PART FIVE
USING EMOTIONAL CONNECTIONS TO INCREASE CUSTOMER LOYALTY
Good words are worth much, and cost little.
—George Herbert, English clergyman and poet
Using emotional connections to increase customer loyalty requires a carefully thought-out “emotion” retention strategy that every employee understands. It signifies a level of sophistication where staff grasp that the entire purpose of improved service is not simply to make tasks faster, more accurate, or less costly for the customer, but ultimately to honor customers by caring to meet their needs. An article in US Banker supports this notion by recommending a mind-set change that we earlier called the Customer Impact Job Description:
The mind set of bank employees must change. If tellers think they’re there to cash checks rather than helping customers realize their financial dreams, they’ll act accordingly. There will be little eye contact or personal warmth, because all the tellers see are tallies against their daily transaction quotas—and customers know it.1
Throughout this book we have suggested numerous applications related to becoming emotion friendly, embracing emotional competence as a service model, maximizing customer experiences with empathy, and viewing complaints as emotional opportunities to deepen relationships. If implemented, these practices will positively impact customer retention rates. In this final part, we recommend four additional strategies to retain customers:
- Listening to the voice of your loyal customers
- Retaining customers by retaining staff
- Going for impact: that’s where emotions reside
- Communicating a message of fairness