This excerpt from my book: Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless.
The fortune being made in service and the fortune being lost.
We have a 97.5% customer satisfaction rating!” Big deal.
That means 2.5% of your customers are mad and they’re telling everyone. And 97.5% of your customers will shop anyplace the next time they go to market for your product or service. Whoopie.
Satisfied customers will shop anyplace. LOYAL customers will fight before they switch AND they will proactively refer people to buy from you.
That’s the premise. Here’s the challenge. How do you make customers loyal? It’s easy, you concentrate on loyalty instead of satisfaction. It’s a mindset combined with an understanding of the concepts and a dedication to take actions (perform) in new ways.
The reward is a loyal customer. The consequence is a lost customer, or at least a wishy-washy one.
I’m Satisfied…
What is a satisfied customer? One that felt OK about dealing with you. Their needs were met. The product was OK. The service was OK. The experience was OK. They are satisfied (happy) with their purchase. They may or may not talk about the experience. They may or may not refer someone to you. Their overall feeling about you is between neutral and positive, and their experiences with you have not been negative. Not bad but not great.
I’m Loyal…
What is a loyal customer? One that felt GREAT about dealing with you. Their needs were met and/or exceeded. Your delivery was GREAT. The service was GREAT. The experience was GREAT. They are ecstatic with their purchase. They will proactively talk about the experience. They will proactively refer someone to you. Their overall feeling about you is wonderful and their experiences with you have been memorable. WOW!
The real challenge of loyalty…
Make me want to come back.
Make me want to tell others.
Get Real example… Julio and I walked into Emeril’s Restaurant in New Orleans. It was a pretty classy place. We sat down and our waiter approached our table. I expected the traditional “Hi, my name is Jason and I’ll be your server tonight. Can I get you something from the bar? Crap. Start you off with an appetizer? Crap. Tell you about our specials? Crap.
To my surprise, he was carrying two small (well decorated) plates of food. “The chef would like you to try some of this.” the waiter said with pride, and placed the plates in front of us. WOW!
I eat out 1,000 meals a year. In the last ten thousand meals, the chef never asked me to try squat. I was speechless, floored, and excited all at once.
The meal, as you could imagine was superb, the service was superb. During the meal, the chefs in the kitchen, came out into the restaurant to take a bow the place went wild with applause. I gave them a standing ovation.
Now the main course is over, Julio and I are stuffed but craving something sweet. (Ever have that feeling?) So, I say to our waiter, “I’m full up to the Adam’s apple, but do you have just a small something sweet in the kitchen?”
“Say no more!” says the waiter with a flair. In three minutes, he returns with a plate full of a miniature portion of every dessert on the menu. And two spoons, and two forks. Cool. Way cool. Unbelievably cool.
We tipped the waiter 40% and I felt like we stiffed him.
Get Real… Do you have any idea how many people I tell about “the chef would like you to try some of this?” Everyone I can get to listen. And they all ask the same question, “What was the name of that restaurant again?” I spell it real slow EMERILS.
Who is spelling your name real slow?
FREE GitBit… There are three options a customer has to talk about you when the transaction is over. Want to know what they are? Just go to www.gitomer.com, click Access GitBit, register and enter the word, OPPORTUNITY in the search box.
