While the presumption has been that satisfied customers will remain loyal, customer satisfaction can no longer be relied on as a metric to predict loyalty. Yes, customer satisfaction is a component of loyalty, but it is not the totality. For instance:
As this research shows, one can be completely satisfied with a company’s product or service, but chose not to continue to do business with it.
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If satisfaction is not an effective metric to predict loyalty, then what is? Engagement. The stronger and deeper a customer is engaged with the brand, the more loyal she will be.
Look, for example, at such beloved brands as Apple, Nike, Nordstrom, Ritz Carlton, Harley Davidson, and Trader Joes. Why do these brands have such loyal customers? Because they realize that loyalty is often determined by the strength of the relationship and the interactions throughout a customer's lifecycle that affect it. Rather than focusing on discrete programs, practices or initiatives, these brands create experiences that allow them to build deeper, more emotional, more meaningful and sustainable bonds between the customer and their brands.
They realize that engagement is the journey … and loyalty is the destination.
As our company explains in its just-released white paper, “Engagement is the Journey, Loyalty is the Destination,” developing an engagement strategy begins with identifying the customers’ expectations from the brand. What are they looking for when they reach out to a brand? What do they want the brand to deliver? It is an accepted belief that when customers buy products or services, they expect quality delivered with good service at an equitable price. How experiences with a brand make a customer feel -- which is critical because more than 70% of consumer loyalty and spending decisions are based on emotional factors -- is what sets it apart from the competition.
As such, we have identified several key “feelings” that engage the customer, solidify the connection, and move the customer along the loyalty continuum. These drivers include:
As Howard Schultz, founder of Starbucks, is quoted as saying, “The art of marketing today is the ability to build this emotional connection. I am not going to tell people where they should be spending their money, but I would advise that all marketing be authentic, and relate to reaching into people’s hearts to let them know that you want to be part of their life.”
This is what creating customer loyalty is all about.
Mark Johnson, president and CEO of Loyalty 360, presented “Engagement is the Journey, Loyalty is the Destination" at Engagement Expo 2011. Taking place Nov. 6 - 8 at the Westin Stonebriar in Dallas, Engagement Expo examines the role engagement plays in the journey to customer loyalty and advocacy.