The Global Association for Contact Center Best Practices & Networking

"I receive excellent service - I go back, most times no matter cost! I've spent upwards of 20% more for a product solely due to supplier loyalty. I will drive an extra 30-minutes to go to a particular store because they smile and know me by name. I overlook small issues or inconveniences solely because I like who I deal with."

"Absolutely, service is key. Price is not the most important thing with a product where ongoing service is important to your satisfaction of the experience."

"Certainly - I believe that any customer who has a good customer-service experience will happily return for repeat business, despite the initial product/ service failure which necessitated a need for customer service. In my opinion, it can often be beneficial to have a customer need to contact you for assistance occasionally as it keeps the company in their minds - those customers who have a perfect experience with a product and never require customer service assistance never develop loyalties and may not return with future business. Meanwhile, a customer with a minor product issue but experience great customer service will return out of loyalty."

"Loyalty is a much abused word in marketing. Customers are loyal to themselves and not to any service provider. Customers buy products and services to get a job done. And whichever supplier or service provider does that in the most elegant manner wins the deal. For suppliers each transaction is a moment of truth that determines the future inflow of revenues.

This changes however in monopolistic markets - limited options forced on consumers either by regulatory restrictions or through high cost of switchovers. Consumers really do not have a choice but to keep on availing the services of the supplier even in the face of shoddy service. The situation remains unchanged even if multiple suppliers end up providing the same level of shoddy service and the regulatory environments are not strong enough to push for higher quality of service."

"It’s a strong relation of trust; business at its core level is based on the human nature of trust. You trust the brand or you trust the person. Loyalty to the supplier is a direct response or a reflection to the service received. Good service will always reap loyal consumers."

"When I'm not transferred around and one person takes ownership of my inquiry, it tells me the company really does care about my business."

"Absolutely! I would rather pay extra then to deal with poor customer service."

"Bad service is a necessary condition to switch suppliers but not sufficient. There are some "captive" services like telecom and banking companies where you don't get a good service but due to the time involved in changing providers and uncertainty about getting a better service from competitors, you don't switch services just because of a bad experience. Nonetheless, you are more likely to consider other offer when you are dissatisfied with the service to receive."

"The loyalty is a perception a customer has towards a brand and he may choose to be biased towards the company. Excellent service is the mindset with which a customer deals when dealing with his favorite brand."

"Some contact centers will provide "premium" services to high-revenue "VIP" customers and special accounts: VIP calls are routed (determined by, say, account number) to CSRs that have expanded authority and flexibility to address customer concerns.

Without a doubt, a service representative's freedom to employ his or her own discretionary actions to satisfy the customer does make a positive difference and increases customer loyalty. Anyone who has experienced this type of premium service knows the difference and, yes, becomes somewhat addicted to it. At a minimum, a premium service (that does not cost the customer anything) can reset the consumer’s mental bar and redefine the service expectations by which all other competitive offerings will be judged.

If a supplier wants to create a correlation between its customers and loyalty, or wants to set its customers’ service expectations above its competition’s capabilities, premium services can certainly do that."

"Yes - I believe that if you provide an excellent service then to a certain degree you want to stay with that brand, if it remains competitively priced. Most people want to know that in the event of something going wrong it is going to be dealt with efficiently and effectively, although on the downside of this is that you do not know how efficiently your problem is going to be handled until you experience it and this can impact on brand loyalty. It is perceived by customers that premium brands should provide an even better customer service and as customer expectations are higher this correlation should also be taken into account when building the customer journey on how the service can be enhanced even further. ."

"I think this relationship is consistent, but sometimes the vendor does not have the perspective of the consumer, they need measurement tools to have perception of the service, as a customer service mystery and quality control are the differentiating factors."

"There is a correlation between the service experience and loyalty but I am not sure that it is all to do with excellence. As we are always in a hurry, it is often very satisfying to have an order fulfilled as expected. If I know that I am going to get what I want and that the last experience was ok then I will re-order again unless I have the time to look around. Is this loyalty? Probably but not what organisations strive to deliver. Too many look to improve on the delight factors but fail in other areas."

