VIP Customer Program Design

Treating all customers equally is like giving everyone the same birthday gift...it shows you don't really know them. Some of the brands I meet obsess over new customer acquisition while their highest-value customers get the same generic experience as first-time browsers. It's backwards economics...it makes zero sense. Here's the reality: Your top 10% of customers likely generate 30-50% of your revenue. Yet they're getting the same "10% off your first order" popup as someone who's never bought anything. I worked with a skincare brand doing $10M ARR. They had 12,000 active customers, but their top 300 customers accounted for $2.2M in lifetime value. These weren't just frequent buyers...they were brand evangelists who referred friends and shared on social. But the brand was treating them like everyone else. Same email campaigns. Same website experience. Same customer service queue. We built them a VIP tier system based on behavioral data, not just purchase history. The results were immediate: - Increase in repeat purchase rate among VIP customers - Higher average order value in VIP segments - Reduction in customer service response time for top-tier customers - Triple digig increase in referral revenue from VIP customers Here's what we learned...VIP isn't about discounts. It's about access and recognition. The psychology is simple: people want to feel seen and valued. When you create genuine exclusivity around experience rather than just price breaks, customers lean in. Your VIP strategy should feel like a private club membership, not a coupon book. We created three behavioral triggers for VIP status: 1. Purchase frequency (bought 4+ times in 12 months) 2. Engagement depth (opens emails, engages with content, leaves reviews) 3. Advocacy behavior (refers friends, shares products, contacts customer service with helpful feedback) The VIP experience included: 1. Early access to new products (24-48 hours before public launch) 2. Direct line to founder for product feedback and suggestions 3. Exclusive virtual events with brand experts and other VIP customers 4. Personalized product recommendations based on purchase history 5. Priority customer service with dedicated team members 7. Behind-the-scenes content about product development But here's the key insight...we made VIP status something you could lose. It wasn't permanent. If engagement dropped or purchases stopped, customers would move back to standard tier after 6 months. This created positive pressure to maintain the relationship. The exclusivity felt real because it was real. Your best customers are already choosing you over competitors. Stop taking that loyalty for granted. Start treating it like the strategic asset it is. Build experiences that make your VIP customers feel like insiders, not just bigger spenders. The brands that master VIP strategy don't just retain customers longer...they turn customers into unpaid marketing teams.

Over the years, I've observed two common challenges for VIP programs offered by luxury brands: first, how to accurately identify who their VIPs are, then engaging them in a way that feels thoughtful rather than intrusive.    We have all heard the story of this young tech entrepreneur—whose startup has already reached a valuation of half a billion dollars—entering an upscale boutique dressed casually in a hoodie, only to be dismissed and treated condescendingly by the sales staff.    I wonder how many truly important clients slip through the cracks simply because brands don't have the right tools or approach to recognize them. The latest Boston Consulting Group (BCG) / Altagamma True-Luxury Global Consumer Insights 2025 report reveals that around 70% of potential Very Important Clients (VICs) remain unnoticed, leaving a gap between who brands think their VIPs are and who they should be nurturing.    This is often due to fragmented customer data and a lack of sophisticated segmentation that goes beyond purchase frequency or spend alone, compounded by inadequately trained sales teams who lack the proper tools, data access, and clear processes necessary to effectively identify and engage potential VIP customers.    This creates a striking paradox: on one hand, existing VIPs are telling brands they're no longer enjoying what's being done for them, while on the other hand, potential VIPs who could be highly valuable remain unrecognized and increasingly frustrated by their treatment. Identification alone isn't the full story. Some top-tier clients feel bombarded by irrelevant messages, despite their desire for a more intimate and meaningful connection. According to the report, over 60% feel overwhelmed by excessive outreach, while 80% would much rather have a quiet, exclusive experience. Some VIP clients we spoke to said there is a sense of saturation and sameness.    Just as luxury brands have recently faced criticism for lacking innovation in their product offerings—prompting a welcome wave of fresh creative talent—there's an urgent need for similar creative reinvention in how VIP experiences are conceived and delivered. The formulaic approach to luxury events and VIP client engagement has become predictable, calling for bold, out-of-the-box thinking.    The true opportunity lies in reimagining VIP programs from a transactional reward system into dynamic, data-informed partnerships, where technology amplifies personalization without losing the human touch. Brands must simultaneously solve both sides of this paradox—retaining current VIPs with more meaningful, less intrusive experiences while developing better systems to identify and nurture emerging high-value clients before they walk away. Luxury brands that master this dual challenge will not only survive but also set a new standard in the years ahead. #CXG #CXGLife #CX 

