You've read about Customer Loyalty in the Los Angeles Times, Dallas Morning News, Miami Herald, Kansas City Star, Entrepreneur, Industry Week, Marketing News, Boardroom Reports, Marketing Management, Library Journal, The Selling Advantage, Ideas Magazine, Executive Briefings, Training, Hospitality Upgrade, Direct, Quality Digest, Marketing Tools, Houseware Executive, Journal of Pharmaceutical Management, Discount Merchandiser, TeleProfessional, NationsBank Business, Modern Jeweler, Furniture Today-- now read the new and revised edition of the ground-breaking book that created all the buzz.
My key takeaways: *Implement staff surveys *Customers want to buy the way they want to buy *A high level of customer satisfaction does not necessarily translate into repeat purchases and increased sales *Increasing customer base is not always a good thing. Might be better to concentrate on needs of particular clients *Relationship building with a customer is a priority *The company must recognize that its business is to build a stable customer database, rather than make a single sale. Loyal customers is a priority *Make a membership program (point based system, or giving freebies to repeat guests) *Average American company loses 20-40% customers *Through increasing the rate of customer retention by as little as a few percentage points, banks, retailers, health care providers, can increase their profits by 25-100 per cent *Loyal customer- loyal employee *New skiers were sent a certificate celebrating their completion of the learn-to-ski program. He created a frequent-skier program, modeled after airline frequent-flyer programs, that rewarded cusomers with a free day ofskiing after as few as five visits, and customers received mailings describing special promotions *The information makes the sale *Preserve good opinion and esteem of the customer *Early problems make it hard to keep customer/Formal servicing system (scheduling) *Any firm with a high level of customer loyalty has also earned a high level of staff loyalty *Hold regular meetings with staff and ask these questions: What make our company a good place to work? What can be done to make it an even better place to work? *Head off bad press before it happens. Make it easy for customers complain, and treat complaints seriously. Establish firm guidelines regarding customer response time, reporting, and trend analysis *Review every customer touch point within your company. Brainstorm with staff on how to turn each customer touch point into an opportunity to capture customer complaints and other feedback *Be responsive *What do customers value? What is about the product that drives loyalty?/ Which products or service areas most need improvement?/ Where are your currently oeverinvesting?/ Which areas deserve more study for potential future investment? *Give front line skills to perform *Centralize all data in one centralize database