sales-loyalty

name	sales-loyalty
description	Designs and manage customer loyalty programs — points, tiers, rewards, referrals, VIP programs, brand communities, retention mechanics. Covers strategy, structure, and implementation across Brevo Loyalty, Smile.io, LoyaltyLion, Yotpo, Stamp.me, Skeepers Brand Communities, and custom-built programs. Use when repeat purchase rate is low, loyalty members not redeeming rewards, unsure which loyalty platform fits, tier structure not motivating upgrades, brand community inactive, or can't prove program ROI. Do NOT use for affiliate/referral programs with commission payouts (use /sales-affiliate-program), email marketing to loyalty members (use /sales-email-marketing), checkout optimization (use /sales-checkout), or Skeepers-specific config (use /sales-skeepers). For Brevo-specific help, use /sales-brevo.
argument-hint	[describe your loyalty program question or goal]
license	MIT
version	1.0.1
tags	["sales","loyalty","retention","rewards"]

Customer Loyalty Programs

Help the user design and manage loyalty programs — from strategy and structure through points/tiers/rewards mechanics, member engagement, and ROI measurement. This skill is tool-agnostic but includes platform-specific guidance for Brevo Loyalty, Smile.io, LoyaltyLion, Yotpo, Stamp.me, and custom-built solutions.

Step 1 — Gather context

If references/learnings.md exists, read it first for accumulated knowledge.

Ask the user:

1. What do you need help with?

   • A) Program design — creating a new loyalty program from scratch
   • B) Tool selection — choosing loyalty program software
   • C) Points & rewards — setting up earning rules and reward catalog
   • D) Tiers / VIP — designing tier levels and progression
   • E) Member engagement — increasing participation and redemption
   • F) Analytics & ROI — measuring program effectiveness
   • G) Integration — connecting loyalty to e-commerce, CRM, or POS
   • H) Migration — switching loyalty platforms
   • I) Something else — describe it

2. What type of business?

   • A) E-commerce / DTC
   • B) Retail (physical stores)
   • C) SaaS / subscription
   • D) Hospitality / restaurants
   • E) B2B
   • F) Multi-location / franchise
   • G) Other

3. Current loyalty setup?

   • A) No program yet — starting from scratch
   • B) Using Brevo Loyalty
   • C) Using Smile.io
   • D) Using LoyaltyLion
   • E) Using Yotpo
   • F) Using a custom-built solution
   • G) Using another platform
   • H) Have a basic program (punch card, discount codes) but want to upgrade

If the user's request already provides most of this context, skip directly to the relevant step. Lead with your best-effort answer using reasonable assumptions (stated explicitly), then ask only the most critical 1-2 clarifying questions at the end.

Step 2 — Strategy and approach

Loyalty program types

Type	How it works	Best for	Example
Points	Earn points on purchases, redeem for rewards	E-commerce, retail	1 point per $1 spent, 100 points = $5 off
Tiered	Higher tiers unlock better perks	Brands wanting aspirational status	Silver → Gold → Platinum with increasing benefits
Paid / VIP	Pay for membership with exclusive benefits	Premium brands, Amazon Prime model	$99/year for free shipping + early access
Cashback	Earn store credit on purchases	Price-sensitive customers	5% back on every purchase
Punch card	Buy X, get 1 free	Cafes, salons, simple retail	Buy 10 coffees, get 1 free
Experiential	Rewards are experiences, not discounts	Luxury brands	Early access, exclusive events, personal styling

Program design framework

1. Define the objective — retention, AOV increase, purchase frequency, referrals, data collection?
2. Choose the model — points, tiers, paid, hybrid?
3. Set earning rules — how do customers earn? (purchases, reviews, referrals, social shares, birthdays)
4. Design rewards — what can they redeem? (discounts, free products, free shipping, exclusive access, charity donations)
5. Create tiers (optional) — 2-4 tiers with clear progression and meaningful benefits at each level
6. Plan communication — welcome email, points reminders, tier upgrade notifications, expiry warnings
7. Measure — enrollment rate, active rate, redemption rate, incremental revenue

