Customer delight

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Customer delight means surprising a customer by exceeding their expectations and thus creating a positive emotional reaction. This emotional reaction leads to word of mouth. Customer delight directly affects the sales and profitability of a company, as it helps to distinguish the company and its products and services from the competition. [1] [2] In the past customer satisfaction has been seen as a key performance indicator. Customer satisfaction measures the extent to which the expectations of a customer are met (compared to expectations being exceeded). However, it has been discovered that mere customer satisfaction does not create brand loyalty nor does it encourage positive word of mouth.

Contents

Customer delight can be created by the product itself, by accompanied standard services and by interaction with people at the front line. The interaction is the greatest source of opportunities to create delight as it can be personalized and tailored to the specific needs and wishes of the customer. [3] During contacts with touch points in the company, more than just customer service can be delivered. The person at the front line can surprise by showing a sincere personal interest in the customer, offer small attentions that might please or find a solution specific to particular needs. Those front-line employees are able to develop a relationship between the customer and the brand. Elements in creating motivated staff are: recruiting the right people, motivating them continuously and leading them in a clear way. [4] [5]

Purpose of customer delight

There are three objectives when implementing Customer Delight:

  1. make customers loyal. As described by Sewell, [6] that finding new customers costs 4 to 9 times more time and money than reselling to an existing client. It is thus commercially intelligent to retain as many clients as possible. [7]
  2. have customers that are more profitable. Average delighted customers spend more with less hassle. As can be seen with the list of Van Setten, [8] when all other elements are correct, clients accord less importance to price (as long as their perception of price remains reasonable).
  3. have clients talk positively about your product, brand or shop, the so-called word of mouth. In a world of informed customers, 92% of customers consider word of mouth as the most reliable source of information. [9] Delighted clients can be a valuable source of advertisement for a company.

The effect of achieving those objectives, according to Reichheld & Markey [10] as described in The Ultimate Question 2.0, [11] only 9% of the world's major firms achieve real sustainable profit and growth over 10- year period from 1999 to 2009. Customer Delight is the only kind of growth that can be sustained over the long term according to Reichheld and Markey. The authors mention that their company Bain & Company have researched and concluded that a 5% increase in customer retention could yield anywhere between 25% and 100% increase in profits. The book explains the Net Promoter Score; a system which measures what customers are feeling and thus creating accountability for the customer experience.

In order to consistently deliver Customer Delight at all customer touch points throughout the company, a customer-centric corporate culture is key. With this corporate culture all processes, systems, people and leadership are aligned: everyone in the organization shares the same set of values, attitudes and practices. Developing the culture is a continuous exercise of innovation and improvement, involving every employee of the company. [12] [13] An absolutely necessary step is linking Customer Delight behaviour to the core values of the brand. [14] Core values are operating principles that guide an organization's internal conduct as well as its relationship with customers, partners and shareholders. Once core values are clearly outlined it is critical to incorporate them into every process, from hiring, to employee appraisals and decision making.

See also

Related Research Articles

Customer relationship management (CRM) is a process in which a business or another organization administers its interactions with customers, typically using data analysis to study large amounts of information.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Customer service</span> Provision of service to customers

Customer service is the assistance and advice provided by a company through phone, online chat, mail, and e-mail to those who buy or use its products or services. Each industry requires different levels of customer service, but towards the end, the idea of a well-performed service is that of increasing revenues. The perception of success of the customer service interactions is dependent on employees "who can adjust themselves to the personality of the customer". Customer service is often practiced in a way that reflects the strategies and values of a firm. Good quality customer service is usually measured through customer retention.

Relationship marketing is a form of marketing developed from direct response marketing campaigns that emphasizes customer retention and satisfaction rather than sales transactions. It differentiates from other forms of marketing in that it recognises the long-term value of customer relationships and extends communication beyond intrusive advertising and sales promotional messages. With the growth of the Internet and mobile platforms, relationship marketing has continued to evolve as technology opens more collaborative and social communication channels such as tools for managing relationships with customers that go beyond demographics and customer service data collection. Relationship marketing extends to include inbound marketing, a combination of search optimization and strategic content, public relations, social media and application development.

