Customer loyalty trends for 2012

Developing customer loyalty is critical for driving sustainable business growth, yet retaining and engaging customers remains one of the greatest challenges that businesses face. Loyalty is not only about points and other rewards. It’s about the way customers emotionally engage with a brand. If this engagement is insufficient, sales opportunity will be missed. Here is our pick of the loyalty trends for 2012, highlighted by MarketingProfs.

In this tough economic period, there will be more focus than ever on customer retention rather than new customer acquisition. “It is a well accepted fact that it is cheaper for a brand to retain customers than to acquire new ones all the time,” explains Nigel Cook,  Douglas Stafford’s Chief Executive. “To retain your existing customers, you need to know if they are satisfied with your services, and see the whole buying experience through their eyes. Video mystery shopping is one of the best tools to achieve this.”

A recent poll by Loyalty 360 showed that 78% of consumers think that having a great customer experience makes them loyal. Brands need to recognise the need to deliver high quality customer service at every touch point, and not only at the point of sales. This means integrating phone contacts into the overall sales cycle. “Douglas Stafford can help you connect and reconnect with your past and existing customers, and talk to your prospects. Our customer contact centre is staffed by experienced professional customer service advisors who will work with you and contact your customers on your behalf to generate appointments or gather valuable information and feedback. Our advisors can become an extension of your sales team,” adds Nigel. “We can also run mystery shopping campaigns online or by calling your call centres to test your team’s ability to delight your customers during these interactions”.

In 2012, an important way to attract new customers will be to harness the power of recommendations and referrals. Successful brands will encourage user reviews, implement ‘refer-a-friend’ programmes, and develop other initiatives to encourage their satisfied customers to spread the word. “Again, our customer contact centre can help you by gauging how likely a customer is to recommend your services to friends and family. If done over a period of time, this methodology is an excellent way to measure your team’s progress in satisfying your customers”, comments Nigel.

“In 2012, customer satisfaction will be key to business success. Measuring, analysing and improving your customers’ experience at all stages of the buying process are the first steps on the journey towards deeper customer engagement. Customer experience management is a strategic priority, and should be funded and supported as such.”

“I would like to wish our clients a prosperous New Year. Every one at Douglas Stafford is looking forwards to help them develop customer loyalty in 2012,” concludes Nigel.

For more information on how Douglas Stafford can help you, through market research, mystery shopping or via our customer contact centre, please go to www.douglasstafford.com or contact us on 0800 7831913.