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More and more organizations are becoming aware of the importance of retaining customers. Luckily, the focus no longer lies only on new customers and sales, though customer retention is still overlooked by many organizations. Marketers whose portfolio requires them to retain customers, often struggle to exactly define the drivers of customer retention. One of the greatest challenges, currently, is to repair or reaffirm customers’ trust in the organization. This applies in particular to service providers. Fear not however, there is hope… There is a new and effective tool, and the only real effort required is to bridge the gap between Marketing and Customer Service…
In my PhD, it became apparent that good-quality customer service has a great impact on customer loyalty. And not only on loyalty but also on satisfaction, trust and commitment of the customers. A customer contact center that has optimally designed the 7 drivers of a top customer service experience, contributes greatly to creating loyal customers by changing customers’ attitudes. The quality of the customer service has a direct impact on satisfaction with the organization, trust in the organization and commitment to the organization, and therefore a strong indirect impact on customer loyalty. Trust is one of the most important mediators when it comes to loyalty, and Customer Service has no less than 77.8% share in determining trust in the organization. That is sky high.
A marketer whose portfolio includes customer retention would therefore be advised to invest in a good relationship with his Customer Service colleagues… And vice versa, Customer Service should have a chat with Marketing when budget is required… There is a great deal to be won here, especially considering the yawning gap often currently seen between Marketing and Customer Service.
