Customer Loyalty posts, articles, and infographics

Exceptional customer service is not complicated

May 16, 2012 by Steve Curtin
with 45 views

What’s remarkable to me about this finding is that it’s consistent with consumer research from three decades ago. I recall TARP statistics (1978) and research from Dr. Michael LeBoeuf (1987) that exposed poor treatment by employees (rudeness or indifference) as the number one cause for customer defection. [read more]

Trust and Customers

May 13, 2012 by Barry Dalton
with 71 views

Photo by Lars Plougmann via Flickr

A large component of the brand social media conversation revolves around this notion of trust. Up until now, I hadn't thought too much about it. And being that I'm not a brand manager or anything like that, I never really saw it as a topic for this forum.But a recent survey report I read from Brandfog called... [read more]

Six Retailers Who Blew It- BIG

May 11, 2012 by Sheridan Orr
with 73 views

When I give presentations, I typically like to use case studies to show customers best practices. However, it is frequently the object lessons of those who blew it that clients find most interesting. While doing research for an upcoming engagement, I found six retailers who blew it – and I mean blew it big. [read more]

ViDEO: Motivating Your Customer Service Team

May 9, 2012 by Jack Dempsey
with 68 views

Cutting corners in your customer service lowers your value. Go around the cone! Raise your standards and follow them, not the pack. [read more]

How to Keep Your Customers from Leaving You

May 8, 2012 by Douglas Hanna
with 70 views

Image: ARENA Creative /Shutterstock

So what do we need to do as business owners to keep our customers? After all it’s much more expensive to find new customers, therefore doesn’t it seem logical that we step out of the box for everyone who graces the doors or who clicks on a shopping cart for our organizations? [read more]

Customers and the Numbers that Really Matter for Your Business

May 5, 2012 by Debra Ellis
with 92 views

Image courtesy of the author's blog

Creating benchmarks that work to grow your business and improve profitability along the way requires an intimate knowledge of your company, customers, and team members. Your competitors’ metrics choice rarely matters except to provide fodder for bragging rights. If they have 10,000 Facebook followers and your company has 100,000, it may... [read more]

Do Facebook ‘Likes’ Mean Loyal Customers? [Infographic]

May 4, 2012 by Luke Brynley-Jones
with 277 views

The top motivation for ‘liking’ a brand’s Facebook page is because you are a loyal customer, but brands are failing to engage these customers and are missing the opportunity to deepen their relationship. Only 1.3% of ‘fans’ actually engage with the brands they ‘like’. [read more]

A Dead Dryer, Brand Advocacy, and a Guy Named Lenny…

April 26, 2012 by Srinivas Penumaka
with 81 views

Image: ER_09 /Shutterstock

In my experience, whether for small purchases or large ones, consumers remember buying experiences and have some type of emotion attached to it. Buying something in a small way is an expression of you who are. I also have seen that we as consumers tend to remember the brand (in this case KitchenAid and Sears) much more than the product itself. [read more]

Do Customer Loyalty Programs Create Genuine Customer Loyalty?

April 25, 2012 by Jack Dempsey
with 101 views

Real customer loyalty is created during one-on-one customer interactions between a customer and the people acting on the company’s behalf, either a sales representative or customer service agent, retail associate or other customer-facing employee. [read more]

Meet Generation C: The Connected Customer

April 15, 2012 by Brian Solis
with 949 views

Image courtesy of author's blog

Marketers, educators, parents, it seems that almost anyone in the Generation X or Boomer demographic is scratching their heads trying to figure out Generation Y aka the Millennial. After all, it’s the first generation to seemingly possess digital prowess as part of their DNA. And, it’s the first generation to receive both a birth... [read more]

What Would Your Customer Service Reps Say?

April 14, 2012 by Barry Dalton
with 58 views

Photo by runran via Flickr

Does your company regularly solicit your employees' feedback on their views of the company? How is it done? How often? Is it through controlled surveys? What are the dimensions across which you're looking for feedback? What does your executive team do with that information? Does your company... [read more]

How to Turn Your Customers Into Brand Evangelists

April 12, 2012 by Laura Moisei
with 107 views

Creating a network of loyal customers (who do more than buying and speak out for your brand) is indeed a matter of empathy company-clients. Well, a strategic empathy I may admit. At any stage, customers are unlikely to think the same about your company as you do, so consider the steps below to get off on the right foot with your “evangelization“ tactic. [read more]

New Customers Shouldn't be the Only Ones to Get Special Pricing

April 11, 2012 by Shep Hyken
with 200 views

Image: Radu Razvan /Shutterstock

Why do companies create great promotional pricing for their new customers, but not take care of their loyal customers? I know, this is marketing and sales, but it's not a good deal. And, here's another question: If I'm loyal, shouldn't I be treated at least the same, if not even better, than someone who has never done business with the company before? [read more]

Help Your Customer Service Agents Boost Net Promoter Score

April 10, 2012 by Jack Dempsey
with 101 views

The typical call center call quality process is anchored in the customer service agent’s compliance with a one-size-fits-all checklist rather than in the creation of an optimal customer experience with customer loyalty as the targeted outcome. [read more]

Valuable Lessons From United Airlines' Customer Service Fail

April 10, 2012 by Omar Zaibak
with 380 views

On March 3rd, United Airlines attempted to merge their reservation system with Continental. It did not go as planned, creating customer mayhem because of ensuing technical glitches on the website and ticketing functionality. The lines to their call center were jammed with irate customers who were dealing with extremely long hold times and problems booking their tickets. [read more]

20 Tips on How to Deliver an Amazing Customer Service Experience

April 4, 2012 by Shep Hyken
with 371 views

Image: iQoncept /Shutterstock

An amazing customer service experience comes down to this: Sell a product or service that works and be nice to the customer about it. It’s that simple. [read more]

Are You Ignoring the Social Inspiration People Metrics?

April 1, 2012 by Pam Moore
with 135 views

Image courtesy of author's blog

Being a data and ROI junkie I often find myself buried deep in analytics, spreadsheets and conversion funnels. I like to look for the “why” in both data and people. It’s easy to get side tracked by all the geekdom in social. From looks (impressions) to likes, follows, retweets, influence scores, views, demographics, insights,... [read more]

Service Loyalty: Does it Exist?

March 28, 2012 by Lindsay Morrison
with 61 views

Creating customer loyalty is undoubtedly an integral part of remaining competitive. Few businesses, if any, can survive without establishing a loyal customer base. In fact, the importance of customer loyalty was highlighted in a recent study which found that it can cost up to 5 times more to attract new customers than to retain your current ones. This presents a particular challenge for the service industry. [read more]

Do You Know Your Brand Advocates?

March 21, 2012 by Srinivas Penumaka
with 166 views

In our view, identifying and cultivating brand advocacy should be the primary focus of social media marketing, not just the numbers or the size of the community. While community size give an indication on your reach, the advocacy is the real advantage you get. [read more]

The Temptation of a Customer-Centric Organization: Cutting a Corner (Just One)

March 17, 2012 by Jack Dempsey
with 131 views

Photo by Katie Warner via Flickr

Business is great!Things are running smoothly. Production and service levels are high, expenses are under control, working capital is healthy and cash is flowing. You’re meeting customer expectations, and they love doing business with you.Taking a look back on your successes and challenges to achieving real customer delight... [read more]