(Chief Marketer)— The best loyalty programs thrive on dialogue. Members agree to provide information—through transactions, survey responses and declared preferences—and marketers respond with offers that not only reward customers for sharing, but also prove that the marketers are listening.

“Dialogue” implies immediacy of interaction; real-time dialogue marketing leverages that immediacy.

In a loyalty program, the need for real-time usually arises in relation to earning and redeeming the program’s currency, and is especially important for programs operating at multiple locations. Points earned at one chain location, for instance, should be easily “burned” (redeemed) at the chain’s cross-town location.

Similarly, for businesses with multiple brands, sister businesses or loyalty coalition partners, the benefits of keeping earn and burn within the company’s universe are obvious.

“We can assure that every transaction is live, so customers can spend earned points immediately,” said Patrick Lewis, CEO of the KickBack Points coalition in the western U.S. “We have a number of what we call ‘power issuers’ on our system—furniture stores, for instance, that issue millions of points a month. KickBack cardholders can make a purchase at such issuers, and then go directly out and have dinner or buy a tank of gas with the points they just earned. The power of that instant gratification can’t be underestimated.”

Such immediate dialogue response confirms the value of program membership, and will likely spur future activity. This in mind, the SmartClub points-currency program in China seeks to engage members from the moment they sign up on the SmartClub Web site. Points are immediately awarded, and immediately available for redemption on the site (some rewards are available for a single point, further encouraging activity).

Real-time has other impact, as well. In the loyalty program of the Piggly Wiggly Carolina Company in the eastern U.S.—called “Pig Perks”—members access a front-of-store “Perkolator” kiosk to receive customer-specific offers. No printed coupons, nothing to write down. Savings are automatically applied at checkout. Customers receive tailored offers that they can accept easily and without fuss (while marketers can measure specifically which offers were tendered, and which were accepted or declined).

In this case, a kiosk delivered the dialogue. It could have been a smart shopping cart, or cell phone messaging (which if overused, is in danger of being perceived as spam). Tailored offers are frequently delivered by email or website display, but remember that we’re talking now-now-now real-time. What better time to make an offer than when the customer is in the best mood and position to accept it–when they’re in-store and already shopping?

The specifics of the dialogue delivery system and such other tech choices as customer ID (biometric, magstripe, contactless) and checkout/payment (near-field communications, RFID, self-scan) are very much in the trial stages. These tools deliver conversation; what drives the conversation is the backend: a reliable data network that registers and retrieves customer information (and perhaps even processes it on the fly), and then makes it immediately available to the consumer. That information answers the consumer question —How many points do I have now? It tells the retailer: What offers can my front-line employee make verbally to this identified customer?

Retailers are in a period of intense technological innovation and experimentation. But it all boils down to one underlying principle: In the world of loyalty programs and of customer dialogue marketing, real-time is real-money.

Bill Brohaugh is managing editor of Colloquy, a loyalty marketing consulting and publishing firm.

The best loyalty programs thrive on dialogue. Members agree to provide information–through transactions, survey responses and declared preferences–and marketers respond with offers that not only reward customers for sharing, but also prove that the marketers are listening.

“Dialogue” implies immediacy of interaction; real-time dialogue marketing leverages that immediacy.

In a loyalty program, the need for real-time usually arises in relation to earning and redeeming the program’s currency, and is especially important for programs operating at multiple locations. Points earned at one chain location, for instance, should be easily “burned” (redeemed) at the chain’s cross-town location.

Similarly, for businesses with multiple brands, sister businesses or loyalty coalition partners, the benefits of keeping earn and burn within the company’s universe are obvious. “We can assure that every transaction is live, so customers can spend earned points immediately,” says Patrick Lewis, CEO of the KickBack Points coalition in the western U.S. “We have a number of what we call ‘power issuers’ on our system–furniture stores, for instance, that issue millions of points a month. KickBack cardholders can make a purchase at such issuers, and then go directly out and have dinner or buy a tank of gas with the points they just earned. The power of that instant gratification can’t be underestimated.”

Such immediate dialogue response confirms the value of program membership, and will likely spur future activity. This in mind, the SmartClub points-currency program in China seeks to engage members from the moment they sign up on the SmartClub Web site. Points are immediately awarded, and immediately available for redemption on the site (some rewards are available for a single point, further encouraging activity).

Real-time has other impact, as well. In the loyalty program of the Piggly Wiggly Carolina Company in the eastern U.S.–called “Pig Perks”–members access a front-of-store “Perkolator” kiosk to receive customer-specific offers. No printed coupons, nothing to write down. Savings are automatically applied at checkout. Customers receive tailored offers that they can accept easily and without fuss (while marketers can measure specifically which offers were tendered, and which were accepted or declined).

In this case, a kiosk delivered the dialogue. It could have been a smart shopping cart, or cell phone messaging (which if overused, is in danger of being perceived as spam). Tailored offers are frequently delivered by email or website display, but remember that we’re talking now-now-now real-time. What better time to make an offer than when the customer is in the best mood and position to accept it–when they’re in-store and already shopping?

The specifics of the dialogue delivery system and such other tech choices as customer ID (biometric, magstripe, contactless) and checkout/payment (near-field communications, RFID, self-scan) are very much in the trial stages. These tools deliver conversation; what drives the conversation is the backend: a reliable data network that registers and retrieves customer information (and perhaps even processes it on the fly), and then makes it immediately available to the consumer. That information answers the consumer question — How many points do I have now? It tells the retailer: What offers can my front-line employee make verbally to this identified customer?

Retailers are in a period of intense technological innovation and experimentation. But it all boils down to one underlying principle: In the world of loyalty programs and of customer dialogue marketing, real-time is real-money.

Bill Brohaugh is managing editor of Colloquy, a loyalty marketing consulting and publishing firm.