GiftCard Partners Blog

vAs employers continue to try to control costs of health insurance benefits they are turning to incentives more and more frequently for their Health & Wellness programs. Incentives motivate employees to evaluate and improve their health, which obviously benefits employees and simultaneously helps lower costs for employers. Aon Hewitt’s recent survey of nearly 2,000 U.S. employers, their combined 20 million U.S. employees and their dependents found that 84% of employers offer employees incentives for participating in a health risk questionnaire (HRQ) and 64 percent offer incentives for biometric screenings to help employees evaluate their health status. 51% of employers provide incentives for participation in health and wellness improvement programs as well. The incentives used here do not need to be big, but rather need to be meaningful. Helping employees maintain their health and reach new health goals can be as simple as offering 
a gift cards to 
CVS/Pharmacy or GNC. A small investment such as this easily provides noticeable ROI  to employers and employees feel support from their employer;
,that their employer cares about them as a person, not just a part of the organization. Bettering your employees' health can often better your bottom line.  
For more information on Aon Hewitt's survey on Health and Wellness Incentives check out this article from Insurance Journal.

Trust is crucial to the success of your company, and the satisfaction of your employees. Companies where there is trust between management and staff are more successful, produce more valuable stock, and have more successful employees. Here are 3 key ways to building trust with your staff:
Involve employees in decisions that affect them. This shows that you trust your employees capability. This does not mean that you need to pull everyone in on every minute decision. However, involved people in decision making that is going to have an affect on their work responsibility, even if they do not make the final decision, shows management's confidence in employees ability.
Be transparent and consistent in your actions. This shows reliability to employees. It allows employees to understand management patterns and thought processes.
Pay attention to relationships. Employers understanding what employees want is critical. The connection between employees and managers often dictates how engaged and satisfied employees are, and maintaining that relationship should be one of management's top priorities to ensure success.

Do you remember that Customer Loyalty Program your company has in place? Oh that’s right I think Bob’s looking into that every other Thursday. Well it’s time to take it to the next level, it could be the difference between having a successful year that’s one for the books and barely making it through. Entrepreneur released an article explaining the importance of a Customer Loyalty Program and how it is more valuable than ever “in this age of social connectivity.” Word-of-mouth has gone to a whole new level…and spreads like wildfire. It’s important to invest financial resources into making your current customers feel appreciated, after all they could end up being a spokesperson for your company or for your competitor. The article highlights 5 ways to improve your Customer Loyalty Program. Here’s a couple that caught our eye:
Refresh the ‘Thank You’- Give your 'Thank You’ a facelift, after all it’s seen by all of your customers. Entrepreneur states, “…ideas for improvement include lacing in a promotion to instigate immediate action…” Why not offer gift cards to new customers to show that you appreciate their business, whether it’s to
SUBWAY for a healthy lunch or family night at
Boston Market they're sure to be grateful.
Improve your feedback channel- Most company’s don’t realize how critical your customer feedback can be. Make sure that you are getting relevant information and turning it around to give your customers the best experience they can have. *Tip: Maybe you understand the importance of customer feedback and find it hard to pry it out of your customers? I smell an incentive. Try rewarding them with gift cards to their favorite restaurant or clothing store! To find out more ways to kick start your Customer Engagement Program check out
5 Ways to Take Customer Loyalty to the Next Level here.

Using gamification as a tool for employee motivation is a fairly new strategy, but continues to prove its effectiveness in many different applications. Gamification can be used for Health and Wellness programs, to motivate a company to complete a specific goal, or as a running motivator to balance the seriousness of the workplace with some old-fashioned competition and non-disruptive social interaction. Keeping gaming in the workplace up to date, simple, and competitive are the most important, and often challenging aspects of this type of reward and recognition program. Gaming is not as effective or engaging if employees cannot view the standings and identify their competition continuously. Gamification of employee engagement can also help create a model for future engagement efforts. Since the game takes feedback from employees it creates incredibly useful data on how to engage your specific employees and what will get them excited about work, the competition, and socializing with their co-workers. This data can hel pemployers decide how to spend their rewards budget. Whether your workforce is interested in extra vacation time, a gift card to a favorite restaurant, or another type of reward the gaming data will help you determine how best to reward your employees. Gamification provides incredible ROI because it solicits a consistent feedback loop from employees to management and helps to retain employees and keep them satisfied in their professional setting. How do you use gamification in your rewards program?
For more information on gaming in the workplace check out this article from Mashable.

Promo Marketing released an article this week that gave some insight into customer loyalty and the need for revolution. The simple, straight forward formula they offer does not necessarily lead you to the customer loyalty "pot of gold" but it's definitely a treasure map. Introducing, The 3 R's. Reward, Recognition, Relevance These three words should be constantly intertwined with the term customer loyalty, but how well are they being implemented? Maybe another ‘R’ word will catch your attention...Repetition. Reward, Recognition, Relevance The
Reward can be as simple as a Thank You. Thanking your customers for their loyalty to your brand or business is easy and inexpensive. Try giving them a discount, a chance to earn points, or rewarding the women in your office with a gift card to The Limited or the men in your office with a gift card to AutoZone.
Recognition is a way the show your customer that you appreciate them for choosing your brand or business when they could have just as easily gone to your competitor. Lastly,
Relevance is key. In a day in age that throws more information at customers than pick-up lines at a singles bar, you could be reaching a customer who is overwhelmed and exhausted; the last thought in their mind being to process your message. So, keep it relevant, put yourself in front of the eyes that want to see you. Don't try playing football at a baseball game. As hard as it might be to practice, quality is better than quantity in the case of customer loyalty. Remember the 3 R’s and it could put you on the track to success.
Read more on The Three ‘R’s to Successful Customer Loyalty, here.