What’s next after customer satisfaction?
In their bestselling book, The One to One Future, Martha Rogers and Don Peppers offer some useful answers.
To improve customer loyalty, Peppers and Rogers highlight four key approaches:
1. Recognize your most valuable customers. Provide special deals, unique acknowledgments, prestige club status, surprise gifts, etc.
2. Create loyalty award programs. Buy ten – get one free, frequent flyer miles, bonus awards for repeat business, etc.
3. Provide outstanding customer satisfaction. Doing a top quality job is still key. Deliver what you promise, when you promise, and more to improve customer loyalty.
4. Build learning relationships. Collaborate with customers to tailor your service delivery “just the way they want it.” Over time, your company will deliver service that is so customized, your customers won’t bother to teach other companies how to serve them as well.
For example, imagine an airline that keeps track of your telephone number, meal, drink and seat preference, whether or not you like to be left alone during long flights, your favorite choice of reading materials, and your personal sports or hobbies. Then imagine they actually integrate this information with their reservations office, check-in desk and cabin crew. Now imagine the staff are trained to refer graciously to this information while serving you.
I’ve had several airlines ask me to complete their “premier passenger” questionnaires, but none seem to actually use the information I provide to improve customer loyalty. If one airline staff member (on the phone, at the check-in counter or in the air) would simply say, “Welcome back, Mr. Kaufman. Have you had any good scuba-dives lately?”, my eyes would go wide with surprise, and my sense of loyalty and connection with that airline would certainly jump!
Key Learning Point To Improve Customer Loyalty
Don’t settle for mere “customer satisfaction.” Take steps to improve customer loyalty, by building long-lasting relationships. Know who are your most valuable customers. Understand how and why they use your services or products. Remember their preferences and adapt your delivery to give them what they want, when they want it, the way they want it to improve customer loyalty.
Action Steps To Improve Customer Loyalty
There are many steps you can take to move your company in this direction and improve customer loyalty. Start by signing up for Peppers and Rogers free e-mail newsletter. It’s one of the most interesting pieces of e-mail I receive each week. You can subscribe by visiting their website at www.1to1.com
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Copyright, Ron Kaufman. Used with permission. Ron Kaufman is the world’s leading educator and motivator for upgrading customer service and uplifting service culture. He is author of the bestselling “Uplifting Service” book and founder of Uplifting Service. To enjoy more customer service training and service culture articles, visit www.RonKaufman.com.
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