mere satisfaction is simply not good enough!

By Jamey Lutz—

Customer loyalty is deeply rooted in perception. In fact, 70% of loyalty is influenced by how customers feel they are treated, according to a notable McKinsey & Company study. The findings highlight that the better customers are treated, the more likely they are to return, and passionately promote your product or service.

The challenge lies in the fact that most companies are already intuitively aware of this. Yet, many fall prey to the misguided belief that their bottom line will thrive by consistently delivering the status quo. The rationale often sounds like this: 'If we can reliably meet our customers’ requirements and expectations, they will remain loyal for life.' Unfortunately, while this approach may suffice to 'keep the lights on' in the short term, it will never drive the sustainable growth needed to stand out from the competition

Today’s customers view service that is merely okay, satisfactory, or pretty good as, well... mediocre. What might have earned a solid B yesterday could barely scrape a C in today’s world. Why the shift? Read on to find out!

When a customer does business with an organization at any point along their service journey, their cumulative encounters will result in one of three evaluations: the organization exceeded their expectations, simply met their expectations, or failed to meet their expectations. These expectations are formed over time based upon prior interactions with the company, service provided by competitors, and word of mouth from friends, family, and social media.

Perhaps the biggest factor shaping consumer expectations is the superior service received from other businesses, regardless of industry. When your customers vacation at Disney World, shop at Nordstrom, or buy online from Zappos, their experiences become fodder for comparisons to you. Is your website as easy as Amazon? Is your business phone answered as quickly as agents at FedEx? Is your product as cool as a Harley? All those signature experiences elevate the standards for every enterprise on the planet, whether it feels fair or not!

Merely satisfied customers receive precisely what they expected — nothing more, nothing less. For service exemplars like The Ritz-Carlton, Chick-fil-A, USAA, and Harley-Davidson, delivering experiences that fail to consistently delight isn't just a missed opportunity, it's a devastating blow to their brand equity and resulting customer loyalty.

But wait! Isn’t our ultimate objective to satisfy our customers and successfully meet their expectations? Not if your company is truly committed to driving critical business outcomes like higher customer return/retention rates, deeper relationships, larger share of wallet, and increased referrals. And not if you want to build a devoted customer base that will become avid extensions of your sales and marketing tactics.

Mere satisfaction is just not enough in today’s increasingly high-tech, high-touch world. Customers simply have too many choices to take their business elsewhere. Customer loyalty, on the other hand, is the perfect antidote to fickle consumers who will bail on you at the first minor hiccup. Focus on adding strategies that foster customer loyalty and consistently exceed their expectations.

Mere satisfaction or loyalty… what will you focus on today?

www.jameylutz.com