Genuine customer loyalty is the Holy Grail of business development. Loyal customers will not only come back for more business, they will endorse you for free, make introductions to their friends, and protect you from your competition. When you can have a client preaching your company’s superiority, they transfer their credibility to your company and inspire others to buy-in.
However, customer loyalty does not come cheap. People spend incalculable resources trying to convince their prospective clients to leave the competition and use their products or services. While advertising and marketing can lead to great business success, personal recommendations trump any other type of business development tactic. Loyal customers want your company to succeed and will help you cultivate additional loyal customers.
The big question is, how do you identify, develop, and retain loyal customers?
It might be simpler than you think. With the help of the University of Johannesburg and the Milpark Business School, a research study on developing customer loyalty was completed in 2008. It was discovered that the largest contributing factor for the number of loyal customers a company has, is directly related to the amount of employee enthusiasm. Thats right, when employees are enthusiastic about their jobs, companies, and products there is a significant increase in the amount of loyalty by their clients. It may seem logical, but how many companies actually invest in their employees’ enthusiasm?
The study goes on to state that “a strategy of customer loyalty and employee enthusiasm will result in above average financial performance. Customer loyalty and employee enthusiasm cannot be separated from each other and they are linked by leadership, the vision and core values of the organization. It is not possible to achieve customer loyalty and employee enthusiasm without the proper formulation and execution of a strategy.”
What this is essentially saying is that you cannot have customer loyalty without employee enthusiasm and furthermore, it is impossible to achieve either of these things without a conscious effort to implement this strategy. Sure you can have an excited employee, but to have a culture of enthusiasm that will incite customer loyalty, you need executive engagement and endorsement. The article goes on to suggest that goal setting, motivation, and teamwork are all necessary components to success in customer loyalty.
Enthusiasm has the power to create passionate customers and increase financial performance. When a strategy of enthusiasm is nurtured by all levels of management, a company cannot help but incite customer loyalty.
Want to become a trusted advisor to your clients? Want true customer loyalty?
Make sure your employees are Enthusiastic!
Need help creating an environment of Enthusiasm in your business? Invite Josh to speak at your next event: https://joshuamevans.com