Loyalty Truth

KickBack Rewards was formed in 2000 by a group of business people who owned independent fuel and convenience retail stores. Seeking to protect their interests against their national, sometimes global, competitors, they formed Kickback Points as a loyalty system designed to drive higher customer frequency, higher ticket averages, and to reduce customer defection.

Led by Pat Lewis, a well recognized and respected force in the industry, KickBack has grown to support over 100 retailers, making it effectively the largest coalition program in the US today. Consider this a proof of concept if you will, but it clear that retailers and other business owners understand the power of the loyalty coalition model.

As we did some research into KickBack Rewards, we ran across a quote from Cecilia Sanchez, National Loyalty Consultant with KickBack Rewards  that is worth sharing:

“Marketing is fundamentally the study of human behavior.

A physiologist attempts to understand whereas the marketing professional attempts to understand and influence.”

This fits nicely with the core thoughts presented in our Loyalty Manifesto, where we suggest that we need to remember that our customers are not just reflections of their transaction behavior, but are also human beings that can be motivated through both intrinsic and extrinsic means.