The loyalty business model is a business model used in strategic management in which a company's resources are employed so as to increase the loyalty of customers and other stakeholders in the expectation that corporate objectives will be met or surpassed. A typical example of this type of model is where quality of product or service leads to customer satisfaction, which leads to customer loyalty, which leads to profitability.

In marketing and consumer behaviour, brand loyalty describes a consumer's persistent positive feelings towards a familiar brand and their dedication to purchasing the brand's products and/or services repeatedly regardless of deficiencies, a competitor's actions, or changes in the market environment. It can also be demonstrated with other behaviors such as positive word-of-mouth advocacy. Corporate brand loyalty is where an individual buys products from the same manufacturer repeatedly and without wavering, rather than from other suppliers. In a business-to-business context, the term "source loyalty" may also be used. Loyalty implies dedication and should not be confused with habit, its less-than-emotional engagement and commitment. Businesses whose financial and ethical values rest in large part on their brand loyalty are said to use the loyalty business model.

Customer satisfaction is a term frequently used in marketing to evaluate customer experience. It is a measure of how products and services supplied by a company meet or surpass customer expectation. Customer satisfaction is defined as "the number of customers, or percentage of total customers, whose reported experience with a firm, its products, or its services (ratings) exceeds specified satisfaction goals." Enhancing customer satisfaction and fostering customer loyalty are pivotal for businesses, given the significant importance of improving the balance between customer attitudes before and after the consumption process.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Net promoter score</span> Market research metric

Net promoter score (NPS) is a market research metric that is based on a single survey question asking respondents to rate the likelihood that they would recommend a company, product, or a service to a friend or colleague. The NPS is a proprietary instrument developed by Fred Reichheld, who owns the registered NPS trademark in conjunction with Bain & Company and Satmetrix. Its popularity and broad use have been attributed to its simplicity and transparent methodology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fred Reichheld</span> Author

Frederick F. Reichheld is an American New York Times best-selling author, speaker and business strategist. He is best known for his research and writing on the loyalty business model and loyalty marketing. He is the creator of the Net Promoter System of management (NPS).

Loyalty marketing is a marketing strategy in which a company focuses on growing and retaining existing customers through incentives. Branding, product marketing, and loyalty marketing all form part of the customer proposition – the subjective assessment by the customer of whether to purchase a brand or not based on the integrated combination of the value they receive from each of these marketing disciplines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Visual brand language</span> Type of design system

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In marketing, a company’s value proposition is the full mix of benefits or economic value which it promises to deliver to the current and future customers who will buy their products and/or services. It is part of a company's overall marketing strategy which differentiates its brand and fully positions it in the market. A value proposition can apply to an entire organization, parts thereof, customer accounts, or products and services.

Customer retention refers to the ability of a company or product to retain its customers over some specified period. High customer retention means customers of the product or business tend to return to, continue to buy or in some other way not defect to another product or business, or to non-use entirely. Selling organizations generally attempt to reduce customer defections. Customer retention starts with the first contact an organization has with a customer and continues throughout the entire lifetime of a relationship and successful retention efforts take this entire lifecycle into account. A company's ability to attract and retain new customers is related not only to its product or services, but also to the way it services its existing customers, the value the customers actually perceive as a result of utilizing the solutions, and the reputation it creates within and across the marketplace.

Customer experience, sometimes abbreviated to CX, is the totality of cognitive, affective, sensory, and behavioral customer responses during all stages of the consumption process including pre-purchase, consumption, and post-purchase stages.

Joseph Michelli is an American psychologist, organizational consultant, speaker, and author. Since 2004, he has written business books, including The Starbucks Experience, The New Gold Standard, Prescription for Excellence, and Driven to Delight. He is a visiting assistant professor at Campbellsville University.

The Advocacy Index is a customer survey technique developed by VIRTUATel Ltd that is conducted over the telephone. The technique measures customer loyalty using a 3-point scale and is based on the Net Promoter Score (NPS) methodology developed by Fred Reichheld.

