Archive of BMW Motorrad Club Cape (2006 - 2019)

The “Wheels” Program

Here’s an idea to think about tomorrow at the office while you’re supposed to be working.

This is a concept for a rewards program that would serve, among others, the following  purposes:

• To attract more of our club’s members  to join us on our club rides
• To incentivise more retail businesses to partner with the club
• To introduce something new to the club for Warren to brag about when he bumps into Chairmen of other clubs...
• To create a bit of competition among members

Loyalty programs are not new. We all know how they work and almost everyone belongs to some kind of incentive program, be it your bank’s rewards program, your favourite airline’s frequent flyer program or just your local car wash giving you a free vacuum after 5000 visits. Some are better than others.

Here’s my suggestion for a possible rewards program for our Club.

 It’s called the BMWMCCC “Wheels Program” and it works as follows:

For every day on a club ride, a club member earns 1 (one) reward, called a “Wheel”.

Wheels are accumulated as a member joins rides. Wheels are awarded as follows:

1 Day on a ride = 1 Wheel

1 Bonus Wheel for every 2 consecutive days riding (i.e. weekend ride)

Example :

• Saturday ride to Franschhoek = 1 Wheel
• Weekend ride to Riversdal = 3 Wheels (2 Wheels for two days, plus Bonus Wheel)
• 10 Day trip to Drakensberg = 15 Wheels (10 Wheels for 10 days, plus 5 Bonus Wheels for 5 X consecutive dates)

 As members collect Wheels throughout the month, a record is kept of all the members’ totals [NOTE: I have an idea how this can be done, and let’s not digress at this stage on the question of “Who the hell is going to do all that schlep?” We’ll get to that! Geoff Russell has already indicated that he’s keen to do this for us.....relax Geoff, I made that up]

At the end of each month, the monthly Top Wheel of the Month is announced, and this member gets a metal badge stating “Top Wheel  - July 2011”, complete with the club logo, etc. He/she also gets a prize. (Free set of tyres...)

At the end of each year, the member with the most Wheels accumulated is declared the Top Wheel of the Year, and gets a metal badge stating “Top Wheel 2011”. He/she of course also wins a prize. (Fully subsidised 10-day club trip the following year...or fuel for life...or....)

 ...and there's more!

Now, apart from competing for the most Wheels, what else can we do with the Wheels we collect, you might ask.

Well, we exchange them for discounts at retailers, of course! Surely you saw this coming, no?

 Allow me to explain. Let’s say 1 Wheel = 1% discount at a retail partner. We approach some retailers relevant to our lifestyle, such as the BMW dealerships, tyre outlets, motorcycle accessory shops, massage parlours , etc.  and convince them to offer discounts up to a certain level, in exchange for proof of Wheel awards that one has collected. [Haven’t quite figured out that one yet...thinking that we perhaps use a voucher system where a member “cashes in” his Wheels at the club for a piece of paper stating he’s entitled to 10% discount...?]

This part of the program would hopefully entice retailers to partner with our club and it would also mean our awards can be redeemed for a tangible benefit. For example, a 15% discount (15 Wheels)on a set of Continental TKC80’s equates to about R450.

Things that could be seen as “conditions” of this program:

• This program would only be open to paid-up members of the Club
• One member cannot win the Top Wheel of the Month award more than once a year
• One member cannot win the Top Wheel of the Year award for two years in a row
• Wheels can only be earned on rides that are organised through the Club
• All Club rides count for Wheels, on and off-road
• One can perhaps consider bonus Wheels for things like Club membership fees that are paid before 31 January each year (incentive is the name of the game here!), or great trip reports, or exceptional achievements such as riding twice around Kimberley’s Groot Gat, or getting married in riding gear, or Geoff Russell riding less than 900 kms per day on a laid-back trip...  

 Right, that’s about all I’ve thought up at this stage.

If it’s a k*k idea, please move on to another interesting forum topic, I won’t feel offended, I’m used to it. My wife listened to this for ten minutes and went straight back to Facebook.

If it sounds feasible, I’m open to further ‘spitballing’.

Use it...don’t use it...