Discounts, bonuses, gifts and cooperation. Part 2.

How it "turns on".

In the previous article, we looked at the benefits that unification of diverse businesses could bring to a single calculated-bonus system. In this article we will understand how to achieve this in practice. Let us consider two examples. The first example is our favorite water park, and for the second example we use small businesses of several friends located in the same city.

So, here goes the first example. We have a running water park.

For the convenience of customers, the management of the water park has decided to use internal cashless payments to further stimulate internal sales. But there is no desire to change the usual software that appropriates for business processes in the water park. Software replacement always involves a lot of problems. The cost of software can be "biting", the implementation creates a lot of inconveniences, and staff must be retrained. At the initial stage, staff can face with many errors and difficulties with management. In addition, you need to convince tenants to change to the new software. At the same time, it is not obvious that software which is used in the water park, will also successfully cope with the tasks of the tenants' business. It seems to be a difficult task. Not really. To solve it you need to use "Server Positive". The task of the server is to create the unified calculated-bonus space by means of exchanging various management programs, including ones from different manufacturers.

"Server Positive" has the necessary tools to do this:

• an open API for integration with third-party applications;

• free Windows client for integration with third-party applications;

• free Windows client for autonomic work;

• controllers for the management of gaming and other automatic machines.

Thus, the solution of a complex problem turns into four simple steps:

1. We have installed "Server Positive" in the local network of the water park.

2. We have used the tools "Server Positive" to integrate its software with the server. In those places where integration causes difficulties, we have used a free Windows client for offline work. We have equipped automatic machines with new controllers or reprogramed the old ones to work with the server.

3. We have convincingly offered all tenants to integrate with the server in the same way.

4. We have held a meeting where we determine the size of bonuses, logical gift chains and rules for mutual payments. As a result, we configured the server. We are ready to work.

Let’s look at the second example. Small businesses of several friends in the same city.

Imagine four completely successful businesses: a store selling household appliances, a fitness club + a beauty salon, a cafe and a playground for children's slot machines. When we say that a business is successful, we perfectly understand that each of these enterprises could work even better - there is no limit to perfection. They could serve more customers, sell more products. But how can they attract additional customers? Only strong wish is not enough. Further price reduction is not profitable. The market is competitive. How to stand out among others? 

Big sellers for this purpose use their bonus systems. Recently, the well-known network " Epicentr K" launched its own one. The big businesses have an advantage. They have a huge range of products, and bonuses for that reason they look at quite liquid. But in our example we are talking about small or medium businesses. How much launching of its bonus system is justified for each of the participants in the example?

Firstly, the good software with a bonus system is not cheap.
Secondly, the bonus system is not always effective for small businesses. For a client of a small household appliances store, bonuses are not very relevant because household appliances are not bought often. Clients of a fitness club or beauty salon will rather appreciate a convenient location or trainer / master than bonuses. Children would be happy to become regular customers of the playground, but you need to convince their parents. The bonus system is unlikely to help attract additional customers, and for the regular ones the bonus will simply turn into a discount. The same can be applied to customers of cafe. Only instead of the trainer / master the chef / waiters will act as a criterion. In order for the client to appreciate the skills and diligence of the staff, the client must be pre-lured.

And now, when our friends realized all this, they decided to help each other. We again use the capabilities of the "Server Positive" to do this. But we place it not in a local network, but in the "cloud". We don’t use electronic media (although we can) to identify customers, but we use the mobile phone numbers of customers. The two-factor identification will provide the necessary security. We do not need internal non-cash payments in this application. It remains to decide which of the participants will administer mutual payments. All the rest is similar to the preparation in the water park described in the first example. And further, we solve problems of our participants with benefit for all. For example, now the seller of household equipment can motivate its customers with liquid bonuses that can be used immediately at other participating businesses. For example, you can give your buyer as a gift the free time on the children slot machines. The platform with slot machines advertises not only itself, but other participants send their customers to it. Clients of fitness club now do not just raise the bar in training - they earn a new mixer for their kitchen. And when the cafe wants to bring a new pizza to the market, another participants begin to give customers the new product by sale, for examples the promotion can be based on the principles of every second pizza is free.

These examples are not exhaustive. This system gives a lot of opportunities to create different incentives for customers. A bit of fantasy and suddenly expensive bonus systems of large stores have begun to look pale with their boring possibilities. Now our friends have received the tools to persuade customers to buy, the arrays of clients of each participant have merged and increased in several times. Possibility of acquainting customers with new offers is simplified, etc. Flexibility of bonus-gift offers, which our friends can change with help of the settings, does not allow customers to get used to and always pleases with creativity. Our friends' businesses are receiving new impetus.

A little bit of boring scientific arguments

Any enterprise has a circle of regular, one-time and potential customers. We consider all people as potential clients who are located in the region of the enterprise's work, they can be affected by the company's advertising or they have acquaintances who can recommend the enterprise. The marketing efforts of the company are aimed at expanding the range of potential customers, moving from potential to one-time and from one-time to regular ones. Let's ask ourselves: how do the arrays (the array in the terms of mathematics) interact with customers from the enterprises of our friends from the example. The answer is obvious: they can accidentally overlap accidentally. These arrays will not only be united, but the participants of the system will have opportunities to manage them, all this will be possible after the unified bonus-gift system is launched. For example, to turn people who was not even enterprise potential customers into the one-time ones.

As a summary, we list the advantages of introducing the unified bonus-gift system under the control of the "Server Positive":

• ease of implementation without changing the usual management software;

• low cost of launching the loyalty system;

• the rapid increase in the potential customers of each enterprise;

• a wide variety of different schemes that allow to influence the customers behavior;

• transparency and ease of administration;

• the ability to change and adjust the work scheme quickly, depending on changes in external factors.