"If my answers are complete and accurate and brief, then I am more likely to increase my loyalty to that supplier."

"With the plethora of choice available to the Consumer we need to base our buying choices on more variables than simple cost for most value added products and services."

"By improving customer service to consumers, businesses will enjoy more devotion to their brand because ultimately, the better service a customer receives the greater the loyalty they display to the supplier."

"It should go without saying. Consumer satisfaction is tied to loyalty which is ultimately tied to retention and/or expanding services. In survey research on clients that I have done, there are very high correlation measures between all three. As for a relationship between services provided and loyalty I have seen correlations as high as .82. Service is fundamental if you want to keep your customers. Again, service is that moment by which a customer develops perceptions on your organization which will drive behavior to use you again. Naturally, there are other elements such as pricing, availability of products/services, etc. that will also affect that behavior but service is one of the most important."

"I do believe that good customer service results in greater loyalty, as long as other things are equal. Things like price and selection and attention to details, and social responsibility. If two companies sell products for around the same price, carry the same color choices, send the product that was ordered reasonably quickly, and don’t trample on human rights to manufacture or distribute their products then the better customer service should win loyalty. It would win mine. Price, alone, neither wins nor deserves loyalty."

"From my experience, the hotel and airline industry seem to be particularly good at this. Other sectors that may have less a sense of having to earn your business show it by treating you as though you should be grateful to be a customer."

"As we all know, the age old adage states that it is more expensive to find a new client than to retain an existing one. When I am shown respect and my account (regardless of size) receives the proper attention, I will in turn continue to work with the supplier and even refer their services. Just a simple courtesy call goes a long way."

"Although there are exceptions, such as airlines where high-level frequent flyers get preferred service and support, as well as financial institutions that have special support lines for large investors.

However, most organizations seem to treat all customers the same when they are getting support."

"Being in the customer service industry, I am very sensitive to the level of service I get as a consumer and more apt to respond with favoritism toward suppliers through customer loyalty if I receive good customer service. Customers that are treated well are less inclined to shop around for other suppliers. In fact, happy customers are more inclined to refer other customers."

"Most companies, including mine, are willing to pay a fair price and stick with specific suppliers if they are treated well, if orders are handled with care and accuracy, and if we are treated like a VIP, meaning that if we ask for a favor once in a while, it is granted."

"I believe loyalty to a supplier is driven by the supplier proving a commitment to providing great service and showing the consistency necessary to retain consumers. Over the past 5 years the economy has forced some industries to consciously choose a lower-cost work-force and to try to train that work-force to do more with less. The result has been a perception of a lack of commitment and a reality of inconsistency in the service model."

"In most cases, products are easy to imitate, everyday a new copy cat appears in the market but consistently replicating and enhancing the customer experience is an extremely powerful differentiator that, when well done, will earn my loyalty and in some cases I’m willing to pay more because of that loyalty and knowing I’ll get a better service."

"Price is a very big consideration as well. I would give it a 70:30 mix."

"There are a number of factors that impact customer loyalty and retention. However, research I’ve undertaken for a utilities organisation highlights the relationship between Customer Service Satisfaction performance and loyalty.

From the research, a strong correlation emerged - In those months where Customer Service Satisfaction was low; the percentage of customers who left the following month was higher. Conversely, when satisfaction was high, more customers stayed.

Based on the research, for each 1% improvement in Customer Service Satisfaction, there was a 0.125% increase in customer retention and loyalty.

This meant that on a customer base of four million customers, each 1% improvement in Customer Service Satisfaction equated to an additional 5,000 saved customers.

With average annual revenue per utilities customer of £500, each 1% improvement in satisfaction equated to saved-revenue of £2.5m per annum.

It really is worth investing in your service propositions – this cost of failure is perhaps the most misunderstood and underestimated impact to your bottom line."

"If I will get better service, my loyalty will much higher towards my supplier."

"Good service and being easy to do business with is very important and is a key reason for staying with a supplier even if there is a small price differential"