Editor's note: This article was originally published by Tomasz Makaruk, CLMP, President of the Board and the the co-owner of i360. Tomasz attended the Certified Loyalty Marketing Professional™ workshop in Dubai and volunteered a recap of his experience below. With workshops coming up in Mumbai, Dublin, and Fort Lauderdale later this year, we encourage you too to take advantage of these opportunities to build your own bonds (in-person!) with the global and diverse group of passionate loyalty professionals that inhabit the CLMP community.
By: Tomasz Makaruk, CLMP, i360
CLMP™, or Certified Loyalty Marketing Professional, is a 3-day seminar devoted to a broad spectrum of loyalty programs, ending with an exam and certification process. The whole event is organized in a truly American style, which means that at first glance, the logos on the invitation will make your head hurt. There are 6 of them. Apart from the three sponsors and the local partner, we can also find the logos of the organizers, which are The Loyalty Academy and The Wise Marketer.
A CLMP Workshop is an event that gathers an international audience and is organized in different parts of the world. On their website, the organizers write about the event as follows:
The Dubai workshop is an interactive, three-day experience designed to provide an in-depth assessment of the strategic principles and best practices that govern loyalty marketing programs. The workshop will deliver this assessment from the perspective of both Consumer and B2B customer relationships.
Through a combination of lecture, discussion, case studies, and the use of specific loyalty and retention evaluation tools, this workshop seeks to expand the participant’s knowledge and understanding of the available techniques used around the world by loyalty and relationship marketing professionals. The loyalty workshop in Dubai is intended for senior-level marketing and decision-makers in the consumer and B2B markets, including those agencies and service providers who support client loyalty programs.
The 2022 seminars are being held in Dubai, Dublin, Mumbai, and Fort Lauderdale. The event, which I had the pleasure to attend in March this year, was conducted by a loyalty program market veteran, long-time consultant, and lecturer — Michael T. Capizzi, Chief Academic Officer and Dean of The Loyalty Academy, an American of Italian origin (with a Sicilian sense of humor). Eccentric and full of charisma, brimming with gentlemanly energy. The supporting lecturers were Manav Fernandez, CLMP, and Chayya Bassi, CLMP and Board of Regent Member, representing QBF consulting — a local event partner.
Like any seasoned practitioner, Mike Capizzi — a veteran with an academic bent — is a seasoned strategist who you listen to with interest. The three days we spent together in the conference room showed that his strengths lie in the strategic aspects of implementing and improving the operations of B2C loyalty programs and the financial aspects of this issue.
The program is divided into three days and is based on the commonly used technique of teaching through case studies. The consequence of this state of affairs is that even though classes started at 9.00 a.m., preparation required sitting in front of a computer at around 6.00 a.m. to prepare for the classes and to actively participate in the all-day session interspersed with discussions among the participants. The latter is one of the strengths of the whole event.
In the room with me were about 30 people literally from all over the world: Australia, Kuwait, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, and others. It’s the opportunity to share experiences and get a glimpse of “how they do it on another continent,” which is one of the most significant values of a CLMP Workshop and what makes it worth it planning three days to attend one of the upcoming events.
Although not an enrollment criterion, most attendees had more than ten years of experience managing B2C loyalty programs — the market segment this event is dedicated to. The average age of the audience was about 35.
The event’s culmination is a written exam consisting of dozens of multiple-choice questions. The difficulty lies in the fact that more than one answer can be correct, which causes problems for some participants. The exam is sent directly from the conference hall to the indicated address, and the result is received by email after a few hours. In my case, it was like this:
Hi Tomasz, I have reviewed your final exam, and you did great!!! Well done, and congratulations, you have passed!!! Here is my feedback on your exam: You had ZERO incorrect, and that is fantastic! — 100%
Regards,
Margaret Meraw, MBA
Certified Loyalty Marketing Professional™ (CLMP)
Senior Faculty Member
The Loyalty Academy
It was worth the time and money!