Points economy design

Earning rules (typical):

• Purchase: 1 point per $1 spent (or 10 points per $1 for psychological effect)
• Account creation: 50-100 points (one-time)
• Birthday: 50-200 points (annual)
• Product review: 25-50 points
• Social share/follow: 10-25 points
• Referral: 100-500 points

Redemption value:

• Target 5-10% effective discount rate (e.g., 100 points = $5 on a program where you earn 1 point/$1)
• Don't make rewards too hard to reach — first reward should be achievable in 2-3 purchases
• Offer a mix of reward values ($5, $10, $25, free product, free shipping)

Tier design

• 2-3 tiers is ideal — more than 4 creates confusion
• Name tiers — use brand-relevant names, not just Bronze/Silver/Gold
• Clear progression — spend $X/year or earn X points to reach next tier
• Meaningful benefits — each tier must feel noticeably better (not just 1% more discount)
• Maintain status — require annual re-qualification to maintain tier (prevents dormant high-tier members)

Step 3 — Platform-specific guidance

Read references/platforms.md for platform-specific loyalty guidance — Brevo, Smile.io, LoyaltyLion, Yotpo, Stamp.me, Skeepers, and the custom-built path (programs, pricing/plan gates, API surface, strengths/limitations, best-for). Read only the section matching the user's platform; for platform setup/integration, route to the dedicated /sales-{platform} skill.

Step 4 — Actionable guidance

Launch checklist

1. Design program — model, earning rules, rewards, tiers (see Step 2)
2. Choose platform — based on your e-commerce stack and needs
3. Configure — set up program, earning rules, reward catalog, tiers
4. Design assets — loyalty page, widget, emails (welcome, points earned, reward available, expiry warning)
5. Set up automations — trigger emails/SMS based on loyalty events
6. Soft launch — test with a small group, verify points earning and redemption
7. Promote — announce vian email, site banner, checkout page, social media
8. Measure — track enrollment, engagement, and revenue impact weekly

Key metrics

Metric	Benchmark	What it tells you
Enrollment rate	20-40% of customers	Program attractiveness
Active member rate	40-60% of enrolled	Ongoing engagement
Redemption rate	20-40% of points issued	Reward appeal
Member vs non-member AOV	15-25% higher	Revenue impact
Member purchase frequency	20-40% higher	Retention impact
Program ROI	3-5x cost	Overall program value

Gotchas

1. Don't make the first reward unreachable — if it takes 10 purchases to earn the first reward, most customers will give up. Design the first reward to be achievable in 2-3 purchases.
2. Don't create too many tiers — 2-3 tiers with meaningful differences beats 5 tiers with marginal distinctions. Each tier should feel like a real upgrade.
3. Don't forget expiration communication — if points expire, you must warn members before expiration (30 days, 7 days, 1 day). Surprise expiration creates angry customers.
4. Don't discount your way to losses — if your effective discount rate exceeds your margin, the program loses money. Model the economics before launch (typical target: 5-10% effective discount).
5. Don't neglect non-purchase engagement — the best loyalty programs reward reviews, referrals, social engagement, and account actions — not just purchases. This keeps members engaged between purchases.

• Self-improving: If you discover something not covered here, append it to references/learnings.md with today's date.

Before recommending a specific platform skill

This skill covers a strategy domain across many platforms. Before pointing the user to any specific platform skill (any /sales-{platform} listed in ## Related skills, e.g., /sales-mailshake, /sales-klaviyo, /sales-apollo), read that platform skill's actual SKILL.md first. The 1-line description in ## Related skills is enough to identify a candidate — it's not enough to commit to it or to write a prompt that invokes it well.

How to read it:

• If ~/.claude/skills/{skill-name}/SKILL.md exists locally, Read it.
• For sales-* skills, WebFetch directly from this repo: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sales-skills/sales/main/skills/{skill-name}/SKILL.md — e.g., for sales-mailshake: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sales-skills/sales/main/skills/sales-mailshake/SKILL.md.
• For non-sales-* skills (third-party), look up {org}/{repo} in ~/.claude/skills/sales-do/references/skill-sources.md if installed and fetch the same skills/{skill-name}/SKILL.md path under that repo.

