Becoming a Growth Driven Organization: A CEO's Story

The Loyalty Gap™
"Traditional thinking says if you offer a good product or service and keep your customers satisfied, they will be forever loyal," I continued. "However, recent disturbing statistics actually shatter that myth. 80% of customers who migrated to a competitor said they made the jump even though they were satisfied or very satisfied with the product and services of the original company," I explained.

"Wow, you really hit the nail on the head. We're feeling the pressure of constantly bringing on new business because our customers just aren't buying as often as they used to," Charles said. "What are we missing?" he asked.

"Most businesses think that customer satisfaction is the measure of customer loyalty," I said. "Actually, we teach our customers not to accept simply satisfying a customer. The really successful businesses insist on delighting customers. This is done by gaining a thorough understanding of the customer, supplying the best solution for their problem in the industry, and continually measuring how well you're doing in the eyes of the customer," I continued.

"It makes sense that if a customer is truly delighted with your offering, that they will want to come back over and over. How do you think Starbucks® has built such an enterprise? They have maximized the amount of return business from their customers. There are customers who will stop in every day without fail," I said.

"That's a wake-up call," said Charles thoughtfully. "We thought we had a good idea of what our customers want. We assumed that if we supplied a quality product at a competitive price and in a timely manner, they would continue to buy," Charles admitted.

"Customer expectations are rising every day in every aspect of life. It's no longer enough to simply offer a quality product in a timely manner at a competitive price. Those are attributes you must possess just to stay in the game today - whatever game you're playing," I said.

"I mean, these days, I expect my dry cleaner to pick up my clothes and deliver them to my office," I continued. "It started with pizza delivery and that concept bled over into other industries, such as dry cleaning, books, and office supplies. You see, people are taking innovations from other industries and expecting those innovations to take hold in every aspect of life."

"So you're saying we should we offer our customers new products and services that our competitors don't offer, right?" Charles asked.

"Yes, but allow me to qualify that answer. This is a good time to explain the fourth missed growth opportunity - The Expansion Gap™," I said.

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