>>Customer
Satisfaction Is Worthless!
By
Myra Golden
If
Customer Satisfaction Is Your Goal, Don’t Ask Me to
Help You!
Last
month I
got a call from a client wanting me to deliver a keynote
address on customer satisfaction. I politely explained, “I
don’t speak on customer satisfaction.” My client
was shocked, as for the past 12 months I’ve been
rolling out a strategic plan in her company designed to
increase the bottom line by increasing customer
retention and by building a customer recovery strategy.
I went on to explain 4 reasons why I, as a fierce customer
loyalty advocate, don’t speak on customer
satisfaction.
1.
Customer satisfaction means NOTHING these days.
The truth is, today’s customers expect mediocre
service. Apathy is expected. Late is expected. Problems
are expected. No follow-through is expected. As long as
companies don’t
g
o below these very low expectations, customers
are satisfied.
2.
Customer satisfaction = “Sufficient or Adequate
Service.”
When a company achieves “customer
satisfaction” what it’s really achieved is
getting customers to feel that the service is adequate
or sufficient---that it wasn’t horrible. The
customer’s expectations, typically very low
expectations, were met. That’s all customer
satisfaction means.
3.
Customers report being “satisfied” only because
their expectations are so low and because no one else is
doing any better.
4.
Satisfied customers are not your customers. They’re
just with you until they find something better.
I
concluded that I do speak on and help my clients build customer
loyalty. Customer
satisfaction is a feeling…a feeling that low
expectations have been met. Customer loyalty, on the
other hand, is a set of behaviors that produce revenue.
-
Loyal
customers by definition don’t defect.
-
Loyal
customers reward the company by buying from you
again and again.
-
Loyal
customers buy other products or services in your
line.
-
Loyal
customers tell people in their network about your
company (referrals). – That is, they actually
market for you and word-of-mouth advertising is the
most persuasive form of advertising.
I
urge you to stop striving for hi
g
h customer satisfaction and focus on delivering truly
outstanding service and building a profitable base
of loyal customers. Satisfied customers will
give you a “good” ranking on a survey today and
leave you for the competition tomorrow. Loyal customers
return again and again, recommend your company often and
significantly add to your bottom line!
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I
was very pleased with Myra' presentation, but even more
so, I was left with a sense of new energy and desire to
put her recommendations to use. I
can't wait for Monday!
Tim
O'Laughlin
The
Coca-Cola Company
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I
just want to take a moment to "thank you" for
your very valuable Tuesday Morning e-mail newsletter.
Our Customer Satisfaction Department finds it extremely
valuable and helpful in our mission to satisfy customers
every day. We also share the many great ideas and tips
for handling customer complaints with our franchise
owners. Thank you again... we hope we can continue to
look forward to Tuesday Morning for a long time to come.
Beth
Vickers
Director
Customer
Satisfaction Department
McDonald's
Corporation
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