A part of WS Audiology, Signia has grown to be one of the leading hearing aid brands worldwide. The Aspire B2B loyalty program is provided through the brand and is part of its business model for program members who are in the top 20% in the brand’s business revenue.
A finalist for the 2023 Loyalty360 Awards at this year’s Loyalty Expo in Orlando, FL, in the B2B Customer Loyalty category, Signia received the platinum award, while taking home the bronze in the Offer, Incentive, and Reward Design category.
Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, spoke with Stephanie Miller, Senior Loyalty Program Manager at Signia Aspire, about the brand’s award-winning presentations, advice for similar brands — especially those with B2B loyalty programs, and the next exciting step for the Aspire program.
Can you give us a brief overview of your brand and your Loyalty360 Award entry from the 2023 Loyalty Expo?
Miller: We talked about the brand itself. Signia is one of about 14 brands within our parent company, which is WS Audiology (WSA). We are, I believe, the only brand within our umbrella that has a loyalty program. We really want to nurture this program and make it the best in the industry. We’d like to be a benchmark for the other brands under the WSA umbrella. We’re taking this step forward.
Our entry for this year’s Loyalty360 Awards was exciting. Last year, we participated not knowing anything and operating a bit in the dark. We asked ourselves: How do we answer these questions? What do we need to do?
We were astonished to receive the platinum award last year. Going into it this year, having more understanding, we thought, “There are so many good brands and amazing people presenting under the B2B category that we may not have a double shot here.” We were surprised to again get the recognition for the B2B Customer Loyalty award. It’s something we were proud of receiving. We’ve sent a newsletter out. We’ve shared it with our affiliates and customers because our Aspire members are also a part of this award. We were excited to share the information and say, “Hey! We’re top-notch two years in a row — and it’s because of our members.”
You’ve touched on it a bit in your overview, but what are one or two things you’re most proud of when it comes to your brand’s customer loyalty program and program efforts?
Miller: We’re most proud of the fact that we’re able to take a fairly complex program — because of the different layers — and showcase enough of that information to demonstrate how we invest in our members. We give members access to some of the more simple baseline benefits, and we also invest in them when they make selections about their bonus benefits. This is where they can choose services or perks that they wouldn’t necessarily get as a non-Aspire member. We continue to grow it, making it a deeper program and adding more layers to help our customers — the hearing professionals — take advantage of what we have to offer. Owning a business, selling hearing aids, and helping the community — it’s not a one size fits all model. That’s how Aspire is set up. We try to fill in wherever we can.
What’s one piece of advice you would share with a similar brand or someone who looks to expand or enhance their customer loyalty strategy? If you want to put a B2B spin on that, please do.
Miller: One of the things that would be a great item to share from our perspective — being that we’re B2B — is to keep an open mind of how you’re supporting your customers because in the end, you’re supporting
their customers. Even though we are working with our partners to help them create efficiencies in their practice, deliver marketing communications, etc., at the end of the day, those efficiencies help the patient come through the practice with an easy flow. The marketing outreach that we help our members do ensures that their patients will come into the practice and feel like the professional knows them. It’s always having that view of what we do between the program and the business also goes outside of the business and connects with those people who are going to walk into our members’ practices.
Briefly, what is the next exciting step Signia plans to make in strengthening customer loyalty? What do you see as the next big opportunity?
Miller: That’s an exciting question because we have this wish list and some of it includes our customer-facing improvements.
One of the things I have on my plate is to add videos from our partners so that our other customers are enticed to learn more about their programs and services. While customers will read about the offerings, it’s always nicer to hear it from the partner providing the service. Right now, I’m adding videos that will help us explain the benefits of the program while helping members to see themselves taking advantage of it. From there, they can then reach out to those vendors or simply use their program within the Aspire program itself.
The idea is to educate and emphasize that if you as one of our customers know more, then you can take better action in support of your business.
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