What Drives Loyalty?
How’s that for a burning question? The desire to know what drives customer loyalty is definitely one issue that keeps many marketers awake at night.
I was curious to know how various industry insiders – from loyalty experts to marketing and service practitioners – would answer that question, so I asked: Of the many elements that organizations might consider a signifier of customer loyalty, which is the most important and why? And then I collected the responses and put them in 1to1 magazine in a brand new column called Taking Issue. The full responses are online.
But I’d love to hear your answers to that question, too. So to get the conversation started, here are the abbreviated versions of a few of the responses:
The single best predictor of our top-line growth is a consumer of our product recommending us to a friend or associate.… If we can have the trust of repurchasing guests say yes to recommending us to a friend, we in that moment have reaped the true benefit of a healthy customer relationship.
Pete Winemiller, 1to1 magazine 2006 Customer Champion and Vice President, Guest Relations, NBA’s Seattle SuperSonics and WNBA’s Seattle Storm
Selecting a single measure to signify customers’ current/future loyalty to an organization is no easy task. Each provides a piece of the loyalty picture, but as a connected whole, these provide an accurate indication of current/future customer loyalty, addressing both behavioral and emotional loyalty components.
Luc Bondar, vice president of loyalty, Carlson Marketing Worldwide
A customer’s willingness to recommend is the ultimate test because it involves a customer going the extra mile on your behalf. There are many reasons why a customer may wish to repurchase that are not wholly a reflection of loyalty—convenience, fear of change, technical difficulties, getting a great deal—because as soon as they are overcome the customer relationship could be history.
Paul Miller, 1to1 Editorial Advisory Board, and Contact Center Director,
Prolog Connect
A loyalty metric by itself will do nothing to help you manage and improve your customers’ loyalty…. Understanding the attitudes and behaviors of customers is the best signifier of customer loyalty.
Steve Walker, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, Walker Information
The blended combination of repurchasing, willingness to recommend, and allowing the customer to play a key role in innovations to a product or service extends the experience and creates advocates. When a customer becomes an advocate they are working together with you for the success of both companies and will gladly become your most vocal supporter.
Michael W. Thomas, National President, CRM Association
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