Latest / Leaders in Customer Loyalty, Powered by Loyalty360 / #516: Leaders in Customer Loyalty: Brand Stories | Getting Customers Back on the Road: How Advance Auto Parts Is Redesigning Loyalty Around Value and Simplicity

Transcript

#516: Leaders in Customer Loyalty: Brand Stories | Getting Customers Back on the Road: How Advance Auto Parts Is Redesigning Loyalty Around Value and Simplicity · Leaders in Customer Loyalty, Powered by Loyalty360

• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to the Leaders in Customer Loyalty series.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: This is Thursday, so it's the brand storage edition.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: The automotive aftermarket industry is evolving rapidly, and in today's uncertain economy, customer loyalty has never been more critical.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Drivers, local mechanics, installers, and do-it-yourself first are all demanding greater value, convenience, and experiences that feel truly personalized.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: At the same time, brands are under pressure to deliver those benefits while keeping customer loyalty programs simple, relevant, and easy to understand.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: Across the industry, many brands are rethinking and redesigning their customer loafy strategies.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yet too often these efforts miss the mark.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: Brands struggle to truly listen to and understand their customers, unintentionally removing value while adding complexity even as customers are asking for and demanding the opposite.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: In this episode, we'll explore how one brand, Advanced Auto Parts, is leaning into this evolution, re-examining how customer loyalty can deliver meaningful value without unnecessary friction, and what other brands who are focused on customer loyalties can learn from that approach.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the show, Bruce Darnes.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: He is the Executive Vice President, Chief Merchant at Advanced Auto Parts.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: Bruce, thank you very much for taking the time to speak with us today.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: How are you?
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_01: Mark's good to see you.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_01: Excited to chat with you today.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: I am as well.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: Love auto parts.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: I kind of like cars.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: So this will be kind of right up my alley.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: I don't, I'm not as handy as I probably should be, but uh I like uh I like getting parts and have to get parts, especially when you have four uh three kids with the car.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they'll be always something breaking there.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um doubt.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: So for those who may not be familiar, can you give us a brief introduction to advanced auto parts?
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: You know, how is the company started?
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: Where was it started?
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so uh advanced has been around for for more than 90 years.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um and uh started with the the simple mindset of how do we get customers back on the road with the parts that they need?
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_01: And and frankly, that has been our our value set, you know, that that entire time.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_01: So started in Roanoke, uh Virginia.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_01: We are currently based in uh Raleigh, North Carolina, over 4,300 stores.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um and um, you know, our goal is how do we always put the customer first uh with their needs um with their cars, um, which is such a fun space to be in.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_01: You know, one of the biggest things that we all experience every day is is driving.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_01: So uh we want our cars to work, and when they don't, our job is to help.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: When you look at customer loyalty, I know we're gonna talk about the new program here in a few minutes.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: Uh uh very focused on customer loyalty, and it sounds like you are as well.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: When you look at customer loyalty and kind of the people who buy parts, are there kind of different customer segments you add people?
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: The DIY guy likes to do everything.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, some people may just come in for uh windshield wipers and fluid.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: You know, what kind of groups do you have that uh you know frequent advanced auto parts?
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so think of our customers in two buckets.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, first are pros, professionals.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and we serve them every day.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_01: You know, they're they're one of the most important um uh parts of our entire economy, right?
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_01: They're always out there getting motorists back on the road.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, they're there are our main street customers, independent repair shops that service uh, you know, local um communities, right?
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_01: And these guys have one, maybe two big garages.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, some are larger than that.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_01: And then we also serve a lot of the big national accounts, you know, out there.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_01: So you got a set of pros, you know, that we we we serve every day.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: And then we have our DIYers, you know, do it yourself.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_01: These are our customers who are looking to save money by doing it themselves.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_01: They're enthusiasts, they like working on their cars.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_01: And we segment that group into two two groups.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_01: The first ones we call our light DIYers.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_01: And and and these guys are basically comfortable with your your basic maintenance, fluid checks, uh, oil changes.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um you know, they uh prefer jobs that build confidence and the the mistakes are are are pretty easy, right?
