As organizations realize the importance of creating value for their customers, they need to strategically think how they can create loyalty in their customer base. Successful organizations have learned that there is a difference between attracting customers, keeping customers and developing loyal customers. Those loyal customers choose to not only be loyal to an organization, but also to act as an advocate and actually solicit new customers by sharing their positive experiences.
We can all relate to experiences we’ve had with organizations that were good but would we try to influence others to go there? When I stop and think of my own personal experiences, I think of a special restaurant my husband and I go to. The staff is not only outstanding, but they add some special touches that make the experience memorable. That is the kind of organization that I would share my experience with others with the motivation of wanting someone else to have the same positive experience.
So what are some things organizations can do to influence customer loyalty?
- Customer feedback should be viewed at the highest level of an organization. Executives should always have a pulse on what the customer is experiencing and reviewing their customer feedback.
- Executives should be communicating both internally (to employees) and externally (to the community) what the goals of the organization are. Has anyone seen the recent Sprint commercials where the CEO is speaking and making promises to the public to encourage us to jump ship from our current wireless provider on his promise of low cost and quality coverage? I’m not in the market to change providers but it sure got my attention and has me thinking about it. And ironically it has made me more sensitive to issues I have with my current provider.
- Customer feedback should be used to develop strategic goals, business goals and be driven down to the employee level through employee goals.
- Customer satisfaction data should be used as part of the executive compensation package to demonstrate the importance of the customer experience.
- There should be measures in place to assess employee influence on customer satisfaction scores.
- Customer satisfaction should be one of the critical success factors for organizations who make loyal customers a priority.
- Customer feedback should be incorporated into the management of the day-to-day operational processes.
- There should be customer service systems in place to deal with immediate customer issues or complaints that arise. Quality management processes should be in place to develop solutions to systemic issues that affect the customer experience.
Organizations that focus on customer loyalty need to understand that it is a constant effort that requires participation at all levels of the organization. Executives should never lose sight of the importance of the customer experience and keep it at an ever-changing strategic level.
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