initiatives that have improved our loyalty marketing program performance. And, we love working with them!"

For a FREE loyalty marketing or customer retention program assessment, contact one of our customer loyalty marketing experts.