Are you delivering your brand promise

“Companies don’t have poor brand promises, they have problems delivering on the promises they’ve created.”

During his Call Center Week keynote, ResponseTek Networks CEO Syed Hasan went on to say that instead of working to meet the original promise, many companies will keep adjusting their brand promise as necessary. Hmmm. Perhaps not the best option.

Consistency, according to Hasan, is the better choice. He cited Southwest Airlines and Apple as two companies that consistently deliver on their brand promise, adding that this consistency creates customer advocates.

How can you be sure that you’re delivering on your brand promise?

Ask your customers. “Unless you measure you can’t improve it,” Hasan said. Unfortunately, according to Hasan, nearly one third of contact centers still don’t even measure customer satisfaction with the service experience.

“Companies don’t listen to customers because they want to,” he said. “They do it because there’s financial gain in it.”

Making customer feedback payoff is where customer experience management (CEM) comes in. Hasan suggested that companies adopt CEM, which he defines as the practice of closing the gap between the brand promise and the actual customer experience that is delivered, the goal being to create a dependable population of customer advocates. He cited three steps integral to CEM:

Involve Listen to customers at every touchpoint using every channel
Integrate Get that information to the right people within your organization at the right time
Improve Drive accountability to make continuous improvements

Sounds promising.

Affinity vs Loyalty

Is customer loyalty a marketing myth? Some say it is. I guess it depends on how you define loyalty.

I’d have to say that, like love, there are many shades of loyalty. I love my daughter, and I love my dog, and I love chocolate. Is the love I have for each the same? Of course not.

It’s the same with loyalty.

What’s So Great About Being a “New” Customer?

constantly see commercials for mobile phones or cable service that entice new customers with great discounts and special offers. If I’m already a customer, it makes me mad that only the “new” customers get the good deals. Why should I be treated worse because I’m already a customer? The acquisition frenzy in many of these industries can turn off current customers and make them switch to a competitor.