Coffee shops get it, sub shops get it, even auto maintenance shops offer it.

I’m talking about the membership and loyalty club approach to rewarding customers.

Almost any business can add to the bottom line by offering some sort of premium membership option for goods and services that are needed over and over again. The key here is to make an offer that allows a customer to get your product more frequently by offering a discount or convenience of an automatic shipment. Think book and record clubs and even flower and fruit of the month offerings.

Recently I saw that Men’s Warehouse has launched a “shirt of the month” membership program called Fresh Shirt Club that allows members to receive a hand selected, seasonally appropriate shirt or shirt and tie combo for a set price each month – delivered to your door. Sounds like a great service and innovative approach for an apparel retailer. I guarantee this will move some shirts.

Just about any business can take this approach. In fact, if you offer a core product you may just want to dream up a service you can offer to support that product and deliver that service routinely. Offer customers a premium “members only” package or service, provide value added events and promotions for members of the club. Send gift certificates or “buy 10, get 1 free” cards.