Successful individual professionals strive to build a client base, maintain that client base and work towards repeat purchases and referrals. Without Customer Loyalty the client base will gradually be depleted.
Customer retention is considered by both scholars and practitioners to be one of the critical success factors for businesses with its implications for cost savings and profitability (Doyle, 2003). The cost of acquiring new customers is five to seven times that of retaining existing ones.
Three factors that influence customer loyalty are:
· Number one is customer satisfaction dealing with prior expectations of quality and comparing the actual performance received. In fact the number one cause of losing the loyalty of a customer is the difference between a customer’s expectations and the actual experience of a contact or transaction activity.
· A second influence is the perceived alternatives and the cost or difficulty in changing to another provider or vendor.
· The third and strongest factor that influences true customer loyalty is how strong the business relationship is perceived. This strength of business relationship is made up of level of satisfaction with the previous experience, the perception of quality and the customer commitment to the relationship.
Arnie Goldberg, Vice President, Loyalty Builder, LLC. ag@loyaltybuilder.com
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