The lion’s share: Amber Willock (Strategic Customer Success Manager)

This blog series gives insight into the day-to-day life of LoyaltyLion’s loyalty experts. We’ll look at members from all teams – diving into their roles and responsibilities – how they started their careers and what advice they have to share. 

So let’s meet Amber Willock, a Strategic Customer Success Manager who works closely with stores to ensure they continue to get the most out of their loyalty program.

How long have you been working at LoyaltyLion? 

Just over 2 years! I was one of our first employees to go through a fully remote hiring and onboarding process. I joined in our Support team originally, then moved over to our Customer Success team 9 months later.

What does a typical day look like for you? 

I log in and give myself a solid chunk of time to dig through emails at the start of each day, making sure all of the brands I work with are on track. I’ll have all kinds of calls throughout the day, my first usually being our team stand-up where we run through what we’re working on and our goals.

Outside of Business Reviews and catch ups with the brands I manage, there’s a lot of cross-functional collaboration, supporting different teams like Sales and Product where we can. 

Why does your role in the Customer Success team matter?

The ecommerce landscape is constantly changing – just looking at the last 2 years alone, businesses have had to adapt to hugely unprecedented times and challenges. My work with our merchants helps them to come out the other side stronger than ever.

What’s the biggest challenge you typically see stores facing once their loyalty program is up and running?  How do you help them through that challenge?

The temptation to overanalyze the loyalty program in its very early stages is a big one. I’m a big advocate for letting the dust settle in the early stages and not making any big changes to the program until you can really see how customers are interacting with it. Loyalty needs time – to get customers into the program first things first, then to get them coming back to repeat purchase.

Which is your favourite loyalty feature or initiative to work with stores to implement?

Loyalty tiers are hands-down my favourite initiative to work on. They can be set up in so many different ways according to each brand’s customer purchasing behaviours. Ultimately, they take customers on a long-term journey, driving higher spend and lifetime value. Brands who do tiers really well include a mix of discount-based and experiential rewards to truly connect with their customers on each level. 

What’s your favourite loyalty program that you’ve worked with and why?

It’s got to be Astrid & Miyu’s program ‘Astrid & You’. Anyone who shops with A&M will see very quickly that community is at the heart of their brand, and their loyalty program is a huge part of this. Whether in-store or online, members experience amazing perks including access to the A&M Archive, where they can shop old favourites at exclusive prices. Astrid & You embodies Astrid & Miyu’s values through and through, which works to create really special, long-term connections with their customers.

What one piece of advice would you give to a store looking to launch a loyalty program?

Building a loyal customer base doesn’t happen overnight. Start with a version of the program that’s true to your right now customers, collect data on how they’re engaging with it, and keep building! There is no “final product” when it comes to loyalty.

What’s your favourite thing about working in Customer Success at LoyaltyLion? 

No day is the same! I love working with different teams and a huge variety of brands. It means I’m constantly learning, whether that be from an ecommerce session run by our lovely Marketing team or about a unique challenge one specific industry within ecommerce is facing right now.

Are you interested in joining the LoyaltyLion Customer Success team? Check out our careers page for our current job opportunities. Or if you’re ready to start a conversation with a loyalty expert, book a demo.