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_01: You're not gonna lose too much uh by by putting too much fluid in in certain parts of the automobile.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um the most advanced repair they might do is a brake job, right?
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_01: That's kind of the borderline, right?
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_01: If if if a customer feels comfortable doing a brake job, that's probably the the point where they move into the other segment, which is our heavy DR wires.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_01: These guys, they are comfortable with any level of project.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_01: They can change fluids, they can replace engines.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and they know their business uh and cars really, really well.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, interesting enough, whether it's any one of those segments, loyalty is an important part of it because it helps us understand, you know, what is the customer doing, what are they working on, and how do we help them get one or two more transactions more um, you know, all the time.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's uh customer loyalty can be and should be that fulcrum to drive a lot of uh you know decisions, marketing decisions, engagement decisions, and sounds like you guys are doing that quite well.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: Uh yeah, absolutely.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: Well, let's talk about your role a little bit.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um, can you tell us about your role within the company, uh, what you do on a daily basis, and you know, how did you get to where you are today?
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so um, so I'm the chief merchant here, right?
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_01: And underneath that is uh your core merchandising team, right?
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_01: Uh the the the merchants on the the floor that determine, hey, what are the products we put in our stores?
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_01: Uh obviously all the helpful team members that get inventory into the those right places left within my space as well.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but also have our e-commerce business, our pricing and promotional business, and then uh the marketing team, which's job is to tell the story of our brand.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_01: And and this is where our loyalty um uh team uh lives.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_01: So um that's the the makeup of my team.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um very fortunate to have a great mix of team members who have grown up in the auto parts industry, they know the space really well, but then also some team members who've been at big retailers, they know what great looks like.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um and so it's that combination is is where our team is made up of.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I spent uh the the the last 20 years before joining in advance about a year and a half ago was at Target, um, and and learned a lot of great things about what it means to be focused on the customer all the time.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: And and that's a lot about what we've been trying to do here is get back at listening to the customer, understanding what's important to them, understanding what's not important to them.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I think that you know, I'll give our team a lot of kudos.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_01: That has been such a huge part of the last year, um, and the adjustments that we're making uh as a company.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: So that's awesome.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: You talked a little bit about, or you mentioned that you're bringing bringing people in from different backgrounds, right?
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: And that's very important.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: You know, one of the things about customer loyalty is that you can share uh best practices, insight across industries, and whether it's financial services, there's there's things that you can take away from that.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: And you mentioned obviously coming over from Target, Uber focused on the customer, uh, the you know, the young generation, fashion forward.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: You know, what are you able to take from other uh industries?
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: What are some things that that that you see that works and how do you potentially integrate them into what you're offering?
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'll give you a great example.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: So we're we're uh based here in the Southeast US, and we've got a couple of major home improvement uh organizations that that are based down here.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: And so we've had a decent amount of team members come over from those uh uh multiple companies and taught us a couple things.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_01: You know, first, they have a similar business model.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_01: They serve both their DIY customers and pro customers.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_01: And so learning from them on best practices when it comes to you know, um rewarding pros, best cat practices when it comes to rewarding their DIY customers has been great.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_01: The other interesting thing is um you know, customers who are doing a repair, whether it's on your car, whether it's in your house, you want to be able to have the confidence to do the job right, to have all the parts you need, to have all the experience uh that you need.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_01: So if you're gonna do a brake job, it's not just about changing the pads and the rotors, but it's making sure that you have all the necessary things to complete that job with confidence and to make sure that you have the safety of uh stopping your automobile.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um, the same thing happens in home improvement all over the place, right?
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_01: The the types of jobs, do you have the right quantity of the parts?
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_01: Do you have the total uh job?
