Customer Loyalty Strategy :
Screw Up First
One of the key characteristics of the top customer experience brands in the world is that they are “ Zero Risk ” to do business with . A Zero Risk business isn ’ t one that never makes mistakes ; every excellent customer service company drops the ball from time to time . The secret to what makes these top brands Zero Risk lies in their customer service training — specifically , how well they have trained their employees to make it right when things do go wrong . In other words , Zero Risk means peace of mind for the customer .
A lot of organizations force their customer-facing employees to hide behind company policy . Policy is a word that tends to create a negative experience . During customer interactions , customers hate hearing the words , “ Our policy is …” They understand policy was created to protect the organization from being taken advantage of by the customer .
Take an objective look at your rules of customer engagement and stop punishing 98 % of customers for what only 2 % do . Instead , train your employees to have a charitable assumption , which means giving customers the benefit of the doubt . In addition to being the right thing to do , it is a fantastic business strategy for building customer loyalty and enhancing customer lifetime .
A Brilliant Comeback : Proven Marketing Strategy For Growth And Customer Retention
When a problem arises with a customer , it gives us the opportunity to own that customer for life .
Brand loyalty often results from screw-ups , i . e ., how well a company handled a situation that initially went wrong . It is a fact that a high percentage of customers will do more business with a brand after a positive resolution was made to a problem . This is known as the Service Recovery Paradox , which is where the customer actually becomes more loyal to the brand than if the initial mistake had never occurred . It may sound counterintuitive , but the handling of problems can and should be part of your customer retention strategy . An unhappy customer quickly moves on . A happy customer is a loyal customer . And with acquisition five times more costly than merely keeping
customers around , a healthy customer retention rate is very good for your bottom line .
It ’ s a proven fact that customers can often be more loyal to your business after they have experienced a service failure than if it had never happened in the first place . If your business deals with it well , you will clearly see the positive effect of customer satisfaction on loyalty growth .
In fact , new research from Stella Connect supports this . It was discovered that 97 % of consumers across the U . S . and U . K . say that if a brand turned a poor customer service experience into a positive one by solving their problems immediately , they would do business with that brand again .
Legendary Examples Of Businesses Experiencing High Customer Satisfaction
Being Zero Risk also tends to create heroic , legendary stories about your business that get shared amongst employees , with customers , and on social media . For example , I have worked with the The Ritz-Carlton hotels and have heard numerous epic tales such as this : When a guest tried to check in upon arrival and their room wasn ’ t available and the hotel was fully booked , a Ritz-Carlton
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