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Want to learn how to grow your business with marketing strategies that you can apply on your own. Len and Leslie created the Treasure Trove podcast to help you out. They discuss best practice and tips and advice from over 25 years of marketing experience. Welcome to the Treasure Trove Toronto podcast!
Hey Len.
Len:Wesley, what's happening?
Leslie:Nothing much. Okay. What if we could extend the experience of our one day treasure hunts into a long term self guided shopping adventure? What if we could reward customers for shopping local and supporting their communities regardless of if the business has its own loyalty program? Oh!
Leslie:What if we could help those small business owners who want to build a marketing list but are totally lost in the technology, tactics and time it takes to manage it?
Len:Those are all really great ideas and guess what? It's done. Love to introduce you to
Leslie:The cash code program exclusively from Treasure Trove Toronto.
Len:Yes. Let's get into it.
Intro:Welcome to the Treasure Trove Toronto podcast dedicated to transforming your local business into the treasure jewel of your neighborhood. Each week, cofounders, Len Marshall and Leslie Stout, bring you creative strategies, actionable marketing tips, and fresh ideas to elevate your customers' experience and build deeper connections with your community. If you want your local shop, restaurant, or service to stand out, reach more customers, and make your mark on Toronto, you're in the right place. Now here's Len and Leslie.
Len:Alright. Here we are. Here. My name is Len Marshall, founder of Treasure Trove Toronto.
Leslie:And my name is Leslie Stout, the other co founder in co.
Len:We put the Co in Co Founders.
Leslie:Right. As you can tell, we're very excited to launch a new product and we want to talk all about it. The first thing is first though, why did we do this? And to explain what it is really quickly, it's a citywide rewards program using QR codes. It runs through the Treasure Trove Toronto platform using emails and text messages, and it's built specifically to drive in store visits and collect info for follow-up marketing.
Leslie:It's contrast to a single day treasure hunt with an everyday year round exploration of local businesses.
Len:That's it. Yeah. You know, I remember I remember it well. You you said, Len, we need to do something like that runs all the time. And I was like, man, that's gonna be a challenge, you know.
Len:But we we worked it out. We hashed it out, and here's here's how it works, basically. We have our directory website, and a business on our directory would put up an offer. Now it doesn't have to be a discount. It could be a special item.
Len:It could be an event. It could be anything. Right? They put that up on their listing, and consumers who are visiting the website or finding it through other channels can claim that offer. Once they claim it, they put in their name and their contact information, and when they claim it, they get an email that has this really cool special QR code.
Len:And when they take that QR code to the store to redeem it, all the store owner has to do, or the staff, whoever is behind the counter, all they have to do is take their phone and scan the QR code, and they put in a special four digit verification code just to make sure that it's the right store, and it's done. The customer then has an entry into a monthly contest that we're gonna run. So there's the incentive for the customer, and the business then gets that customer's contact information for their marketing list. So it's really a win win situation for everyone.
Leslie:Yeah. I'm so happy about it. And it kinda breaks in the stuff that we've been talking before, the QR codes, making sure you have something special for your clients, and it doesn't have to be a discount. We talk about all the time. What is happening in your store?
Leslie:What are you doing for the holidays? You know, what's happening over the summer? What's your back to school? What are things that people should be excited about? That's what we could help promote with the cash.
Len:For sure. Yeah. And, you know, another thing that that was important while we were creating this was trying to make it as simple as possible. So there's no apps to download and install. There's no special software that you need in your store.
Len:There's no API integrations that you need to worry about, and it's all just works on your cell phone or a tablet, if you have a tablet part at your counter, you know, wherever you have it. It doesn't matter. The the really cool thing is none of the customer's information remains on the device that you're scanning. So you can use any phone to scan it, fill in the form, and it's done.
Leslie:Yeah. Really easy. And if you have scanned a QR code before, you can make this work for you if you're in the store. So we're really proud of that as well. We've made it really straightforward and easy to use.
Leslie:So all your staff, they all usually have cell phones. They've all usually scanned the QR code before. They can interact and do this for you so you can take part. So it's awesome.
Len:We wanted this to be a little bit different than what you might expect from a typical loyalty program. You know, if you think about those group buy discount sites, Groupon, and and those places where where they take such a significant cut from your profit margins. With Treasure Trove, with with the cash code, there's no extra fees. Right? There's a monthly fee and a setup fee, and that's really it.