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_01: And so put a lot of things into our systems to make sure as customers come in, whether it's on the pro side or the DIY side, that we've got the parts and we've got the experience to make sure that they have that confidence they need.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_01: So it's been a great learning and a great benefit having obviously a lot of the great veteran leaders that we have here from the auto industry, but bringing in some different perspectives.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I think you hit on a couple different things.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: You know, there's B2B to C type programs, there's B2C programs.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: You kind of have both, right?
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: You do have both, right?
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: You're serving uh the mechanic where I might take my car, right?
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: And and uh if if they need uh, you know, different products, but you're also serving the do it yourself.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: And and one of the things we see in our community, uh especially on the B2B side, is having the kind of that that best practices, that insight behind them to help them do their job, right?
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: You want to make sure the DIY person has everything he needs, uh friendly forward per staff members that are experienced, but also to the local shop that may have one or two or three locations, you want to make sure you have the products, services, and you know, to you can simplify that, you become a resource for them in essence, right?
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: Because many loyalty programs are trying to become that resource, especially in the B2V environment.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: How can I simplify what we're doing to help the you know the auto mechanic that may have one, two, three locations, correct?
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_01: So it's and if you think about, you know, you think about a small shop, right?
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_01: You've got a small shop, you've got an entrepreneur who's you know just starting out in their career, um, they've got a lot to manage, right?
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_01: Not just actually doing the repair, they're running their business.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_01: And our job is to help them be a successful business owner, right?
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_01: And and if we do that well, if we remind them of different benefits we have by remaining loyal to us, if we help them establish, you know, the right way to do the entire job, they will continue to be loyal to us.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I've heard story after story of you know, shop owners who've been part of our experience for a long time.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_01: And it's because we helped them build their business together, you know, with them.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_01: And so it you can't get lost in the fact that these are humans.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_01: You've got to treat these um these business owners with the respect that they deserve.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_01: They're an essential fabric of the American community.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's important for us to keep that focus there too.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: You mentioned the challenge of listening and to and understanding customers.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: That's a pretty significant challenge we see in our community.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: It's definitely gotten better, but many brands have a hard time kind of removing themselves from their purview, their perspective, right?
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: And putting it in that customer perspective.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: What do they want?
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: What do they need?
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: How do they want it?
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: We think oftentimes that that we understand kind of what that may be, but that can be a big challenge to kind of step back and listen to, but more importantly, action on all of that insight that that they may give you, right?
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: And you may not be able to do it all, but you know, how how do you do that so effectively?
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: Because that's a pretty big challenge for many brands.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_01: Two two different ways that we've been focused on it.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_01: Uh the the first one is nothing's gonna be solved in this building.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_01: You know, this building here in in Raleigh is great, but we're not solving it here.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_01: We're we're solving our customers' needs by being out in the field.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, my team and I, we we travel a lot.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_01: We're on the road um uh multiple, multiple weeks um every month.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_01: And we're in stores, we're in shops, and we're we're asking the the questions that that we need to get answers on.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um you know, that has been a focus of my team for for the last year, and we've done um we've done a lot to be out there as a uh as an organization.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_01: So that's that's important.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: But but obviously you're getting um you're not getting scale.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_01: We have 4,300 you know stores.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_01: So you can get out and you can get into a lot of markets, which we do, um, but then you validate that data with the different sources we have.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_01: So whether it's our net promoter scores, whether it's different you know, review platforms such as Google, you know, we look at those um reviews every day.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: It is it is one of the first things that I do before my day starts is what was yesterday's feedback um um in the market?
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_01: What can we do better, right?
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_01: And each one of those things becomes hey, is this new information?
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: Is this reinforcing something that we're already working on?
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, is this starting to is this a new trend that we're seeing?
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_01: But it just constant focus on the customer listening to them and and and actually doing something about it.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: And that that becomes very important too when you take on the process or even think about doing a process if I'm redoing your customer loyalty program, which you recently did, right?
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: You you replaced speed perks with a new advanced rewards.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you know, what prompted you to you know enhance that program, modernize the program uh, you know, at this moment?
