VIP Program: loyalty your best customers

Do you have a VIP program in your e-commerce?

You should. In the world of e-commerce, the Pareto principle applies perfectly: 20% of your customers generate 80% of the revenue.
A VIP Program helps you give your best customers the attention they deserve.
Don't risk losing them: focus on them by building a system of exclusive benefits (no, I'm not talking about discounts).

I wrote this article to help you fully leverage the potential of your VIP customers.

By reading to the end, you will discover the most effective email sequences to keep them engaged and boost the revenue generated in the Wheel of your Sand-Mill. All without using discounts (or almost).

Who are VIP users and why they are important

If you have an e-commerce, you will know that the most loyal customers are the ones who make a difference. They are the ones who support you in difficult times, regularly buy your products, and recommend them to others. They are users not to be missed, to be treated in a special way.

We will call them VIP, because for us they are truly Very Important People.

Many e-commerce businesses struggle to grow because they treat all customers the same way.
If you are starting to understand the logic behind the Sand-Mill Model, you know that you should anticipate every single turn of the Wheel to continue growing over time.

Let's see how to leverage the VIP program to build the strategy behind the Wheel of Rebuying, the section of Sand-Mill dedicated to customer management.

To start, it is important to define who our VIP Customers are. The definition and characteristics of VIPs can (and should) vary depending on the type of business.

To help segment customers, the Sand-Mill Model Wheel offers two tools:

• Value Levels
• Number of Rotations

The two tools can be combined with each other, although I recommend keeping it simple by choosing only one of the two criteria to manage entry into the VIP Program clearly.

Let's see what they consist of.

Value Levels

The Value Levels segment customers based on their overall spending value.
The innermost levels, with smaller diameter, contain customers with lower overall spending. The outermost levels gradually contain users in segments of higher spending. Each e-commerce brand should have at least 3 Value Levels to effectively segment their customer base.
To define the overall spending value that determines entry into the VIP program, my suggestion is to consider three times the average order value (AOV).
For example, a customer could become a VIP when reaching the Third Value Level, having spent over €300 in the e-commerce.

Number of Rotations

In the Sand-Mill Model, each rotation of the Reacquisition Wheel represents a new payment from the customer.
We use the Number of Rotations to segment customers based on the number of purchases made.
For example, a customer becomes VIP when making their third purchase.

We will use the combination of these two segmentation tools in automations to make communications relevant and personalized.

By the way: once you've identified your VIP customers, you can create a specific list and use it to segment your customers in automated email sequences.

What advantages to offer to VIP customers of an e-commerce?

If we want to treat a user as a VIP, we will have to offer some benefits. But which ones?

First of all, let's clarify one thing: the VIP Program is not (in itself) a Loyalty Program (points collection), nor a Referral Program.
Exclusive benefits for VIPs can be multiple and not necessarily discounts.
If we already have a Loyalty Program, which involves converting points into discounts, VIPs will in any case be the ones who will benefit most.

So here we are talking about something else. Here are some advantages to reserve for VIPs:

• Early access to sales (my favorite initiative and the one that brings more revenue)
• Sneak peek of new products
• Priority assistance
• Involvement with questionnaires + surprise if they fill them out
• Other surprises directly in each order (samples or sample of new products, handwritten thank you letter, brand gadgets, ... even chocolates in the package can amaze)

As an alternative to discounts, for VIPs we can provide:

• Double points for the Loyalty Program
• Free shipping on all orders (if the margin of our e-commerce allows it)

In addition to incentives, there is an element that makes the difference between a successful VIP program and a failure: automatic communications.

Automations for a Successful VIP Program

The VIP Program is a tool that allows us to strategically plan customer repurchases, extracting the maximum possible value and increasing lifetime value.

Having a strategy to guide users to the next spin of the Repurchase Wheel, allows us to do so by sending the right message at the right time.
I have collected for you the emails and automatic sequences that make a difference in a successful VIP Program.

Here's what awaits you: anticipate the benefits of the VIP Program

You are almost a VIP, but you don't know it yet.

This email should be sent (automatically of course) to users who have almost reached VIP status.
It only takes a little effort, one more order.

If they still don't know about the program's existence, they won't be incentivized to make a new purchase to join it.

We need to use the anticipation strategy, to stimulate curiosity and build anticipation.

But how does this automatic email work?
Let's start from the assumption that our goal is to convert a customer who has already shown interest in our products or services, but has not yet made the purchase that would make them a VIP.
When the system detects that the user is close to reaching VIP status, we send them an email that gives them a taste of what awaits them (for example, it informs them that they will find a gift included in the order they have just placed).
This way, the user will already feel part of our exclusive community and will begin to imagine the cumulative impact of all the other benefits we will offer.

But why does this work? Anticipation is a powerful psychological tool that can motivate people to do extraordinary things: the mind begins to imagine how nice it would be to always have such advantages. And this is an incentive to make an additional purchase to become a VIP.

The teaser email should be fun, interesting, and engaging. Don't just list the benefits, but tell a story that makes the user want to be part of it.

You're on the VIP list! Welcome Mail to the VIP Program

This is the email that a user will receive as soon as the conditions to become VIP are met.

Remember that this represents an achievement, a milestone in the Customer Journey of the client.
We must carefully design this experience in our Sand-Mill.

This email arrives at a key moment, when the level of engagement is high. We expect a good CTR and therefore make sure to build an email that is not simply transactional.

The Welcome email in the VIP Program can have several possible CTAs:

1. A surprise / reward, such as bonus points for the Loyalty Program
2. An NPS survey;
3. Exclusive access (to a community, a site area, priority support or a physical location)
4. Unlocking the referral function (a better way to offer discounts that, as we will see later on, allows you to create a double virtuous circle)

From the moment a user becomes a VIP, we can adopt a more intimate communication style. Hey, we're friends now!