There's ONE strategy that I credit with 2X-ing our client's repeat purchase rate in just 2 months. VIP segmentation. AKA strategically identifying and nurturing your most valuable customers to drive more repeat purchases without having to load the spam cannons and do a bunch of outreach or burn your marketing budget on paid media. You've probably heard the term before. You've probably seen some of your ecommerce friends talking about it. You've probably been annoyed by your competitors gaining traction with their loyal customers. But, you might not know how to start. You don't have a repeatable system to produce winning VIP segments that: 1. Grow a relevant audience of potential repeat buyers 2. Gets you qualified, inbound purchases I'm going to give you the entire blueprint. Here's exactly what we did for our client in the women's sportswear niche: We created a plan with 3 key elements: 1) Introduced a replenishment flow. This was a two-email sequence with incentives sent 30 days after purchase, prompting customers to buy again. 2) Created a VIP flow. Customers who made two or more purchases entered this segment and received a special flow with exclusive incentives. The copy was personalized and flattering. Worthy of VIPs. 3) Implemented SMS marketing, but… with a twist. Only email subscribers (many of whom were buyers) saw the phone number collection pop-up, which included a small incentive. This strategy helped convert email subscribers to SMS subscribers, essentially creating another VIP list. We also increased our campaign sending cadence. After analyzing the data and seeing good deliverability, we ramped up to 15 campaigns in the last 30 days - the most we've ever sent for this client. Surprisingly, deliverability hit an all-time high. The results? In just 2 months, we took the client's repeat purchase rate from 20% to 34%. That's a 70% increase. Repeat purchase revenue is now sitting at $35k for the past 30 days, matching November's peak season numbers... in February and March. Now, the client wants us to focus on increasing LTV for the last 90-day cohort. And as always? Challenge ACCEPTED.

ManoMano just dropped something 🔥 and every marketplace strategist should take notes. 🛠️ A loyalty program... for DIY and home improvement shoppers. 📣 Say hello to ManoClub, and it’s smarter than most retail programs out there. Here’s why this move is strategically brilliant: 🪜 Two-tier structure keeps buyers coming back 👉 "Member" after your first order = €10 reward. 👉 "TopMember" after just 4 purchases = 3% cashback, free returns, and VIP support. Yes, they’ve gamified trust. And it works. 📲 App engagement built in You earn extra by… downloading the app, reviewing products, and choosing ManoExpress delivery. They’re literally rewarding customer behavior that improves their bottom line. 🎯 Hyper-personalisation with data at the core This isn’t just cashback. It’s a full-funnel strategy to increase LTV, lock in loyalty, and gather granular insight on what customers actually value. 🚀 It’s a marketplace loyalty program done right And it’s rare. Loyalty isn’t easy when you’re not the seller-of-record. But ManoMano is showing how marketplaces can own the customer relationship anyway. 🧠 Takeaway? If you run a marketplace, it’s time to think beyond transactions. Design for lifetime value. Build community. Reward wisely. 👷♀️ Because even in DIY, retention is not a side project, it’s your growth engine. #MarketplaceStrategy #EcommerceInnovation #CustomerLoyalty #ManoMano #LTV #RetailMedia #DIY #MarketplaceGrowth