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_01: You know, a couple things.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um, first, the the the platform itself um was was dated.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_01: There was just certain things that we couldn't uh uh offer to our customers.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_01: And so, A, you know, when you have a situation like that, you get a little bit of this opportunity to say, how do we want to start, you know, start over?
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_01: What is it that's out there?
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_01: Do we want to take a look at the program itself, the name, all of that?
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_01: And we we spent a decent amount of time doing a lot of research with our customers and then with our our our our field teams, right?
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_01: In stores within our pros, listening to some of the things that they said.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_01: And and a couple of things were were were pretty clear.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_01: You know, number one, um, they liked the program.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_01: It didn't need to be completely blown up, it just needed to be uh to be evolved.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um there were certain things that that that just didn't offer a lot of value.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_01: So we had a fuel rewards program.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um we we only had a few customers use that.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_01: They were very loyal to it, they used it a decent amount, but it did not have broad um use.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_01: In fact, we got that feedback over and over from from customers that they they don't use that.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_01: And then we also heard the idea that, hey, when I get a rewards coupon, um, and and I'm a loyal customer and I'm I'm coming quite often, I can't stack those coupons, right?
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_01: I earn five dollars and I can't use it, you know, um uh with another five dollar coupon.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_01: And so those two examples are are things that um said, hey, we don't need to spend money on fuel rewards if we're not really um getting the value for it.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_01: How might we turn that back into letting our customers stack their coupon uh their coupons?
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_01: And in fact, once we started kind of getting a little feedback, we went on to our field teams who said, hey, this is what we're hearing.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_01: Unbelievable amounts of positive feedback because they feel it, right?
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_01: They'll be in the store.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_01: Customer comes in, like, hey, I'd like to use this$5 and this$5, and they I can't do that for you, right?
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: And so now that we're able to solve that, uh, it gives the field team a lot of confidence um in being able to help their most valuable customers use the rewards that they they they achieved.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and it's interesting.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: Uh that's uh kind of a pretty significant uh enhancement and and and listening to customers because right now there's a big push to value, right?
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_00: And many brands are asking, sorry, many customers are asking their brands, I mean, what can you do for me?
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: How can you help me?
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it may be a little rough right now, especially uh, you know, maybe the DIYers, they may be struggling a little bit.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: And some brands are trying to uh they may be taking away benefits, right or wrong, and then they kind of frame it as, oh, it's positive for you, right?
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you know, we this we we're taking these things away, but giving you this.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I really don't want that, right?
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_00: But you seem to take on a different track of you know adding value uh because it's it's a long-term game, customer will, right?
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_00: So quarter to quarter, month to month uh are important, but it's really a long-term gain that there's we should be focused on, correct?
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_01: It is.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_01: And if you think about just the art industry, right?
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, a lot of times customers will only come to us when when something's broke or it's time for maintenance, right?
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_01: So while we certainly have customers who are just incredible enthusiasts and shop us a decent amount, that you know, for the most part, um, this is an area uh of need.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_01: And so um, you know, for us to be able to say, listen, you know, we're we're gonna give you the opportunity to stack those coupons.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_01: We're gonna give you that opportunity to save a little bit more, especially when some of these um, you know, repairs can be can be expensive.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: There's no doubt.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um that gives us the opportunity to earn that next trip back, right?
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: That next time when it's you know an oil change coming through, the next time that they have to replace a battery, you know, we've been able to serve them a little bit better, maybe save them a little bit more money than we've had in the past.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and and I think that that is the right play um for us over the long period.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_00: And one of the things that you did uh with the new program is you you kept it fairly consistent, right?
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: That the the tier structure will remain familiar, first gear, second gear, top gear.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and you you put through meaningful updates and enhancements.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so what was the thought process of uh you know going through that?
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_00: You wanted to remain familiar, but you also want to innovate.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so how how did you balance those?
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_00: You know, again, listening to the customer, it's it's it's amazing.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, as we started this process and we started brainstorming, hey, what are the different things that that we might do?
