Much has been written on the how critical Customer Loyalty versus Customer Satisfaction is in any business relationship.
Many authors point-out that a loyal customer is much more likely to remain in a business relationship, and that a customer who had a problem, which was quickly addressed and resolved, is often more loyal and likely to remain a customer than those who never had identified a problem.
Well, the fact of the matter is, or what most don’t write about, is there are many real-life factors associated with securing and solidifying a business relationship, like costs, service and reputation.
In today’s economy, costs are what most business must considering when their bottom-line is increasing their IRG (Internal Revenue Growth) and shareholder value. When the scales of great-service versus cost-savings are not balanced in the customer’s favor, those customers are more likely to jump ship & sever the business relationship in hopes of discovering a company who can better balance that scale.
So how do does an organization get over this hurdle? Superior, Second-to-none Service. It starts from offering the very best service upfront with the initial sales process, continues to the front-line Customer Service Representatives, then back to the Sales and Service Personnel who manage and service the account to ensure 100% customer loyalty.
The objective is to never allow the customer to forget that your organization’s service standards are unbeatable. And yes, we as a service provider may be undersold and the competitor will offer lower pricing to peek an interest, but the “value added service” they cannot afford to offer (as a result of their low pricing), is a benefit that the customer, cannot live without. Sounds easy? It isn’t!
“You get what you pay for”, is a saying that your customers must completely comprehend and identify with. The day you or your organization allows your customers to forget that sentiment, is the same day you are processing the Lost Business Form.
About the Author
Christopher Barcellos is the Market Area Retention Manager, Waste Management of NH/ME.
