Have you ever lost (or tossed) a loyalty card? I have — tons of them. In fact, most people lose (or throw away) more than they keep. So how can you, a business owner, increase the odds that people stay involved in your loyalty program?

How To Boost Your Loyalty Card

Try this – If you are looking to boost your loyalty punch cards use this trick. Next time you enroll someone into your loyalty program, give them an extra punch. Consumer research suggests that you might double your results.

Here’s why – According to “The Endowed Progress Effect,” a report by consumer research professors Joseph Nunes and Xaxier Dreze, customers are nearly twice as likely to reach their loyalty incentive when given an extra boost from the get go. In this study, researchers gave out 300 loyalty cards to customers at a car wash. Half of the cards required eight stamps to get a free car wash. The other half required ten stamps to get a free wash but started with two stamps already on it.