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Joe Public 2 days



A recent article by Marketingprofs investigates what it means to build a relationship with your customer.
It is true that satisfaction is important because it can lead to increased customer loyalty. Despite earning similar satisfaction ratings, firms in many industries do not enjoy the same level of customer loyalty and retention according to a study by the American Customer Satisfaction Index. To understand why, let's look beyond satisfaction.
A sizable minority of hairstylist's clients think that pursuing a close relationship was improper. At the heart of this finding was the fact that many customers did not think that mixing business with pleasure would be right.
It could be that the customer does not care much about the purchase decision and doesn't see much difference between brands or service providers.
Other people quickly get tired of buying the same thing and will try new brands just for the sake of variety.
Avoiding a relationship could be related to a person's concerns over privacy. In order to behave in a loyal way, customers are often asked to share information about themselves.
What keeps a customer loyal?
Of course service levels are important. Even if customers report being "satisfied" with a service (e.g. their haircut), they might not come back if they were not satisfied about something that the firm didn't measure.
Start by understanding the experience of what it means to be a customer.
When phone companies offer new customers better rates than what long standing customers can obtain, this puts a serious strain on loyalty. Committed customers should be treated as preferred, not as taken-for-granted.
For customers to be truly committed to a firm, they must feel it is appropriate to be in a relationship. They need to make investments into the relationship and perceive a mutual dependence with the firm. And of course, they need to be satisfied. Only then can one expect the customer to be loyal.