Did you know the first coffee break on the moon, occurred at 7:27 pm, July 20, 1969?

I know this because I am inside a Gloria Jeans Coffee Shop right now and read it on the back of their loyalty card.

Here's how the offer works:

Buy 10 drinks and receive a free regular size drink. Now I got a large cappuccino which cost $3.80. For me to get a free drink, I would need to spend around $38.00.

The free coffee I would receive would be valued at $3.80, but the reality is the hard costs would only be about 50 cents.

That's about a 76 times return on investment.

Is it a good strategy?

Qantas seems to think so.

Woolworths seems to think so.

So does Dymocks. And Coles Myer.

So loyalty programs must work, right?

Okay, let's take a look at how we could apply a loyalty program to a few different industries:

-a chiropractor could offer every 11th visit for free

-a printer could offer a couple of movie tickets after someone spent $1000 with them. A dinner for two after they spent $5,000 with them. And a weekend away for two after they spent $12,000 with them.

-A toy wholesaler could design a points system offering one point for every $10 spent and have a range of different gifts they enjoy as they get more points.

Most businesses become obsessed with generating new customers. However the reality is it's about five times easier to get an existing customer to come back than it is to attract a new client because you already have an established relationship and a certain element of trust.

There are sophisticated computer systems you can get to manage a program like this. Or you can simply get started right away by:

-getting a simple card like "buy 10 coffees, get one free"

-Asking customers to keep their dockets and then rewarding them with a gift voucher when they have a certain amount of points (you could print this out on a simple A4 brochure with some photos of what they get based on your points system and how the program works.

-Or if you have a small number of large clients, you could have someone in your office keep an eye on it. And send a

note with each invoice saying something along the lines of "You now have 75 points. You require only another 25 points to receive our free gift of a dinner for two at the Palazzo French Restaurant.

Crunch the numbers and work out what's profitable for you. The big companies do this because it works. Will you follow in their footsteps?