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Growth formula for any business: Growth = a stable base of loyal customers + new customers
Reliance on adding new customers isn’t a winning growth strategy; retaining and growing existing customers is.
Customer loyalty is a function of the service experience they have with you, how they FEEL when they engage with you.
Loyalty is NOT created when your product or service functions the way you promise. Customers expect your Core Service—mobile device, internet connection, dishwasher—to work.
BUT…… if you can’t deliver products that work flawlessly 24X7X365 sooner or later you will run out of credits for past performance and you won’t be able to create memorable service experiences.
So, loyalty = deliver your core products and services consistently as promised AND take the customer’s breath away with the service experience they have with you.
And, remember that your products give you ZERO competitive advantage; they don’t differentiate you from your competitors. Everyone offers the same products. Everyone uses the same technology.
What do customers do when they have an amazing service experience with you? Right! They talk you up to others. And with that comes business referrals, audacious reviews and amazing testimonials. And your business continues to grow.
The converse is also true: “de-dazzle” them and they tell everyone how crummy you are and your business shrinks.
Bottom line: if you want your business to grow, you need a competitive advantage (the service experience) and loyal customers (working products + the service experience).
What are the key factors determining if a service experience will be memorable or a disaster?
- Leaders must declare that the service experience is a strategic imperative to the survival and growth of the business.
- You need a Say YES! culture. Enable transactions not control them. Make it easy.
- Recruit Human Being Lovers who have an innate desire to service others.
- Clean the inside of your organization. Purge the rules and policies that say NO! to what customers desire.
- All about engagement.
- Lead with humans; support with technology. Technology can NEVER produce a memorable customer service experience!
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