Len:Then it just runs, and you keep all of the revenue from each of those sales, and you also keep all of your customer data.
Leslie:Yeah. Which is really important too. Like, we really made as a focus for you to get new customers and find a way to connect with them later. Because those customers become your fans, your lifeblood, and your meaning for referrals and your future marketing where you can just, you know, use your emails and text to market to them on your own. So we figured if we built a system that starts and builds that for you and incentivizes them to do it, Obviously, by playing with us and shopping local with us, this becomes a system for you to get hundreds of new customers that you can further market to with your own things in the future.
Leslie:And and we thought that's a really good way to maximize the return on investment for you. Right? So, yeah, really proud of that aspect as well.
Len:Something else that we're really proud of is the fact that we provide so much to each business. And, you know, we recognize that a lot of business owners are just spread thin. And you might want to do more for your marketing, but you just don't have time.
Leslie:Well, the most of what's what do we get? Right? What what are we providing? What do you get? And and what we say is we take care of everything.
Leslie:So we create the graphic, we build the landing page, and we link that back to your listing. We have a window cleaner we put in your door, we have printed posters, we have social graphics that help drive people to the page that's neighborhood focused or community focused or event focused. Many ways for us to get people to your offer. We use our growing mailing list, we post on our social media, and we even push traffic from ads on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Google for people to expect to see advertising. Promoting local business offers, promoting the chance to shop local, and the chance to win big by doing so.
Len:Yeah. So that's how we're getting people into your store. But you might be wondering, like, what do you actually do? So we again provide you with all the training that you need. And look, this is not rocket science.
Len:You scan the code, you put in a four digit code, and you hit the button, and that's it. You know, we document all of this for you. We make sure everyone knows how to scan and how to fill in the form. The rest of the transaction just follows your existing sales process. Yeah.
Len:So none nothing is going to interrupt your regular sales process.
Leslie:Which we think is really important to state. So I'll I'll say it again for you. Like, your job is to scan the code and put in your four digit code for cash code. After that you just put everything else down and follow your transaction process. You check out the customer as usual.
Leslie:There's nothing special to do in putting codes or anything on your actual machine. You complete the transaction the exact same way. That customer buys the exact same thing. There's no cut that goes anywhere. This is essentially a set and forget where you're just adding customers to a customer base and helping them win prizes, which is the awesome part.
Len:That's that's really the key. Right? The the scan is what builds the business's contact list for marketing and gives the customer their ballot into the contest draw. So that's what that whole scan redemption process is. And then, of course, we always give you the contact list for your marketing email.
Len:We also keep track of the number of claims and redemptions so that you get some idea of how good your offer is going or if you need to change things or if you want to extend it.
Leslie:Yep. And the percentage of people that claim the offer to redeeming the offer is a number that we wanna keep rising up and up and up and up. So.
Len:Yeah. Exactly. So, you know, the cash code plan is to drive as much foot traffic in your door as we can throughout the year to build your contact list for marketing and to create an actual measurable campaign for you. You know, there's a lot of a lot of big promises and unfulfilled results Yeah. In the space, and we wanted to make something that was as affordable and hands free for business owners, and easy to adopt into their business without interrupting their typical Yeah.
Leslie:And we also present a trusted program that's backed by Treasure Trove Toronto and your local BIAs that are rooting and cheering for you guys every single day. By partnering with them to introduce the program and to launch and grow it, we've built this as an ecosystem where you can say, okay, these trusted advisors and a trusted company are building something that everyone can benefit from. And as usual, we gamify things to make shopping local fun and awesome.
Len:Yeah. Exactly. I mean, CashCode is kind of like the modern upgrade to a typical loyalty punch card. Look, if you wanna give this a try, if you wanna get started and bring people in the door, let us know. Get us get in touch with us.
Len:We'll help get you set up and make it as easy as possible. Alright. That's it for now. Thanks for watching or listening. If you enjoy this type of information and content and wanna get in touch with us, just leave a comment, send us an email, or message us on social channels.
Len:And don't forget to like and subscribe to the podcast so that you get notified of each new episode. And until the next time, keep following that path to success.