Service quality (SQ), in its contemporary conceptualisation, is a comparison of perceived expectations (E) of a service with perceived performance (P), giving rise to the equation SQ = P − E. This conceptualistion of service quality has its origins in the expectancy-disconfirmation paradigm.

In United States healthcare, service excellence is the ability of the provider to consistently meet and manage patient expectations. Clinical excellence must be the priority for any health care system. However, the best healthcare systems combine professional (clinical) service excellence with outstanding personal service. Although health care in the United States is touted as the “world’s largest service industry,” the quality of the service is infrequently discussed in medical literature. Thus, many questions regarding service excellence in healthcare largely remain unanswered.

Willingness to recommend is a metric related to customer satisfaction. When a customer is satisfied with a product, he or she might recommend it to friends, relatives and colleagues. This willingness to recommend can be a powerful marketing advantage. In a survey of nearly 200 senior marketing managers, 57 percent responded that they found the "willingness to recommend" metric very useful.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rob Markey</span>

Rob Markey is an American author, speaker, and business strategist. Often referred to as the Vince Lombardi of Customer Loyalty, he is perhaps best known for his research and writing on customer experience and loyalty marketing. Markey is also the co-creator of the Net Promoter System of management (NPS), along with fellow Bain & Company consultant Fred Reichheld.

References

  1. ↑ Gross, Scott (2004). Positively Outrageous Service. How to delight and astound your customers and win them for life. USA: Dear Born Trade Publishing. p. 8. ISBN   978-0-7931-8823-9.
  2. ↑ Seth, Rakesh Seth, Kirti (2005). Creating customer delight : the how and why of CRM. New Delhi: Response Books. p. 19. ISBN   9780761932963.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ↑ Carlzon, Jan; [foreword by Tom Peters] (1989). Moments of truth (Repr. ed.). New York: Perennial Library. p.  2. ISBN   0060915803.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ↑ Hsieh, Tony (2010). Delivering happiness : a path to profits, passion, and purpose (1st ed.). New York: Business Plus. pp.  144, 145. ISBN   9780446563048.
  5. ↑ Michelli, Joseph (8 September 2011). The Zappos experience : 5 principles to inspire, engage, and wow. New York: McGraw-Hill. p. 136. ISBN   9780071749589.
  6. ↑ Sewell, Carl; Brown, Paul B. (2002-11-19). Customers for Life: How to Turn That One-Time Buyer Into a Lifetime Customer: Carl Sewell, Paul B. Brown: 9780385504454: Amazon.com: Books. ISBN   0385504454.
  7. ↑ Sewell, Carl; Brown, Paul B. (2002). Customers for life : how to turn that onetime buyer into a lifetime customer (Rev. ed.). New York: Doubleday. p. 13. ISBN   9780385504454.
  8. ↑ De klantenfluisteraar door J. (Jan) van Setten (Boek). Managementboek.nl. ISBN   9789082799965 . Retrieved 2013-11-01.
  9. ↑ "Global Consumers' Trust in 'Earned' Advertising Grows in Importance". Nielsen. Archived from the original on 2012-04-13. Retrieved 2013-11-01.
  10. ↑ "Bain & Company: Net Promoter System - Fred Reichheld". Netpromotersystem.com. Retrieved 2013-11-01.
  11. ↑ "Bain & Company: NET PROMOTER SYSTEM - About The Ultimate Question 2.0". Netpromotersystem.com. Retrieved 2013-11-01.
  12. ↑ Gallo, Carmine (2012). The Apple experience : the secrets of delivering insanely great customer service (1st ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. p. 25. ISBN   978-0071793209.
  13. ↑ Ron Kaufman Uplifting Service: the proven path to delighting your customers, colleagues, and everyone else you meet . [New York, NY]: Evolve Publishing. 2012. pp. 22, 23, 24, 25. ISBN   978-0984762507.
  14. ↑ Michelli, Joseph (8 September 2011). The Zappos experience : 5 principles to inspire, engage, and wow. New York: McGraw-Hill. p. 48. ISBN   9780071749589.

Bibliography

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