Most businesses today recognize the importance of customers and their loyalty. But do businesses really understand what a Loyal customer is and why Loyalty is so important for a businesses’ success? Customers make decisions about where to spend their time, money, and effort daily. In fact, multiple times a day.
Loyalty is more than just behavior
It is a fallacy to assume that a customer is Loyal just because they continue to buy from you. There are many reasons why a customer repeats purchasing which have little to do with being truly Loyal.
Consider the following:
- There is a contractual arrangement with your company
- The cost of switching is too high
- You are lower in price than your competitors
- Relationship is with an employee and not with your company
- Habits are hard to break
- May actually be in the process of finding an alternative supplier
Loyalty is a choice
Loyal customers are those who fit with a company’s business model and prefer their products and services to those of the competition.
Ideally, they are customers who view their interactions as more than simply transactional – the relationship is bigger than just the products or services they buy. Measuring Loyalty means measuring the strength of this relationship between buyer and seller, between the organization and its customer.
Loyalty Research Center has developed a proprietary model that describes how customer perceptions of organizational touchpoints ultimately drive Loyalty and behavioral differences.
Companies should regularly seek input from their customers – by using objective and valid measurement tools and techniques. Let LRC build a customized program that will provide the information you need to understand your customers and their behaviors. For more information, click here.