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it's fun to do that, but you have to be grounded in in those particular dialogues that you have with customers and again, what's important to them.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_01: And and I'll be honest with you, our tier program, um our customers knew it well.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_01: It made sense.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_01: They knew that the more they spent, they got to different tiers.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_01: And then once they got to different tiers, they made, they were able to save more money.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_01: And so we wanted to make sure that we were able to continue that, um, to continue that benefit, right?
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_01: The second thing is again, where is it that we started to hear things that, you know, um uh we can add some benefits, you know, to that, right?
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_01: So uh again, not just the the adding on coupons, but another thing that we we heard from uh our vendor partners is hey, we would love to be able to provide you with um uh additional promo opportunities, promotional opportunities, you know, for your customers.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_01: So now not only are we gonna be able to, again, offer a couple of the things that we talked about earlier, but when our vendors come to us and say, hey, listen, we've got this great opportunity um to create this benefit, we've got that capability now.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_01: And we know that that's a really uh great opportunity for us to go at our customers with the partnership, our vendor community.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I think that's awesome, being able to have the partnerships uh and being flexible uh in that regard.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_00: Because many uh technologies don't enable the flexibility.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: They don't allow for partnerships.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_00: The partnerships right now are probably a top two or three area of interest.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we actually help brands facilitate them.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_00: But if you can get that right alignment, uh the co-marketing deal set up right, you can get uh kind of the program aligned, those can be a huge benefit for uh programs these days.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, because it it's it's it's look alike customers, it's the ability to add value against that whole discussion of value we talked about, if you can form that uh the partnership in the right way, don't you think?
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_01: I agree, completely agree.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_01: And and by the way, we're both to try and achieve the same thing, right?
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_01: You know, when we work with some of our um our our big oil suppliers, that you know, is one of the the most important things that a customer can do is is have their oil changed and keep the engine maintained.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we're we're all trying to do the same thing and we're helping them do that job, do that job on their own so they can save, they can save money.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so it it really helps us go to market as as one team, um, that that we just didn't have that capability, you know, as as recently as last year.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_01: So excited for that one.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_00: Excellent.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, you talked a little bit about uh kind of the the stacking of the program, uh kind of coupons, should I say, and the benefit that that brought to the customers.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_00: And you look at that from a business impact.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_00: What are some of the what are some of the objectives you were looking to kind of you know uh kind of accomplish by allowing customers to stack the coupons?
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it it comes down to transactions.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_01: You know, if if we've got a customer who's who's been loyal to us and has been earning those types of rewards, and we say to them, hey, you you you can't stack your$5 you know reward, you're gonna have to use that, you know, each time.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_01: And and again, customers spend a decent amount, you know, they've done a couple big jobs and they've earned um you know a set of coupons.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_01: We we are we're basically saying you can stack up to$100.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_01: Boy, that's a meaningful um value that a customer can apply to that next big job, right?
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_01: And so for us, it comes down to transactions.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_01: If you know that that remaining loyal to us continues to give you benefit that you can then apply to that next big job, we want you to keep coming back.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_01: That equals transactions.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_01: The program really is designed to do that, keeps our customers.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Coming back to us over and over again, and we'll measure the success by transactions.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_00: And you talked about personalization as well.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: Another huge area of focus, right?
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure we have the right technology, making sure it seems like they know you at scale.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: What does personalization look like in kind of an automotive retail environment?
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_01: Well, listen, we're we're early on in personalization.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_01: So now that we've got the platform uh built, the next thing we'll do is go ahead and turn our attention to getting personalized experiences out there.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_01: And so there's obviously a lot of fun things that you can do.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um, obviously, as we know you, um, being able to say, hey, when's most likely your next maintenance cycle coming up, you know, on different things?
