Being easy to buy from matters. But when your competitors are easy to buy from too, what gives your business customers a reason to choose you again – or recommend you to someone else?
“Mediocrity is on the rise, delight is in decline.”
In the 2026 UK CX Report from Ipsos and Engage Customer, half of the customer experiences evaluated were described as having nothing notable or memorable about them, and only 37% were positive (continuing a four-year downward trend).
The research covers 5,000 UK consumers, rather than business buyers. But it raises a useful question: are you giving people enough reasons to feel good about doing business with you? This is where B2B customer and channel loyalty programmes play a valuable role in driving retention and advocacy.
Good service gets you into the running, but it doesn’t make you stand out
Accurate orders, reliable delivery and straightforward processes help earn trust. They’ve also become what everyone expects.
The Ipsos report references its ‘Forces of CX’: the six dimensions of an experience that can be leveraged to build stronger customer relationships. Three are the practical fundamentals – fair treatment, certainty and control. The other three are the all-important differentiators: status, belonging and enjoyment. It’s these three (all of which can be delivered by your loyalty programme) that make customers feel valued and genuinely connected to your brand.
And that matters commercially. Ipsos reports a Net Promoter ScoreSM of +16 for experiences where nothing notable happened, compared with +64 where something delighted the customer. The association between delight and willingness to recommend is striking – and this is also what makes experiences (and brands) memorable.
Build loyalty by making reward and recognition part of the relationship
B2B customer loyalty programmes should go way beyond rewarding the next order. Rather than simply reacting to what’s already happened, you can use your programme to actively influence the behaviours that strengthen the relationship and support future growth, such as placing orders from a certain product range, completing training or making referrals.
The people choosing, recommending, selling or installing your products all have their own pressures and priorities. A well-designed loyalty programme gives you opportunities to reward and recognise their contribution throughout your relationship with them, helping increase their customer lifetime value. That could mean a personalised message when a member reaches a milestone, recognition for a dealer who engages with product information, or a reward that makes an installer’s extra effort feel worthwhile.
Clear, achievable goals and timely updates help people see that their effort is noticed.
Give customers something to look forward to
Delight doesn’t have to be about expensive gestures: relevance and timing are what count. A reward someone actually wants, recognition of an achievement, or a new promotion that reflects their priorities can all drive engagement, build relationships and make sure your loyalty programme is worth regularly returning to.
The beauty of points-based loyalty programmes is that you can reward little and often, enabling members to build the value of their balance over time. Choice matters here: people value being able to spend their points on different things, from useful to aspirational, a treat for the family or a team outing, a milestone trip or experience they’ve been saving towards.
Keep communications personal and useful too. A timely reminder or nudge that a desired reward is within close reach can make a bigger difference than another generic sales email.
Beyond the launch: analyse, learn, iterate, elevate
For B2B loyalty programmes, it’s essential to look beyond participation figures. Are rewards relevant? Are targets realistic? Is claiming straightforward? We look beyond the dashboard and dig into the detail of what’s really happening, so that we can recommend enhancements and help you put them into practice.
With the Incentivesmart platform you can also reach your end users direct and ask them for feedback on all kinds of relevant aspects of your business and their experience with you. And when you do, make sure you show that you are listening and acting on the feedback you receive. In their report Ipsos and Engage point out that while customers are usually willing to give feedback, over half (51%) say they never or rarely see action being taken in response.
Build the loyalty programme that makes you memorable
Incentivesmart offers the winning combination of a flexible loyalty platform, a wide choice of aspirational rewards (physical and digital) and ongoing support from our Client Success team. We help you create, launch and continually improve a programme that gives B2B customers and channel partners reasons to engage with and stay loyal to your brand.
This is your opportunity to stand out: to make doing business with you feel rewarding, and give people more reasons to return, spend and recommend.
Net Promoter Score℠ is a service mark of Bain & Company, Inc., NICE Systems, Inc., and Fred Reichheld.
See how Incentivesmart could work for your business: explore our clickable demo
Further reading:
B2B customer loyalty programmes: the complete guide
Loyalty points programmes: A crash course in loyalty rewards (with examples)
Your guide to customer and channel loyalty
Why loyalty might just be the most under-used tool in your growth strategy
