While cutting spending, consumers today are scrutinizing purchases as never before. Besides a shift to thrift, economic pessimism has heightened expectations of customer satisfaction in products, goods and services.
The message to corporate America and Fortune 500 companies? Get yourself into “fifth gear” in gaining a deeper understanding of how your products and services are clicking with customers worldwide.
A stream of loyal customers is the ultimate pathway to profits. Companies must understand the underpinnings of customer loyalty, the most important of which is quality.
This must be evident with respect to price, product or service availability and perceived added value of the product or service to the customer. Consumers purchasing a commodity consider two basic criteria — price and availability. Customer loyalty rises when prices are low and options from competitors are scarce.
Fundamentals of customer loyalty
Loyalty is created worldwide by adding perceived value to a basic commodity. Often high performance standards, such as when a customer receives unexpected quality, trigger the “unanticipated” reaction that charms consumers and creates loyalty. Service is a company’s direct line to customers. Making it personal is a key motivator. How fast a company responds to problems, from the BP oil spill to Toyota’s malfunctioning gas pedals, provides insight into its ethos and the credibility of its claims.
A customer becomes a repeat customer when the company adds perceived value to its commodity or service. Companies need to identify consumer concerns, respond to questions and assign front-line personnel to customer satisfaction. Poor service drives customers into a competitor’s open arms.
The loyal generation
Organizations must stay “in tune” with customer expectations and collect satisfaction data constantly. How well are we doing? Are we achieving our customers’ expectations? What can we do better?
Customer loyalty results from increasing performance and on key drivers of relationships, product or service, stature, price index, and brand awareness. Speed and consistency of deployment correlate directly with customer loyalty. Branding, marketing and customer awareness can be effectively integrated, measured and managed by front-line employees and management’s encouraging continual improvement in customer relations.
Pay-for-performance incentives
Performance objectives can be developed for front-line employees as management sets goals and objectives for measurement indices on a pay-for-performance incentive program, i.e., outstanding, superior, above average. This will, in turn, increase the organization’s focus on customer satisfaction.
“CL” stands for profitability
Customer loyalty equals profitability, provided service is capable and consistent. Staff has to be empowered with tools, customer input and solutions. Leadership needs to be customer-focused at all times.
When global consumer confidence rebounds and consumer spending hits pre-recession levels, economic recovery will also be enhanced by corporations providing consumers with reserved prioritization and top-of-mind service. Corporations need to have a can-do, “we care about you” attitude manifested in measuring customer satisfaction.
Samantha M. Simons is the vice president of marketing and business development for Plus 2 Development Inc. She is also a turnaround business, marketing and finance consultant and executive. She specializes in turnaround marketing, business development, private funding and investment goals for global 1,000 companies. She has more than 15 years of successful implementation of launching new divisions, products and services for well-known global corporations raising private capital, creating “top of mind” brand awareness, marketing and business development programs that have positioned her as an expert and trend setter in her respective fields.