As a company that specialises in loyalty and membership programmes, we recognise the importance of customer retention for increasing a business’ revenue. Studies have shown that by increasing retentions, a company’s profits can grow dramatically.

According to a study by the global business consulting firm, Baines and Company: “A 5% increase in customer retention can increase a company’s profitability by 75%.”

In another study, Zero Defections: Quality Comes to Services by Frederick F. Reichheld and W. Earl Sasser, Jr. this theory was applied directly to a business, and the results were astonishing. Reichheld and Sasser reported that: “When MBNA America, a Delaware-based credit card company, cut its 10% defection rate in half, profits rose a whopping 125%. But defection rates are not just a measure of service quality; they are also a guide for achieving it.”

Although the exact figures from the studies vary, one thing is for sure; they consistently show that when customer defection rates are lowered, profits increase. And with the current economic climate in mind, these are results that can’t be ignored, whatever sector you trade in or whatever the size of your business.

Having confirmed that customer retention is essential, the question then has to be – what can a business actually do to increase loyalty?

The Rocket Marketing Group has created the answer for businesses, helping them to deliver excellent customer service and drive loyalty. Through our range of loyalty and membership programmes companies can offer club members (customers) exclusive discounts or alternatively sell our products to provide customers with a comprehensive shopping experience.

Loyalty and membership programmes not only drive repeat business for clients by offering members great savings, but customers can also feel exclusively tied to a brand by belonging to a club; their relationship with a brand is deeper than the average consumer – they feel special. Joining a club can also be an expression of the customer’s personality. It can enhance their affiliation with the area of interest, for example, The Rocket Marketing Group’s Entertainment Club is perfect for someone who considers themselves fanatical about films and The Midweek Dining Club is a must for all foodies. By offering members of a club exclusive discounts and rewards you are confirming their value as a customer and giving them a connection with the brand.

The Rocket Marketing Group loyalty and membership programmes include: The Big Savings Club, The Entertainment Club, The Midweek Dining Club and The Home & Garden Club. The clubs are managed by us and give a hassle-free way for businesses to offer customers more. And because we are proud of our excellent customer service record, achieved by our team of 30 technical, fulfilment, marketing, call-centre and creative specialists, all managed in-house, a partnership with us can benefit any brand enormously.

The media will have you believe that we’re all sitting at home afraid to spend any money, amid the fear of redundancy and destitution. How true is this? In reality how is the recession really affecting the way people dine? And what can restaurants offer the public to turn the tide?

A recent survey conducted by the business advisory firm Deloitte found that: “Cost reduction is the top priority in 2009 for senior executives in the food and beverage industry.”

Livebookings, a marketing and real-time booking service for restaurants and diners have analysed their UK figures to monitor the amount of discounts used in their restaurants. Below is the table of results.

The amount of people using offers when booking through Livebookings has clearly increased dramatically. These results are echoed through the many things we hear and read in the media, as prudence seems to have become the latest trend, whatever your financial situation. It is clear that restaurants have taken note as there is a noticeable increase in the number of discounts and ‘credit crunch deals’ available. A popular way restaurants have found to channel these discounts, is through a dining club such as The Midweek Dining Club, Top Table, Taste London. The clubs give its foodie members a full directory of restaurants and special member discounts, easily accessible from comprehensive websites. Dining club membership figures have rapidly increased in the last few years and restaurants are recognising them as an essential tool for promoting their brand and combating the public’s reluctance to spend money.

Lawrence Hutter, Global Head of Food and Beverage at Deloitte, said: “The economic downturn has presented food and beverage companies with new challenges. It is impacting how much money consumers spend but also the way in which they spend it. Footfall in discount grocers is rising and many shoppers are trading down.”

Recognising the need for restaurants to promote their businesses in a different way, based on special offers, The Rocket Marketing Group set up and currently operates The Midweek Dining Club. Our clients have found that it is a great way to promote their restaurants by encouraging potential diners to take advantage of some fantastic discounts. With over 25,000 members, restaurant brands are promoted to a vast customer base. The special offers and discounts range from 50% off the food bill to a free bottle of wine. The best thing is that it’s completely free to register a restaurant with The Midweek Dining Club. All restaurants have to do is provide an offer for club members. It is an effective marketing tool especially for independent restaurants that don’t have a large advertising budget. And because we also pride ourselves on excellent customer service, a partnership with us is a happy experience.

So visit The Midweek Dining Club website for a taste of what we do.

The Rocket Marketing Group announces a new signing with New Image TV for its national rewards programme The Big Saving Club.

Rocket makes an ideal partner as its club programme perfectly match New Image TV customers by offering a huge range of discounted offers and savings.

“New Image TV were looking for a reward scheme that would complement their key target sectors whilst being well aligned to their customer demographic. We have an appropriate offering in each category” says Andy Huggins, Rocket’s MD. “This will not only incentivise category sales, but will also create new and incremental revenue opportunities that would otherwise not have been available to them. We’re very pleased to have been selected by such a forward thinking company”.

Jim Coleman, CEO of New Image TV said “We’re delighted to be working with The Rocket Marketing Group. Having looked closely at the various club providers in this industry, we selected Rocket on reputation and their commitment to delivering both an excellent product and a quality customer experience.”

We have just launched our brand new corporate site, with some great new information about The Rocket Marketing Group including our latest news and updates, our core values, info about the team and a selection of our key products and services that are helping to bring substantial savings to our members!

There’s never been a better time to get in contact, and see how we can work together.

Recently featured in Sales Promotion Magazine (in partnership with the Institute of Sales Promotion):

Rocket Marketing Group has just launched a loyalty club for consumer product brand JML, called The JML VIP Savings Club.

Consumers can get discounts and special offers on a range of family-oriented services, plus exclusive discounts on JML products. Rocket is planning to offer a white label version of the loyalty club to other brands.

Rocket is also looking for brands interested in setting up their own nationwide membership-based dining clubs. Rocket launched The Midweek Dining Club in 2006, and signed drinks giant Gonzales Byass to a two-year contract for its Tio Pepe brand to be sole sponsor.

We have now re-released a newly designed and fully functional Big Savings Club website.

As part of our commitment to continuously improving our products and services, this new site is a major step forward both in terms of design and functionality. The new site allows the customer much greater interaction with the offers, together with real time integration to SAP and our in house Membership Services team.

The new site has taken several weeks to develop, and will be used as our technical template going forward. Over the next few weeks you will see new releases of all our club sites.