Question

List and describe the five stages of a hierarchy for categorizing customer satisfaction and loyalty. Which companies that you know or deal with as a customer create the highest form of loyalty for you?

Answer 1

1. Create a Compelling Vision of Customer Loyalty

Look inward when evaluating the loyalty culture in your business. How committed are you to making your customer’s satisfaction the number one priority? If you do not have a compelling vision and commitment to your customers then neither will your employees, suppliers or customers. Today’s greatest consumer brands such as Starbucks, Apple, Amazon and Zappos have created a culture of outstanding customer service.

2. Design Great Customer Experiences

The great brands mentioned above are obsessed with creating great customer experiences. New businesses are also folloing stride with this obessessing using places similar to Iperceptions.com to improve their customer service and thus their experience. There are six stages or “Moments of Truth” when it comes to customer loyalty:

Stage 1: Awareness

They heard about you from their friends, an ad, press release or some combination of all three. It can take 7-17 different “touches” until they really notice you.

Stage 2: Research

When they become interested in your product or service they will go online and look for more information. They will seek advice from experts, friends and current customers. They will shop your competition looking for the best value. Have you differentiated your business in their eyes that they see your value is more than price?

Stage 3: Buy

They decide to purchase the product or service based on the brand promise and the expectation they have. Is it clear how your product or service benefits them?

Stage 4: Use

They use the product or service. Did it deliver on the brand promise? Did it solve their problem or fulfill their need?

Stage 5: Repeat

They liked what they purchased and are looking to buy more from you. You have earned enough trust that they are willing to buy from you again. What products and services can you offer that can deliver again on the brand promise?

Stage 6: Refer

Based on their level of satisfaction, they will refer others to you. Do your customers know how to refer you? Depending on how good their experience is at any and all stages, prospects will either continue or go with another option. Today, other options are only a mouse click away. Taking the customer’s perspective when designing the ideal customer experience will go a long way in fostering long term loyalty.

3. Build a Referral System

Hope is not a strategy when in it comes to getting referrals from satisfied customers. You will need to create a solid referral system. The system will enable you to consistently follow up with satisfied customers and ask at the right time in the right way for referrals. The system will educate and reward customers and stakeholder who do refer business to you. Lastly, the system will help you acquire strategic partners who are interested in the same target market.

4. Leverage Technology

Today’s technology is an enabler in integrating loyalty into your business. Your website serves as your foundation for creating great online experiences. Mobile advertising generates new leads. Email marketing can be used to educate prospects and keep your business top-of-mind with customers. Digital loyalty programs provides analytics that help you understand your customer, offer the right incentives and keep track of their rewards.

5. Continual Improvement

Nurturing customer loyalty is never done. It’s important to have key indicators on customer satisfaction and continually seek feedback from customers. Customer complaints and suggestions are not problems but opportunities to improve the customer experience. Proactively addressing customer issues often creates an even more loyal customer! Your company may want to introduce a customer feedback tool to effectively manage any feeback that you receive in regards to your product. This can help you to keep in constant contact with customers and will also help you gain a better understanding of what they would like to see to guarantee customer loyalty.

Nurturing customer loyalty is about trust, engagement and competency. When you do this with excellence, you will be rewarded with raving fans and a great business that you love.

If you would like to re-imagine what customer loyalty could be for your business then let’s schedule some time for a conversation.

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4 Levels of Customer Satisfaction

The fundamental, key reason why customers come back for more is that they are satisfied with your business, the products they have purchased, the service they have received and, of course, the prices they were charged. Customer satisfaction is absolutely paramount when considering customer retention.

There are basically four clearly defined levels of customer satisfaction. Each level is based on the degree to which your business is meeting customer expectations. The higher the level that your business is able to achieve then the more you will build customer loyalty which will support greater success. Let’s examine each of these levels.

Meet Customer Expectations

At the very basic level is meeting your customer expectations. If you are not meeting their fundamental expectations, most of the time, then you are unlikely to stay in business.

If you are meeting their basic expectations then your customers will be happy and satisfied. But you may not be able to retain these customers if a competitor offers an appealing alternative that goes beyond meeting their basic expectations.

Another key risk, when you are operating at this level, is that if you fail to meet a customer’s expectations, even only once, there is a strong chance they will take their custom elsewhere. Operating a business at this level of customer satisfaction means that your business is surviving, but it may not be thriving.

Exceed Customer Expectations

The next level up in this customer satisfaction hierarchy is exceeding your customer expectations. By surpassing their basic expectations you will achieve a higher level of customer satisfaction.

For example, providing a remarkably fast super-friendly and helpful service is one way to exceed basic expectations. Another is to provide products and services which do more than your customers expect. By providing more than your customers expect you will be fostering loyalty to your brand.

Your retained customers will come back time and time again and what’s more, they are often willing to pay a little bit more for top quality service and support, which is great for your business.

Delight Your Customers

The first two levels in this customer satisfaction hierarchy have addressed basic customer expectations and how it’s beneficial to exceed them. This next level goes that little bit further to actually put a smile on your customers’ faces.

In order to delight your customers and make them smile you need to touch them on an emotional level. If you give your customers a genuinely delightful experience you will have firmly hooked them making it very difficult for a competitor to attract them away. To delight your customers you need to show that you really care about each of them. There are many ways to delight customers such as rewarding loyalty with gifts, discounts, special offers or loyalty points.

Amaze Your Customers

You may be wondering where you go next after having achieved a high level of customer satisfaction and widespread delight amongst your client base. At this top level of customer satisfaction you need to genuinely amaze your customers. By truly amazing your customers you will position your business for great success.

With a little thought you will no doubt be able to come up with many ways in which your customers would be amazed. For example, great new product features which go way beyond what they expected. Or maybe simple but personal hand-written thank you notes. Free guarantees is another easily implemented way to potentially amaze your customers.