Creating Customer Loyalty and Longevity
Over the past decade or two, as the marketplace has become increasingly
competitive, we have all heard reports of decreasing customer loyalty
as the population makes purchases based upon price and convenience rather
than brand and tradition.
But you—the providers of goods and services—should not lose
heart yet. The pursuit to retain customers is not in vain. In fact,
in his book Great Customer Satisfaction For Your Small Business,
Richard F. Gerson, Ph.D., provides "Fifty Ways to Keep Customers for
Life." Gerson notes that business owners and managers should do what
they must to ensure these suggestions work for their business. When
fully implemented, these tactics will retain customers and turn them
into advocates and referral sources for your business.
Let's take a look at just a few of Dr. Gerson's recommended strategies:
- Create a service-oriented culture and vision. Everyone in the company
must realize he works for the customer and that his job is to ensure
ultimate satisfaction.
- Design flexibility into your service policies, and commit to them
in writing. Remember each customer and each situation is different,
so you and your employees must operate with enough flexibility to
meet shifting demands.
- Train employees, and empower them to do it right the first time.
Training and retraining your employees is the best way to retain happy
customers.
- Market your service program, and don't make customers pay for service.
Use your marketing strategy to communicate that you provide superior
customer service. Whenever possible, pay for everything related to
customer service, i.e. shipping on returns, long distance telephone
calls and postage. Chances are if you don't, your competition will.
- Reward loyalty. Remember that on both the customer and employee
side, what gets rewarded is what gets done.
- Set performance standards, and inspect what you expect. What gets
measured gets done. Let all employees know exactly what they must
do to provide superior customer service.
- Educate the customer. Use every customer contact as a chance to
provide education about something related to your business, such as
products, services, return policies and loyalty rewards.
- Handle complaints properly. Acknowledge that the customer is upset,
listen carefully and then make every effort to resolve the complaint.
Use the problem resolution as an opportunity to increase loyalty and
make additional sales.
- Solicit customer and employee feedback. Actively seek out customer
and employee input that can enhance satisfaction, and then do your
best to implement suggestions.
- Understand your competition, and know the cost of losing a customer.
Beyond products and services, understand what kinds of customer services
your competition provides. In addition, ensure that all employees
know the lifetime value of a customer, the cost of losing even ONE
customer and the effects that loss can have on your business.
- Go the extra mile. When customers want something from you, give
it to them, and then do something extra!
With these recommendations in mind, review whatever you are doing now
to service and satisfy your customers. Always keep in mind that in today's
competitive marketplace, whatever you are doing now may not be sufficient
to keep customers tomorrow.
However, in starting with a solid foundation (such as that outlined
above), and applying a mindset that is geared toward continuous improvement,
you should be heading in the right direction.
Source: "Great Customer Service For Your Small Business," by
Richard F. Gerson, Ph.D.
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Authored by: Jackie Rasmussen, Business and Industry
Specialist, University of Missouri Extension
Source: Creating Quality Newsletter, Volume
12, Number 10, October 2003
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