The fastest way to increase revenue without spending more money is to improve customer loyalty. The people who are so committed to your company that they purchase regularly and promote freely are the most profitable customer segment. Marketers know this and work diligently to increase the numbers and the commitment.
Most companies have loyalty programs that aggressively court customers in an effort to solidify relationships. They invest resources, but often miss the most important factor - the behavior of their team members. Why should customers be loyal when employees aren't?
The best example of this is American car companies. Their problems have been well publicized with extensive discussion as to the causes. Quality, competition, and economy contributed to the challenges, but I believe that there was something much more fundamental that had the greatest effect on their decline. Employees weren't loyal to the brands they served.
When the Ford and GM assembly plants were actively building cars in Atlanta, their employee parking lots were filled with foreign cars.
It always bothered me when I passed their facilities on my way to visit clients. One day my curiosity got the best of me. I decided to do a little analysis and found that GM employees were slightly more loyal than Ford with 23% driving GM models to Ford's 21%. Within the next two years, both plants closed.
It was a big news story. When the employees were interviewed, they blamed the economy, competition, and management. They didn't notice that they were the first break in the chain. If they had taken pride in the products they were producing and shown that pride by driving the vehicles, there may have been a different outcome. It would have set an example for their customers and provided additional insight into the functionality of the product. Research and development could have included everyone in the organization instead of a single department.
When team members aren't interested in their company's products or services, it shows.
It may not be as obvious as an employee parking lot for a car company, but customers and prospects see and hear it. The tone in the customer care representative's voice, the look the sales clerk gives, and the thick air in the office that surrounds people when they aren't enthusiastic about their jobs send customers the message that loyalty isn't valued.
If you want to create a loyal customer base, start with the people who serve those customers. Treat them well, encourage their feedback, and make it easy for them to use your products and services. There is no training that is as effective as the hands on one receives when using a product or service. When your employees are happy customers, their enthusiasm is contagious and spreads to the people who buy.
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