Loyalty schemes are great for customer acquisition

Finding and retaining customers has rarely been as important or as difficult as it is in the current economic climate.

This is particularly true if you operate in the business to consumer sector, as you may find you lose customers through no fault of your own, simply because they can no longer afford your products or services.

Formulating a customer acquisition strategy is a sensible step, to make sure you are not missing any simple measures or innovations that could help to attract new business.

Price cuts and advertising campaigns are two of the classic approaches for bringing in brand new customers and tempting previous ones back, but if money is tight, they may not be possible.

Among the other options worth looking at are incentives, such as loyalty schemes that offer rewards for regular spenders or some kind of introductory offer for people trying your products or services for the first time.

Your customer acquisition plan could focus on people who walk through the door or those you deal with online.

Points schemes are particularly effective – you only have to think about your own experience of dealing with major supermarkets to realise how these simple systems influence people's buying decisions.

If you own a busy company, you may feel you do not have the time to run a programme like this, but it is possible to outsource it to an organisation that will set it up and then manage it on your behalf.

An online incentive points system, providing discounts or other sorts of rewards, such as gift or travel vouchers, to regular customers is a good way to tempt new people to take a look at what you have to offer.

You could also look at unveiling the scheme to coincide with a major promotion or product launch and offering people gift vouchers to sign up to it.

Not only will this encourage them to try purchasing from you for a first time, it will also help with customer retention, by giving them a reason to come back instead of buying from a competitor.

Any programme that targets new business should also include elements that will help your company to combat attrition.

A well designed loyalty and incentive system will allow you to do this, but it is also worth considering things like a Christmas saving scheme that will give your customers the opportunity to put money aside to spend with you ahead of the festive period.