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, if we know that you're uh brand loyal, being able to tell about new products that are coming out within some of your favorite brands.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and and and eventually being able to say, listen, we know that these are the the cars that you are working on.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_01: And hey, here's additional deals that we have that fits you know those cars.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_01: So there's a lot of opportunity in front of us as we start to build out those personal experiences, you know, um, for our customers.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_00: You touched on emotional loyalty, another uh very uh important topic, right?
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_00: Because you want to get it beyond the transaction, you want to have a unique relationship because obviously they're less likely to lead, they're more likely to refer.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but sometimes, or most oftentimes, uh automotive purchases are driven by urgency, necessity, and need.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_00: And it obviously they may want to keep their family safe, they may have to get to the job.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_00: So it will have an emotive appeal.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_00: And so beyond savings and points, you know, how do you look to build emotional loyalty uh within your industry?
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you're you're exactly right.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_01: You know, there's just an urgency and necessity tied to many of our purchases.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I will but I'll tell you there there is absolutely an emotional connection to what the automobile does, you know, for our customers, right?
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_01: Whether you're uh just you're an enthusiast, you love working on your cars, you love you know being out there turning a wrench, um, or you know, frankly, what your car does, you know, for your family.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_01: And that's an important part.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_01: It's actually one of the new brand campaigns that we just launched, which is all around the emotion of advancing to the good parts.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_01: The idea being that you know, when you come in to get your battery changed or you come in to to do you know repair, what you're really doing is is getting to the good parts of your life.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_01: Whether that's hey, you're coming up into your you know, your your kids' youth uh baseball game, you know, you're going to a uh Thanksgiving, you know, dinner uh with your family, that the the car is taking you to the good parts of your life.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_01: And our job is to get you back on the road.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_01: So we think there's a lot of emotion to it.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um uh we we like the fact that you know our customers are enthusiasts, and we like the fact that what we do for them, you know, gets them on the road.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_00: You talked about partnerships uh and the value that they bring.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_00: We talked about that a little bit.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_00: You know, how do you go about choosing the partners to bring in?
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_00: You talked about the fuel partnership, may or may not have worked uh like you want.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_00: You know, how do you decide which partners to bring into the program?
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_01: You know, at this time right now, right, we we um I don't know that we believe in the short term that there's a lot of external partnerships involved.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_01: We think that just our own offering, getting customers back into our store more often um is the is the right starting point.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_01: Certainly, um, you know, we're open to learning as we go.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_01: But but probably the bigger partnership, as I mentioned earlier, is things with like with our vendors, right?
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um so I mentioned a little bit earlier the opportunity to bring you know different promotions in.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it also gives us the opportunity to do fun things that we've not done in a long, long time.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_01: And I'll give you an example.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_01: Uh in May, we're launching an exclusive um uh sweepstakes that we're gonna give a dream garage away, you know, to a customer.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_01: So again, imagine we've got customers who are enthusiasts, they like working on their car.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_01: Here's this opportunity we're gonna partner with some of our vendors, and we're gonna completely upgrade a customer's garage.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_01: And so making it easier for them to do some of this um, you know, in the future.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_01: That's just one opportunity that we can partner with our vendors to do something fun and engaging uh with our customers.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's awesome.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_00: You talked a little bit about uh kind of unique promotional opportunities, sweepstakes, instant win are you know very uh impactful right now.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_00: Potential to get some zero-party data, uh to understand what's driving customers' interests and behaviors.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but oftentimes you know, customer loyalty is transactionally based.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but when you look at the gamification elements, uh, how does that kind of serve as a long-term engagement, emotional loyalty driver?
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_01: You know, uh, you know, again, we just chatted about the sweepstakes.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_01: We think that there's a lot of fun in that.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but you know, the reality of it is there's a lot of simple things that we can do that we were not doing very well, right?
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_01: Simple ways that you can visualize how are you getting through your um your different tiers and figuring out ways that we can be able to offer, whether it's you know, uh prizes, whether it's different additional bonuses to get to that next tier, right?
