It's About Customer Loyalty, not Customer Satisfaction

Word of mouth, or referral advertising is so much more important to you as a seller than any other sort of advertising you can do. Gaining repeat clients is a much lower investment than finding new clients or customers who do not know you already or know someone who is referring you.

So why don't people focus more on customer loyalty?

Think of some of your recent customer service experiences. Nearly every study I've seen recently show issues with less focus on your loyalty and more on other things - like keeping costs down.

If customers are satisfied, they are just as likely to do business with someone else who they feel will also satisfy them. Did you know that? So all this talk about customer satisfaction is important, but not critical like creating customer loyalty is.

When customers are loyal, not only do they tell everyone about their great experiences, but they keep coming back. They are the proverbial "customer for life".

Example: Being treated like a queen or king at a hotel - the hotel industry has known about the need to focus on customer loyalty for years. From the Marriott's new beds to bonuses and perks you wouldn't expect to receive - they want us to keep coming back.

Jeffrey Gitomer, one of our top authors on selling - wrote a great book on customer loyalty in 1998 - you can read a good summary of it at Business Summaries.

Think of your products and services. What keeps customers coming back? Are you working toward satisfaction, or loyalty?