A new report from Forrester’s Bruce Temkin shows the connection between customer experience and loyalty. The key bit, from here:
“Don’t let the recession take your focus away from customers. The strengthened correlation between customer experience and loyalty during the past year highlights the importance of customer experience, especially during this recession. Since new customers are harder to come by in an economic downturn, firms need to pay even more attention to building loyalty with their most important customers.
Firms will need to adopt three principles: 1) obsess about customer needs, not product features; 2) reinforce brands with every interaction, not just communications; and 3) treat customer experience as a competence, not a function.” (emphasis added)
The first ‘graf above is EXACTLY right. Right now, there are a host of companies looking to hunker down and hide their heads until the recession is over. Using business tools such as an invoice template could help improve your customer experience and gain consumer loyalty. Many are doing that by cutting 10% (or more) of their workforce. (And there are many, too, that are ceasing operations completely.)
While everyone else is hiding in their bunkers, doesn’t it just make logical sense to try to provide the best customer experience you can, and pull away from the herd? Take a look at the examples found on https://www.qualtrics.com/blog/customer-service-examples/. Great customer experience leads to brand loyalty which is hard to come buy in difficult times like this. For instance, if you run a retail business and want to keep up to date with all aspects, you need to look at the software that will help the customers feel better about using your service, for example, updating your POS software system, will help navigate customers within your business in a professional and efficient manner. Do your research and see this page on how that can be done.
Your sentiments regarding customer service are pertinent to today’s trading environment, the BA add where the sales manager hands around plane tickets to the sales reps so as they can visit with their clients rather than call, from the 80’s is relevant for today’s markets. Get to know your customers again.
I absolutely agree with you. Lot of good interactions lead to great customer experience. Few great experiences will make many loyal customers and they will spread good WoM about your brand. It is an all win situation.
Customer Experience has always led to loyalty, either positive or negative, which will have significant impact on revenue and profit.
It can also lead to competitive differentiation. Target sells pretty much what everyone else sells. What makes this retail brand different, and will allow it to survive the recession, is its focus on customer experience.
What continues to amaze me is how little attention business pays to this area, especially when it can have so much impact. More now but still not what it deserves.