To enter a roulette game, first, you must decide how much to spend and where to
place your bets.
Once the croupier throws a ball onto the spinning wheel, the game is on. Round
and round, the ball spins until it lands. Winners are rewarded according to the
number, section, or betting odds they selected. The more accurate the bet, the
higher the payout.
If you stood before a roulette table of marketing options, where would you
place your chips? On great print ads or fantastic packaging? On your social media
presence or a strong brand reputation?
The truth is, profits are built from relationships. And research shows that the
depth of relationships between a business and its clients is one of the best
predictors of lifetime value. Companies with improved customer engagement
cross-sell by 22%, drive up-sell revenues from 13% to 51%, and increase order
sizes by as much as 80%. And even a 5% increase in customer retention can
increase profits by more than 25%!
Why Engagement Trumps Satisfaction
Customer engagement is
about shaping consistent, value-giving relationships with your customers, and
it is a key pillar for returning happy, loyal clients.
If you think customer satisfaction is enough to keep your clients coming back,
you may be wrong. Consider one study that compared customer satisfaction versus
customer engagement.
This Gallup study found no difference in churn rates between bank customers who
were ‘extremely satisfied but not strongly engaged’ and those ‘less than
extremely satisfied.’
In contrast, customers who were both ‘extremely satisfied and strongly engaged’
exhibited a 37% lower churn rate. In other words, engaged customers were over a third
more likely to stay with the bank than merely satisfied customers. In
contrast, 60-80% of customers who defected to a competitor said they were
“satisfied” or “very satisfied” just prior to their defection.
Connections Build Commitment
If you want prospects
to “marry” your company, you must start with customer engagement.
What does that look like? Customer engagement is the sum of all interactions
between a business and a customer. Touchpoints can occur through various online
or offline channels, but ultimately these exchanges drive interaction,
participation, and purchase decisions over time. Beyond increased loyalty and
long-term profits, engagement also encourages healthy conflict resolution:
highly engaged customers are less likely to complain to other current or
potential customers but will address the company directly instead.
Invite Participation and Watch the Magic
Unfold
Whatever your
approach and the tools you use – high tech, low tech, or no tech – customer
engagement can take you far. In our latest white paper, you’ll see what it takes to move people from observation to participation, gain creative ideas from other companies, and learn five principles for shaping your own customer engagement strategy.
Want to win over your customers month after month, so your business continues to thrive?
Check out this helpful resource at PrintitinColor.com/Resources/Sales-and-Marketing-white-papers/.
