MAKING CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT A TOP PRIORITY

 

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/.