Life as I knew it was turned upside down when I made the switch from a SaaS provider in the residential development industry to a niche-marketing agency that specialized in referral & loyalty marketing solutions. Developing domain expertise takes time, so moving to a completely new sector was an overwhelming thought at the time I made the switch. I had spent the better part of four years in the development industry; I knew every company and key influencer across Canada, and most of them knew me. I valued my time there immensely and truthfully, part of me didn't want to leave it. But sometimes you have to make hard decisions largely based on your instincts, and one year in I'm more confident than ever I made the right choice.
Referrals and recommendations; these are words that every business understands. Every company in the world depend on referrals, testimonials and personal recommendations for credibility and to establish brand value. Because of this importance, company's started to create structured initiatives to track and reward these important behaviors, very similar to the way loyalty programs are structured. Enter RewardStream.
RewardStream started out as a loyalty software provider in 1999, creating one of the most powerful loyalty solutions in the world that was used by companies like Sisco and Nestle. In 2003, RewardStream designed their first referral marketing software for AT&T; the rest as they say, is history. RewardStream's proprietary software and agency services are now used by some of the worlds largest brands including Royal Bank, AT&T, Sprint, Virgin Mobile, Nestle and WWE (yes, that WWE, formally the WWF). Referral marketing initiatives are taking off in almost every conceivable sector, as brands insensitive their existing customer base to grow the business.
Over the past year I've worked with Nestle, RBC and countless others developing referral marketing strategies and watching the initiatives launch and grow into new, sustainable and high-growth customer acquisition channels. The gratification I feel in my role as Senior Director of Sales & Marketing is like nothing else I've felt in my professional life. I am humbled to play a role in this play.
So, there it is. This update has been a year in the making, and although I doubt anyone was waiting for it, I feel a sense of relief writing it. I suspect this blog and website will play a much larger role moving forward, so check in once and a while and don't hesitate to reach out and say hello.
