Lets Go Software recently announced a new cash rewards program that will help members save up to $5000 each year. The promotion will involve almost 15,000 participating restaurants that will be offering discounts of up to 80% to Lets Go Software members. These impressive discounts add to the already hefty savings that members enjoy simply by booking hotels/condos, rental vehicles, flights, and cruises. The cash rewards system will be just one component of an additional savings program that aims to save members $5000-$10,000 annually.

Perhaps the most appealing aspect of the cash rewards program is that members don't have to do anything in particular to earn their discounts. Simply by being a member of Lets Go Software enables interactive users to be able to purchase meals at a significant discount in thousands of restaurants around the world. Nonetheless, booking more travel accommodations with Lets Go Software will increase the amount of discounts users and members will be able to use each month.

K&W Cafeterias has received the Talk of the Town award for “Excellence in Customer Satisfaction in 2011” from Celebration Media, US and Talk of the Town News.

The annual awards recognize businesses and professionals who have been noted by their customers through websites, blogs and social media networks as having excellent customer service. The company opened a location in the south Charlotte area, at 8652 Pineville-Matthews Road, last spring.

Customer satisfaction with service levels in retail banking has improved over the past year but customers are less likely to recommend their provider, according to a new Accenture survey of nearly 4,000 current account customers in the UK and Ireland.

In Great Britain in particular, the survey showed that the number of current account customers that are satisfied with their bank has risen from 56 percent to 60 percent in the last year. At the same time, the number of customers complaining about their bank was down from 17 percent to 13 percent, and more customers were satisfied with the complaint handling process (up from 34 percent to 39 percent).

Despite these improvements, the survey showed that the number of British customers who would recommend their bank to family and friends has fallen over the past year from 61 percent to 47 percent. Moreover, less than half of the customers surveyed believe their bank to be transparent and fair (43 percent) or providing good value for money (43 percent).

Survey Advantage released its Print Buyer Satisfaction Benchmarks for the fourth quarter, ending Dec. 31, 2011. Top performing printers (top third) achieved over 87 percent customer loyalty index, average performers were in the 75 percent to 86 percent range, and poor performers under 75 percent. The industry average remained the same at 81 percent.

Results were calculated from a survey of 10,511 print buyers who shared their level of satisfaction after jobs were completed.

Congratulations to AlphaGraphics of Canton, MI, for achieving the best overall loyalty rating. In the fourth quarter of 2011, 98 percent of its customers stated they were “Very Likely” to recommend the shop to colleagues and friends based on its performance for the quarter. Bob Carrigan’s team achieved scores above industry benchmarks throughout 2011, and finally took top honors.

Swiss provider of mobile wallet and payment services PointsPay has launched a mobile-based wallet app for the loyalty industry which allows customers to convert miles or points into usable point-of-sale (POS) currency. The launch has been made exclusively for members of the UAE airline company Etihad Airways.

With PointsPay’s mobile wallet app, members of participating loyalty programs will be able to use their accumulated points and miles at in-store and online merchants for purchasing goods and services from their mobile phones.

In its just released executive briefing, “Where is Loyalty Headed? An Inside Look at Trends Impacting the World of Customer Loyalty,” Loyalty 360 – The Loyalty Marketer’s Association shares insights from industry leaders about what’s on the horizon that will drive customer engagement and loyalty this year. The customer loyalty think tank asked its members to help uncover the key trends marketers believe will most impact the industry in 2012. A number of areas of focus bubbled to the top, including customer experience, loyalty programs, social media and online marketing, mobile, and data.

“Despite the explosion of the daily deal space – or perhaps because of it – marketers have come to realize that customer engagement and loyalty, versus acquisition, are critical for driving sustainable growth,” explains Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty 360. “As such, loyalty is a much bigger, broader, richer and increasingly complex idea than it has been in the past. Loyalty is no longer about points, discounts, miles, rewards; it is about the way the processes, technologies, ideas, and interactions engage an individual with the brand. The insights shared in this briefing will give marketers a deeper look into the key issues impacting the creation and implementation of effective loyalty strategies.”

Bank of America will begin testing a new type of deals program designed to build on its customers spending habits. The bank will start offering "BankAmeriDeals" to its employees in Nevada, North and South Carolina this week. By mid-February, all of the bank's U.S.-based employees will be able to access the deals.

The program works by assessing a customer's spending. For example, if a Bank of America customer uses her credit or debit card at a sporting goods store, she might receive an offer for a discount at that store — or a rival in the same niche — the next time she logs in to online banking.

The program is built upon software from an Atlanta-based company called Cardlytics. The company did not immediately return a call, but its website says it handles rewards programs for four of the top 10 banks and three of the top five prepaid card providers.

The program is paid for by the merchants making the discount offers, not by Bank of America. Chase, Regions Bank and others are offering similar types of discount programs.

Jacada, Inc. announced that TMC, a global, integrated media company, has named Jacada Workspace Agent Desktop as a Customer Interaction Solutions 2011 Product of the Year Award winner. Customer Interaction Solutions magazine is the leading publication covering CRM, call centers, and teleservices since 1982.

Each year, Customer Inter@ction Solutions magazine awards its Product of the Year awards to companies that have demonstrated extraordinary technological advancements and application refinements. "Jacada was selected to receive a 2011 Product of the Year Award for its achievement in advancing CRM, contact center and call center technologies. Jacada Workspace Agent Desktop has demonstrated excellence as well as provided ROI for the companies that use it," said Rich Tehrani, CEO, TMC. "Customer Interaction Solutions magazine has been recognizing innovative companies for 14 years and Jacada has earned its place with this distinguished honor."

Mattersight Corporation announced the expansion of its Behavioral Analytics service with Predictive Customer Satisfaction Analytics. Predictive Customer Satisfaction Analytics automatically predicts the Customer Satisfaction score a customer will give following an interaction. Using Mattersight's Predictive Customer Satisfaction Analytics, every captured customer interaction is given a customer satisfaction score, without the need of the customer completing a post-interaction survey.

Prior to Mattersight's Predictive Customer Satisfaction Analytics, companies had to rely on post-interaction surveys to measure customer satisfaction. This approach requires the customer to opt-in to a post-interaction survey, resulting in several issues and challenges:
- Results that are not actionable, especially at the employee level
- Small sample sizes that are not statistically valid
- A survey respondent population that often doesn't match the typical caller population
- The high cost of implementing surveying tools

Consumer appetite for Facebook Credits is rapidly growing. To satisfy that appetite, Plink (www.plink.com) launched a Facebook Credits-based loyalty program that rewards Facebook members for dining and making purchases at their favorite restaurants and offline retailers.

Members join at Plink.com through Facebook Connect, then safely and securely register the credit or debit card of their choice, and begin earning Facebook Credits by dining-out or making purchases at participating national restaurants and offline retailers. Today, Plink's online-to-offline (O2O™) loyalty program includes Dunkin' Donuts®, Quiznos®, Red Robin® and Taco Bell® among others. Plink members can now earn Facebook Credits at more than 25,000 locations nationwide.