One of the greatest marketing successes of all time has been American Airlines' Advantage Program. This was practically the genesis of the frequent flyer model that's been adopted across the travel business.

However, most other industries have been slow to try out similar loyalty programs. The office supply superstores are among those that actually have experimented with them. Now Best Buy is really stepping it up with its own new program in the world of electronics retailing.

Best Buy has long had its Reward Zone program, but now the company has introduced Premier Silver member status. Customers who make purchases that exceed $2,500 in a calendar year are automatically enrolled. Premier Silver members get access to a special call center, no restocking fees, a price-matching policy and other perks.

This seems to be mostly carrot and no stick, especially when compared to the banking industry's use of profitability index scores to determine whether they'll treat you right as a customer or not.

Consider this: When your call goes into a banking call center, your "score" pops up on a screen before you speak to the rep. There's also typically a color-coded identifier that accompanies it.

"Green" means do whatever it takes to make the customer happy; "yellow" means it's up to the rep's discretion whether to help you or not; and "red" means don't help this customer under any circumstance.