This email should list the benefits that the customer will be entitled to from now on.

We can also consider sending a welcome sequence to the VIP program to analyze each of these benefits in detail, or periodic reminders in case some of them have not been used within a certain period of time.

VIP status expiration

The VIP status brings several benefits, but it must be earned year after year.

An interesting and effective automation I have experienced is one for communicating the VIP status expiration.

After Black Friday, it will be important to send a sequence that reminds:

• How many purchases the user still needs to make by the end of the year to confirm their VIP status
• What benefits it has today and what it risks losing

This type of communication exploits the psychological lever of scarcity, creating a sense of urgency and motivating the user to make further purchases to maintain their own status.

Obviously, we will also need an automatic re-confirmation email to be sent as soon as the requirement for renewing the VIP status in the following year is met.

VIP: a personalized touch in all sequences

To build an intimate relationship and make our VIP Program effective, it is essential to maintain consistent communication in all emails dedicated to VIPs.

 

Let's make an example?

For VIP customers, we have included the right to free shipping.

If a VIP customer abandons the cart, it makes sense to remind them of this benefit in the Abandoned Cart Recovery email!
Let's also include contact information for priority assistance via WhatsApp, so they become familiar with another touchpoint that allows for immediate and exclusive support. Now, that's what I call VIP treatment, right?

But we can do more by leveraging expiration conditions.

Has this customer already made 2 purchases during the year? Let's communicate that the new purchase will confirm their VIP status for the following year.

Beyond automations: getting the most out of the VIP Program

Integration of the VIP Program with other loyalty programs

To ensure the effectiveness of the VIP Program and its consistency within the Sand-Mill we are strategically building, it is essential to integrate it with other loyalty programs.

In particular, it should be linked to the Loyalty Program, which involves collecting points to encourage repeat purchases, and to the Referral Program, which allows for benefits by inviting new customers.

The Loyalty Program

The Loyalty Program can be communicated immediately after entering the Repurchase Wheel.
The collection of points is something underestimated and very powerful: it provides us with an incentive tool parallel to

quello economico.

I punti potrebbero essere trasformati in sconti (es. ogni 100 punti = 1€ di sconto), oppure utilizzati per ottenere prodotti e accessori esclusivi, normalmente non disponibili all’acquisto.

Potremo usare i punti omaggio per incentivare azioni specifiche, come:

• il follow sui Social Media
• la partecipazione ad Eventi
• la creazione di UGC

Questo ci permette di stimolare comportamenti che andranno a costruire touch-point generati dagli utenti nel Mare di Micro-Momenti.

Per rendere il Programma Fedeltà ancora più coinvolgente, potremmo creare diverse categorie di utenti (Silver, Gold etc.) e introdurre elementi di gamification. L’accesso stesso al programma VIP diventa un possibile bonus da sbloccare raggiungendo un livello specifico.

The Referral Program

Access to the VIP program could also unlock the opportunity for Referral, thus reserving the possibility of bringing a new customer exclusively to the most involved and engaged users. This strategy would help create a solid Advocacy Base in the Sea of Micro-Moments, making users feel even more part of the community and encouraging them to create new touch-points.

The Referral program is a strategy that impacts user acquisition (bringing new potential consumers to the brand, directly in the lowest stages of the Funnel), on customer retention (the incentive offered in exchange for inviting new purchases, i.e., additional "spins of the Wheel"). Think about it: it is a double self-sustaining virtuous circle that activates monetization (revenue generated from purchases made by both new users and those who can use earned bonuses) and the virality of the brand's communication. Obviously, the Referral program and the Loyalty program can also be combined with each other. This allows us to offer, in exchange for referrals from our customers, not just an economic incentive (like a €50 discount), but 5,000 points that can unlock exclusive levels and receive gifts.

Early access to sales for VIPs

For a VIP, early access to sales should be almost a right. Do you agree? Think about it: everyone always gives discounts to new customers, but seasonal discounts can become the key to a tailor-made promotion, without eroding margins in other periods of the year. The early discount for VIPs is not an additional discount (we would have done it anyway), however, it allows us to retain these special users, satisfy them by allowing them to find the perfect size, and continue communications over a longer period of time. One technique I really like is sending an email inviting our VIPs NOT TO PURCHASE in the period before the promotion. This "care" can also be successfully used in an exclusive community, as in this Verdevero example.

It will only make the relationship better.

A DEM plan to enhance VIPs

Not just black Friday and seasonal offers: it is useful to plan some specific emails to send to VIP customers throughout the year. They are the most engaged contacts, after all.

Here are some of the emails that we can include in a DEM plan to enhance our VIPs:

• Special promotions aimed at increasing AOV (e.g. a gift for every purchase above AOV or a 3x2 for VIPs)
• Exclusive content (to keep them aligned with internal processes for developing new products, so they know what's coming in advance)
• Selection of content extracted from the exclusive Community
• Evaluation questionnaires to listen to needs, requests, and suggestions
• Invitations to events
• Early access to pre-orders of new products

Conclusions

Most e-commerce websites do not pay enough attention to VIP customers.

If someone has spent 3-5 times the AOV over the last 12 months, they are not just any user: they are a VIP and you should treat them as such.

You need to spoil them and make sure not to lose them. Build a relationship by adopting a more intimate communication style, with exclusive product launches, feedback collection surveys, early access to sales, and priority support.

VIP customers identify with your brand and can be the engine that drives revenue flows in your Sand-Mill.

Do not abandon them, keep them engaged and aligned with business decisions, sharing news in advance and making them truly part of the family.