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, those are some easy things that we're focused on in the short term that we think will um will will be simple to understand, you know, for our customers and make it easy for them to understand where they are progressing throughout the year on the different tiers.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_00: And the you've done a really good job of integrating the mobile app, the mobile app functionality uh and point of sale, right?
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_00: Because you hear quite often in in the industry, you want to make it seamless.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_00: You want to be in the channel that the customer is in.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, when you look at the the mobile app, the development you put uh forth there, you know, how important is it to have a seamless omni-channel uh kind of customer experience uh opportunity loyalty program?
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's critical.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_01: It's absolutely critical.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_01: You know, customers um in our industry, 80% of them start their journey online.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_01: That's probably not surprising for anybody if you just think about, hey, I'm getting ready to do a job.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_01: And if you don't do that job very often, you want to start with research.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_01: And our mobile app is one of our absolute best experiences.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, we put a lot of energy into making that experience seamless for the customer.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and and we know that they're doing they're doing research, they're on there making sure that the their local store has the right part for them, um, uh and and making sure that they can get it in time for their their their job, right?
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so we want to continue to make that investment on that experience, whether it is um simplifying um that job that they have coming up, making sure that they can check all the research that's out there, understand uh reviews, but but we know that that is a really critical part uh of our customers' journey.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_00: And how are you gonna measure the success of the relaunch?
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_00: Enrollment, engagement, spend, you know, what are you looking at uh from a measurement perspective that that is top of line?
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_01: Uh you you checked all of those, right?
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_01: We're gonna look at all of those.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_01: But as I mentioned earlier, transaction growth is really the cornerstone KPI for us um in the in the category, right?
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_01: So are our transactions growing?
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_01: Are our transactions growing with our advanced rewards?
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, customers and all the different cutting of data, you know, that's associated with that.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_00: When you when you step back, uh the program's been out for a month now.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_00: You know, what are you most proud of as the program is launched and you've evolved the program?
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's such a good example for the rest of the company about listening to the customers and putting them, you know, first.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, it it it was interesting.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_01: The the decision on um moving away from fuel rewards was an emotional decision.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_01: We had plenty of marketing materials out there, we had talked about it, um, but actually showing not just the data, but customer testimonials, you know, that really talked about the fact that that just wasn't an important part of how they made decisions, right?
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_01: And then also showing, hey, these are the things that are important, you know, to customers uh when it comes to loyalty.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_01: So to me, it is a really good example of our team listening to the customer, designing the program around the customer.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and it shows that we can do more of that across our organization.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_00: When uh you look ahead, what's next for the program?
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you know, where is advanced rewards going in the future?
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, it is um it is a really important part of 2026 and beyond for us.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um you know, again, we we we believe so much in the fact um that if we can keep our customers coming back for the things that they need for the cars, our maintenance categories, when something breaks, um, we know that we can support them through that, right?
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_01: 60% of our DIY transactions are from this customer base, right?
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_01: So it's an important part um uh of our customers.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_01: We have 16 million active advanced reward members.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so for us, you know, they're they're an important part of our future.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_01: Every opportunity we can to get them to think about uh advanced auto parts more, every time that we can get them to realize that they can save more money, continue through the program, gets them coming back, you know, more often than not.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, we're excited about the program.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and we also know that we've got a lot of opportunities to keep adding more benefits and making that user experience um even better uh as it rolls out.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, excellent.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_00: And last question, Bruce, you know, what can loyalty 360 do to help you and your team in your customer loyalty journey?
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_01: You know, for us, you know, um learning from uh experts like you who who talk to many different programs, learn things that are working, learn things that, you know, hey, people have tried, but may not, you know, be valuable.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_01: So for us, it is just such an amazing opportunity to listen to experts, to learn from experts, um, and help us grow our program.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_01: So excited to be on the phone, you know, having this conversation and continuing the relationship.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_00: And now we have our wonderful quick fire questions.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I think we have six questions today, like a quick word, uh one word or a short phrase, or I get in trouble with Hannah and the content team, which I don't like being in trouble.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_00: But uh, we kind of touched on this earlier.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_00: What loyalty award programs uh do you admire and and uh you know are you most loyal to?
