Customer Loyalty Though Leadership
I was going through a book about building customer loyalty today. Given the current economic conditions, customer loyalty should be one of the most important areas of focus for any business today. I wanted to share some thoughts about the role leaders play in this process.
When building a customer loyalty program, we look at things like Responsiveness, Relationships, Communication, Proactivity, etc. Most of the programs out there are focused on how the front-line people impact customer loyalty, but there are a few key things we can do as leaders to impact these efforts in a big way.
I would start with the importance of Communication. As with any major initiative, leaders need to implement a regular communication plan that keeps 3-5 of the most critical objectives in front of the team members. Things like empowerment guidelines, being responsive, and demonstrating a positive attitude when interacting with the customer. We reinforce these important behaviors by our own actions, when we deal with the customer directly. What we DO speaks louder than what we Say!!
Next, leaders should focus on building a high level of Enthusiasm. Studies show that when leaders demonstrate a high level of enthusiasm, positive things happen with those around them. Team members will in turn show a higher level of enthusiasm towards the customer. This alone has a huge impact on how the customer views the organization. Enthusiasm from the leader will also increase the amount of empathy the front-line people demonstrate when dealing with customers. Team members that can listen and effectively reflect the feelings of the customer builds long term loyalty as well.
My final suggestion for leaders would be to create programs to Reinforce Desired Behavior. Looking back at our 3-5 areas we want to communicate (reinforce) daily, start to build ways to reward and acknowledge team members for demonstrating the behavior you desire. Typically you will see that 75% or more of the team members will ‘conform’ to these behaviors once they can be identified through actual behavior of those around them.
The list of things leader can do to build customer loyalty could consist of 20 or more areas. We want to create simple plans that we can focus on each and every day, doing them effectively. Often times we may start with so many areas and objectives, we are not effective in any one area. Keep it simple!!
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