MODULE 3
Customer Loyalty Comprehension
Module Description
The goal of this module is to explain the concept of customer loyalty, its significance, its benefits, and the factors that affect customer loyalty. Here it is explained why customer loyalty is beneficial for a business and how it helps in profitability. This module discusses the types of customer loyalties, which ones among them are profitable and which are not, as well as the methods to turn non-profitable loyalties into profitable loyalties. It also shows the reasons why a business should invest in customer loyalty programmes. Some statistics are shown which explain why some companies who invest in customer relationship programmes profit more than their rivals do. The factors that affect customer loyalty are described. It also points out the principles that a company needs to follow, to reap the benefits of customer loyalty.
Additionally, this module explains how customer loyalty and customer satisfaction are different and why businesses need to look into customer loyalty programmes rather
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Companies need to invest in increasing the quality of their products so as to not have any excuse for poor customer experience. Even though maintaining a good relationship is vital to customer experience, customers detect a poor quality product and will soon defect to the business’s competitors.
Employee behaviour: Since sales executives are the main point of contact between customers and the company, the way they interact with customers has a huge impact on customer experience. They need to be polite, skilled, knowledgeable and quick in their response to the customer so that waiting time of the customer is reduced to a minimum and the customer can proceed with the purchase quickly and
The company knows the demands of the customers and they are well orientated in the service and the knowledge of the products and this is the element that makes them prosperous. Jean’s Rare Find Books belief in customer service and satisfaction enables a comfortable and peaceful atmosphere and in return produces a strong customer loyalty for the company. Customer satisfaction and customer retention externally and internally is measured by the perspective of the customers and thus implements the reason for the company’s prosperity. Customer perspective is a key factor on how the customer views the company.
There exist numerous marketing hypotheses and frameworks that aim to better understand why customer relationships, retention and satisfaction are so important. For example, marketers try to segregate the different types of customer loyalty, framing them under factors of ‘repeat patronage’ and ‘relative attitude’. Also, customer loyalty levels are ranked along a “loyalty ladder” that identifies the most profitable customers to whom the firm should target marketing strategies towards. Finally, customer satisfaction, a driver of loyalty, is summarised into a conceptual framework known as “customer response zones”. The firm has two major goals in mind when implementing this strategy. Freed (2014) states Qantas’s intentions to “…boost engagement with customers and revenue from its loyalty partners”. It aims to build a culture of engagement associated with positive and personalised experiences in dealing with the company.
Today's world competition is very strong in every kind of businesses. Every organisations must provide high quality products or services in order to survive, however their competitors also providing the same or comparable products or services. An important way to an organisation to get an edge over its competitors is to provide extra service to satisfy and delight their customers, which can retain them and also gain new customers. Therefore the achievement of customer satisfaction must be a major objective in all organisations.
Over the decades there were tremendous amount of challenges for every business. Customers have more knowledge, they have more options, and they have higher expectations. Customers are more informed with the humungous development in technology. Having more options in front of them, expectations has surpassed in retail industry. Loyalty is a customer having faith that your organization’s product or services offered is the best for them. It is the process of tapping the buying pattern of customers in a store based on their preferences. Customer loyalty is significant because it is economical to retain the old customers rather than acquiring new customers. So, organizations employ loyalty programs which reward customers for their repeat business.
9) Explain how to deal with different customer behaviours and personalities to achieve customer satisfaction.
Many marketers agree that by reducing customer’s to competitors defection by only 5 per cent, companies can improve profits by anywhere from 25 per cent to 95 per cent. There is no question this will be a great advantage and could benefit any retailer. It is for this very reason why consumer’s relationship marketing and using tools such as loyalty scheme is
Customer Loyalty: Understanding the pulse of the customer and providing exceptional customer service by offering the fair measures of product policies like discounts, return policies of retailing and thus enhancing the business policies.
Customer loyalty is much harder to obtain that customer service satisfaction. The most important first step is to satisfy the customer by meeting their expectations. Customers only give a company one chance and if they aren’t satisfied they will not do business with that company again, as well as tell others of their experience. The next step would be to exceed the customer’s expectations. If a business goes above and beyond to assist the customer they begin to build loyalty. The next step is to truly surprise the customer. In order to dominate the marketplace the company must find a way to make them selves stand out with their product or service, accompanied with phenomenal customer service. Once this has been done customer satisfaction and loyalty will be gained. “Acquiring a new customer can cost four or five times more than keeping a current customer” (Bestmark, 2013). So it’s essential to keep the current customer’s happy and coming back for more.
Customer satisfaction and service quality are the two important components that direct anyone’s attention in every concept related to marketing, services, etc. (Spreng and Mackoy, 2006). In today’s competitive era, the success lies in
While trying to achieve equilibrium between excellent quality and customer’s service can become a prodigious task, Company X’s management must not let any obstacle deter the company from striding to attain both. Scott, Peng, & Prybutok (2015) states, “Quality is an essential framework for any organization, and by continuously improving the quality of products and services, companies can contribute to the value of the good or service and create loyalty and satisfaction.” The authors go on to state, “….cell phone product quality and cell phone provider quality have on overall cell phone quality, which in turn can be effective in quality management practices”.
It is imperative to satisfy customers and give them an amazing experience at the company. While it cost less to sell to existing customers and companies can increase profit by selling to the same customers; if customers are satisfied, there is more chance they will come back for more services or products. Satisfied customers are a free marketing for the company. However, it is the opposite if customers are dissatisfied. Dissatisfied customer will tell 8 to 10 people about his or her experience (O’Brien, A & Marakas, G. 2004). If by any reason, representatives see that the customer is not satisfy, they should act fast and fix the problem. Furthermore, there is more chance for sale representatives to sell to an existing customer that to a new customer. A good strategy for customer retention is to reward good customers. Companies can easily do
In order to generate customer loyalty, customer satisfaction is of utmost important. According to Oliver (1999), customer loyalty was defined as a buyer’s deeply committed and stick to a product, service, brand or organization consistently in the future regardless of new situations or competition that induce the switching process. Encouraging customers to come back again is the most critical part in every business. Repeated customers are the source of profits that allows business to grow and success. Some of the examples of customer loyalty are:
Within every company there is a customer, regardless of what your line of business is it is being done for the consumer albeit an external consumer or the internal consumer. The customer’s needs and expectations should be the driving force behind the decisions we make and the problems we solve…the customer, not our own personal or monetary gain. As quality improves we have to make sure that we are improving what matters to our customers not want we want to improve upon for own sake.
Service quality represents a fundamental aspect of delivery, which strongly influences consumer satisfaction and, as a result, loyalty. In today’s global market a customer’s service expectation has to be met and exceeded eventually in order to retain customers as well as achieve success. Perceived quality of a product or a service is becoming one of the major competitive factors in the business world and has led to the innovation of the ‘Quality Era’ (Peeler, 1996). In simple words, the comparison of customer expectations with service performance is service quality. On the other hand, customer satisfaction is defined as a pleasurable fulfilment response toward a good, service, benefit, or reward (Oliver, 1997). Both of these
With the passage of time, loyalty programs have been extended and also utilizing showcasing instruments for attracting more customer loyalty. Towards any business or specific organization, client’s loyalty should be supposed and remunerated. Loyalty programs assured the customers that with respect their money invested they will get more rewards and with time they become a part of an organization.