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_01: You know, interesting though.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_01: I I I there's there's a number of travel um programs that are out there.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_01: And and you know, love miles, uh, you know, love some of the hotel things, but the but the ones that that that can connect your experience to what you've done, you know, thank you for being an ex member, you know, here's X for you, um, that shows that they've that they've paid attention to the loyalty that I've given them.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's uh it's back to that listening thing we talked about earlier, right?
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_00: Listening to and kind of and reinforcing that value.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that's that's um uh is there a brand uh that you own that you may meet most loyal to?
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_00: You kind of hinted at a couple.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_00: Is there one that that that you find yourself you know very loyal to?
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_01: You know, um this goes back to you know, my my dad was a mechanic for a long time.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um and uh he was man, he was a loyal Ford guy.
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um and uh that that that has stuck with me.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I I I I love the brand.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_01: I've I've I've had many other uh vehicles besides Ford's, you know, throughout the year, but it's it's amazing to me.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um uh I do like that brand and I I tend to root for them.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I'm a huge Ford guy myself, and we were talking about it in my family the other uh a couple weeks back ago, and we were talking about something.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_00: She's like, well, we're definitely a Ford family.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, uh yeah, I guess we are.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_00: Bronco, we have explored F1 page.
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah, we'll have to have a Bronco conversation someday.
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_00: Uh yeah.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_00: Uh whatever you do, don't get catback pipes.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_00: That's all I say.
• 34:21
  SPEAKER_00: But that's we can talk about that later, but yeah, I love my Bronco and uh I got catback pipes on it now to take them off, and but that's a whole different discussion.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_00: My neighbors don't really like it, but I bet your neighbors don't like that.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, they don't.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um, is there a book that you've read that uh you like to recommend to colleagues?
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, I I love good to great.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_01: I love good to great.
• 34:43
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, great.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_00: And is there a profession that you maybe would like to attempt uh other than the one you're currently doing?
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um I'm a I'm a big NBA uh basketball fan.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_01: So um, you know, the the idea of being a GM and putting together a roster, building a team, um that would be the dream job, but but I don't think I'm gonna go for that after this.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_00: Who who's your favorite team?
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_00: Minnesota Timberwolves.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_00: There we go.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_00: Good.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we'll probably see you in the playoffs, Nugget fan.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_00: So uh Yeah, yeah, we probably see each other.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and uh who inspired you to become the person you are today?
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_01: You know, no doubt.
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_01: My parents, um, very very fortunate to have two parents that uh I think um taught me a lot of uh really good lessons of hard work, taking care of people, um, and and uh it's definitely them.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and last question, how do you want to be remembered by your friends and family?
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um man, that's deep.
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_01: Uh you know, you know what?
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_01: I I want to be uh true to who I am.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um you know, uh be kind, be polite um, you know, to people, um, you know, be something that that creates positive um uh energy with my with my family and friends.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Bruce, thank you very much for taking the time to join us today.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_00: It was a pleasure speaking with you, getting to know you.
• 36:04
  SPEAKER_00: Learning more about the advanced reward programs.
• 36:07
  SPEAKER_00: Uh the passion you have for the brand, for the program, for the customer uh resounded uh quite clearly.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, oftentimes we don't have that, but uh this was uh one of the best interviews you had in a while.
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_00: So I definitely appreciate you taking the time to talk to us today.
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 36:20
  SPEAKER_01: It's been a pleasure.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, appreciate what you guys do.
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_00: Also, I want to thank everyone else for taking the time to tune in today.
• 36:26
  SPEAKER_00: Please be sure to join us every Thursday for a new episode of our Leaders in Customer Loyalty podcast, the Brand Stories Edition.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_00: Don't forget to subscribe and follow us on YouTube and across our social media channels listed below.
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_00: And until then, have a wonderful day and thanks again for everything you do for customer loyalty.