Stop treating all customers equally. After 20+ years of turnarounds, I've seen this truth repeatedly. - 20% of customers drive 80% of profit - Many customers actually cost you money - Your best customers hate being treated like everyone else A few years back we analyzed a $100M brand's customer base. Found they were actually losing money on nearly 60% of their customers on a contribution margin basis. 🤯 The playbook: 1. Identify your "Whales" 🐳 Your most frequent and highest LTV buyers. 2. Profile them What'd they buy first? What channel/campaign did they come from? (BTW, that ad driving your lowest CAC might actually be acquiring the wrong kind of customers.) 3. Orient your biz around your whales 🐋 Introduce VIP benefits they care about Early access > discounts Personal touch points Premium service tiers Allocate spend towards the channels or campaigns driving a higher % of whales. We launched simple handwritten notes to top customers at one brand. 2X higher LTV in following 180 days. It pencils: 1 whale = 50+ minnows Acquisition cost often identical Service costs actually lower Stop trying to be everything to everyone. Focus on your best customers and find more like them. What whale programs do you have running at your brand?

The most profitable growth hack in e-commerce has always been hiding in plain sight, powering brands like Bonobos since day one. They didn't call it "Whales and Minnows" out loud (though apparently they did behind closed doors), but this concept was the backbone of every scalable DTC brand I've built, bought or advised. The math is brutally simple: Your VIP customers are worth 4-6x more than your average customers. Let that sink in. Not 20% more. Not double. FOUR TO SIX TIMES more valuable. When Michael Epstein and I were rebuilding the marketing engine at AutoAnything, we discovered that 8% of our customers generated 42% of our revenue. The concentration was even more extreme when we looked at profit contribution. This isn't a fluffy "customer loyalty" talking point. It's the difference between running a profitable enterprise and burning cash on a conveyor belt of one-time buyers. Bonobos cracked this code early. Craig Elbert (then VP of Marketing) put it on my radar. They built their entire business model around fit – creating an inherent stickiness that traditional retailers couldn't match. Once you found pants that actually fit your body, why would you roll the dice at J.Crew again? Here's where most brands get it catastrophically wrong: • They give equal marketing attention to whales and minnows • They create loyalty programs that reward transactions, not customers • They focus CAC calculations on initial purchase, not lifetime value • They put retention marketing on autopilot while obsessing over acquisition The reality? You should be spending disproportionate resources identifying, nurturing, and retaining your whales. When I look at the balance sheets of struggling DTC brands, I almost always find the same issue: they're acquiring 100 new minnows when they should be simplifying and gunning for 10 new whales. The playbook is straightforward: 1. Identify behavioral signals that predict whale potential 2. Create VIP-only experiences that drive emotional connection 3. Build product assortments that encourage repeat purchasing 4. Develop communication cadences specific to high-value customers Forget the conventional wisdom about universal loyalty programs. Bonobos built a $310M brand without one because they understood something more fundamental: create a product experience that naturally generates whales, then double down on those customers. What's your whale-to-minnow ratio? And more importantly, does your marketing budget allocation match it? BTW John Hutchison, fmr CEO Bonobos, and I go DEEP on this strategy on our recent Nerd Marketing Podcast - link in the comments.

How I earned the trust of +500 VIP loyal members Here is my 7 year "overnight success" Building trust and loyalty with VIP customers is both an art and a science. Here is my strategy: 🎁 Personalization Treat every VIP customer as a unique individual. Customized experiences aren't just appreciated; they're expected. ✔️ Consistency Trust is built on consistency. Delivering exceptional service is crucial. 💌 Exclusivity Memorable, exclusive experiences resonate deeply with VIP customers. Whether it's an invite-only event or early access to new products, such gestures make VIPs feel recognized and valued. 💬 Feedback VIP customers are usually more engaged. Active listening is your most potent strategy. Seek and cherish feedback from your VIP customers. 🤝 Transparent Communication In both triumphs and challenges, transparent communication strengthens trust. Keeping VIP customers in the loop about changes, improvements, or setbacks demonstrates respect and fortifies our relationship. 🏆 Rewards Acknowledging loyalty is crucial. From loyalty programs to unexpected gifts, showing appreciation encourages customers to stay with your brand. Despite often representing a small fraction of the customer base (5% to 20%), VIP customers can contribute to a company's revenue, accounting for 50% to 70% of total sales. P.S: What strategies have you found most effective in making your VIPs feel not just valued, but royal?