What price loyalty? Giveaways can buy transactions, but not necessarily commitment.(CRM TRENDS AND NEWS ANALYSIS)

CRM Magazine, March, 2005 by Compton, Jason

Between the explosion of miles-based programs and the expensive telecommunications customer-acquisition wars of the 1990s, loyalty programs providing incentives in exchange for business have been under the microscope for at least a decade. With corporate revenues beginning to rise and the pressure to grow quickly returning, tread carefully before investing in customer compensation plans that do nothing but hand back revenues.

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"If you look at loyalty as a program you'll get bid down, always looking at how you can sweeten the pie," says Don ...