Introducing Touch Network, the specialist in loyalty, incentive and promotion services

Customer retention in a world of fierce competition is simply not enough anymore and the same applies for employee retention. When you focus on retention, you basically want existing customers and employees to continue working with you. You want to keep them by your side and you want to keep them happy to ensure stability and growth for your business. That is because a high customer retention rate means increasing your income while keeping acquisition costs low. Meanwhile, a high employee retention rate stands for reducing turnover, retaining talent and fostering a stable work atmosphere.

But to bring customer retention to the next level, companies need to focus on fostering loyalty. In terms of actions, this translates to customers staying with your service and are resistant to competitors because they’re satisfied with what they’re getting out of the collaboration. Meanwhile, employees working at the company have a strong awareness of the journey the company is on and what their role is in achieving long term goals. Both parties showcase their loyalty by becoming ambassadors for the company: customers will recommend the company’s service to like minded acquaintances, employees will vouch for your services and recommend open positions to their contacts.

The path towards loyalty

Loyalty in terms of customers and employees is probably the most valuable resource you can achieve, but nobody said it was easy to activate this mindset. That is why ambitious investors like Mentha prefer to merge several companies together in order to unite the experts and create a top player in the field of customer and employee programs. This is how Touch Network was born, a specialist in loyalty, incentive and promotion services.

The industry experts

Touch Incentive was already a specialist in loyalty marketing, while Touch TVCC had the expertise in customer and employee satisfaction, and promotions. They used to belong to the same group, however, they would oftentimes work separately from each other. Therefore, Mentha decided to invest in them and align their activities together with one more essential player: Jibe Commerce, the software solution provider and enabling technology partner for the entire concept.

This groundbreaking combination allows the newborn Touch Network to become a major partner for both existing clients and prospects, including the largest supermarkets, department stores, amusement parks, gas stations, car brands, video game providers and even energy suppliers.

What’s next for Touch Network

This partnership definitely paves the way for further expansion and growth, positioning Touch Network firmly on the market. Therefore, following this merger, the brand new company’s focus is to grow organically and internationally, but also to follow a buy & build strategy. Nevertheless, the main goal is for Touch Network to become one of the big players on the international stage. 

Why is loyalty a business asset

Fortune Business Insights reports that the loyalty management market is forecast to grow to $18.2 billion by 2028, more than 4 times its current value. The business value of loyalty isn’t only in its competitive advantage, as it’s become a race at enterprise level to build the best loyalty programs, but it is in its long term collaboration, and following this, also financial value.  

Loyalty indicates that someone chooses a business entity based on a preference, while they have a certain resistance regarding the competition. Nevertheless, it should be pointed out that loyalty goes beyond spending money. 

Loyal customers will not only be coming back to do business with you again and again, but they will also encourage others to do the same. This gives rise to quality referrals and word-of-mouth marketing. Loyal customers become a valuable source of honest feedback, allowing the company to constantly improve its services.

At the same time, loyal employees will vouch for you and serve as true ambassadors for your business. That is because loyal employees will usually find their work meaningful, contribute to the bigger picture behind the company’s goals and will stay loyal to their colleagues and company. A loyalty program is not a quick fix for existing culture or planning issues, it is the last piece in a series of processes and operations that make the company work, which operationalizes gratitude and recognition from the management’s part into something tangible. 

A solution like Touch Network can make a difference in how a company sets up a loyalty program and the appropriate incentives, whether it’s internally for its employees, or externally for its customers.

Retention vs. loyalty. What’s the difference?

It is important to make a clear distinction between retention and loyalty. A customer who continues collaborating with you or buying your product may be retained, but they may not be necessarily loyal. Sometimes, retention is a matter of not having other options available in the market, especially when you need a specific set of services in a specific price range. Similarly, an employee may be staying with your company just because they haven’t found something better, but that doesn’t mean they will recommend their friends to join the team. When you draw the line, loyalty is signaled through word of mouth.

Loyalty-based relationships are what you want for your business

The backbone of your success as a business boils down to your employees working hard to make the customers happy, which means just retaining your customers and employees is by no means a prosperous strategy. You want to aspire towards creating a team that monitors the customers' pain points and goals, and responds appropriately at each point of contact. This, in turn, creates an ongoing emotional relationship with them based on positive experiences and trust.

It goes without saying that customers and employees are the lifeline of any business, while loyalty programs are an indispensable tool for retaining them and attracting new target groups. Whether you choose to dabble with loyalty programs on your own, or you partner up with the pros in the field, it is certainly one of any company’s top priorities. So make sure you start by determining which loyalty tactics you're going to tap into or simply reach out to players like Touch Network, where you can benefit from a solid, flexible loyalty platform and where our joint forces enable a more effective and broad way of serving customers.