After reading, ground your recommendation in something concrete from the SKILL.md (its scope, a sub-flow, its argument-hint shape, or a "Do NOT use for..." negative trigger). Align any generated invocation with the platform skill's argument-hint. If the platform skill turns out not to fit the user's situation, swap to another or handle the question here directly rather than recommending a poor fit.

Related skills

• /sales-skeepers — Skeepers platform help (Brand Communities, Verified Reviews, Influencer Marketing)
• /sales-loyaltylion — LoyaltyLion platform help (points, tiers, rewards, Klaviyo Events, API)
• /sales-brevo — Brevo platform help (Brevo Loyalty setup and configuration)
• /sales-affiliate-program — Affiliate and referral programs with commission payouts
• /sales-email-marketing — Email communication for loyalty program members
• /sales-checkout — Checkout optimization (loyalty display at checkout)
• /sales-integration — Connect loyalty tools with e-commerce and CRM
• /sales-do — Not sure which skill to use? The router matches any sales objective to the right skill. Install: npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-do

Examples

Example 1: Designing a loyalty program for a Shopify store

User says: "I run a DTC skincare brand on Shopify with $80 AOV. How should I structure a loyalty program?" Skill does: Recommends points-based program with 2 tiers. Earning: 1 point/$1 + bonus points for reviews and referrals. Rewards: $5 off (50 points), $15 off (150 points), free mini product (100 points). Tiers: Regular + VIP (spend $500/year for 1.5x points, free shipping, early access). Recommends Smile.io for Shopify. Result: Complete program design with economics, platform recommendation, and launch plan

Example 2: Measuring loyalty program ROI

User says: "Our loyalty program has been running for 6 months and we're not sure if it's working" Skill does: Defines key metrics to pull (member vs non-member AOV, purchase frequency, retention rate, redemption rate). Provides benchmark comparisons. Identifies common issues (low engagement, unreachable rewards, no communication). Result: Measurement framework with specific metrics, benchmarks, and optimization recommendations

Example 3: Setting up Brevo Loyalty with email automation

User says: "We're on Brevo Enterprise and want to launch a tiered loyalty program with automated emails" Skill does: Walks through creating a loyalty program in Brevo → defining tiers and earning rules → setting up reward catalog → building automation journeys triggered by loyalty events (enrollment → welcome, tier upgrade → congratulations, points expiring → reminder) Result: Loyalty program configured in Brevo with automated email flows for all key moments

Troubleshooting

Low enrollment rate

Symptom: Less than 10% of customers joining the loyalty program Cause: Program not visible enough, value proposition unclear, or signup process too complex Solution: 1) Add loyalty callout on homepage, product pages, and checkout. 2) Offer sign-up bonus (50-100 points). 3) Simplify enrollment to 1 click (email only). 4) Show the first achievable reward at signup ("You're 2 purchases away from $5 off!").

Members not redeeming rewards

Symptom: High points issuance but low redemption (< 15%) Cause: Rewards not appealing, redemption process too complex, or members forget they have points Solution: 1) Survey members on desired rewards. 2) Simplify redemption (1-click at checkout). 3) Send points balance reminders monthly. 4) Add lower-tier rewards that are easier to reach. 5) Show points balance prominently on account page and in emails.

Program losing money

Symptom: Loyalty program costs exceed the incremental revenue it generates Cause: Effective discount rate too high, or program attracts deal-seekers without increasing loyalty Solution: 1) Calculate effective discount rate (total rewards redeemed ÷ total member revenue). 2) If > 10%, reduce earning rate or increase redemption thresholds. 3) Add non-discount rewards (early access, exclusive content). 4) Implement minimum spend for redemption. 5) Segment: compare member lifetime value to non-member — if no difference, the program isn't driving incremental behavior.