Residential Estate Industry Journal 5 | Page 72

ARC COMMUITY
We see our customers as invited guests to a party , and we are the hosts . It is our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little better .
Jeff Bezos , Chief Executive Officer of Amazon

LOYALTY

PROGRAMMES

AND REWARDING YOUR RESIDENTS

Residents living in community associations are not your typical customers . Their expectations , as customers , are much higher than those of your average customer walking into a store or purchasing something online .
Residents who are investing in your estate require an endless amount of services and support , especially when it comes to their lifestyle and their security .
But at the end of the day , you are the hosts of the party ; and you have invited your residents to join ; you have even allowed them an endless number of plus-ones … how are you going to make every important aspect of their experience a little better ?
Planning a party is much like developing a residential estate . You set out an array of activities to keep your guests entertained , and you make sure that their primary needs are satisfied . Sure , some guests may not get along with each other , and some guests may not have a great experience no matter how much you try to meet their expectations , but as all party hosts and party guests can agree , sometimes all you need to do is make sure that the chip bowls get filled up before they are empty . better , and rewarding your members for being loyal customers is a fantastic way to do this .
ARC is working with Mahala , a rewards and loyalty platform developed to enhance the interaction between home owners and service providers through rewards , and to assist residential estates in developing an affordable mobile solution to engage with the home owners by bringing them a loyalty-based rewards programme . The programme focuses on increasing sales within the community and ensuring that members get rewarded for doing so .
Steve Jobs once said : ‘ Get closer than ever to your customers . So close that you tell them what they need before they realise it themselves .’ This is exactly what we intend to facilitate within this programme . The Mahala loyalty programme will revolve around three pillars :
The party venue is within the boundary walls of your estate ; the party hosts are the board members and management teams ; the party guests are the estate residents and their visitors ; the party activities are your estate facilities and amenities ; and the party ’ s chip bowls … well , that ’ s up to you as the leaders of your homeowners association or body corporate .
You want your guests to enjoy the party as much as possible , and ultimately you want them to come back to the next party that you host . Guaranteeing this can come down to two simple things that you as the hosts can do . Firstly , make sure that the chips are tasty and that they keep on coming . And secondly , something that we are starting to see at almost every party in the world – give your guests a small bag of chips to take home with them . Enough with the metaphor – community leaders have a responsibility to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little
1 . Intra-community rewards – rewarding your own members for utilising your internal offerings
2 . Inter-community rewards – recognising and rewarding members from other communities who visit and use your facilities and amenities , and vice versa
3 . Mahala partners rewards – with Mahala being an already wellestablished loyalty programme , members from communities who sign up to the programme can also be rewarded for purchasing from Mahala ’ s existing partners .
The Mahala loyalty programme is completely flexible , and can be developed to meet the community ’ s needs as well as the needs of the community members .
For more information , visit www . mahalas . co . za | Jono Gilmour on 083 286 5939
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