What Customer Experience Has to Do With Marketing?

Published: 19/11/2018
(Revised: 02/02/2023)
Reading time: 2 minutes

While most of our clients contact us in search of new customers, it is imperative to remember that continued investment in your existing customers will create good customer experience and will promote higher rates of loyalty. It costs dramatically more (i.e., 5-7 times) to campaign for new clients than to simply retain existing clients. So, no matter how potent and effective one’s marketing strategies may be, without the ability to retain customers, you will have a very inefficient system. Client retention tactics are therefore an integral part of a successful marketing arsenal.

Organizations that consistently deliver excellent experiences for their clients are far more successful than those that do not. Esteban Kolsky, a leading Client Experience Management (CXM) researcher, extensively studied the effects of negative experiences on consumers. His research shows that 67% of ex-customers named a poor experience as their reason for leaving. Furthermore, 91% of dissatisfied customers simply shift to another solution without even voicing their grievances.

These statistics show how intertwined the client’s experience is to the likelihood that they will return, stay, or leave. Thus it is absolutely crucial to your success, especially in this modern age of technology. If a customer has a bad experience, not only are they likely to leave, but they may also vent their frustration through word of mouth or various social media platforms. This can easily spoil an otherwise exceptional reputation that you have managed to build.

Benefits of Excellent Customer Experience Through the Marketer’s Lens

1. Strive to demonstrate to clients that you consider their state of mind, and focus on exceeding their expectations in every interaction. Your goal is to ensure that, regardless of their opinion on the product/service itself, their takeaway from each interaction is nothing but positive. Through these actions, customers will see that you genuinely care and their satisfaction levels will extend beyond tangible benefits for you.
2. Satisfied clients can act as advocates to new prospective clients which will allow you to broaden your client base significantly. Clients may reflect their satisfaction with your organization through word of mouth and social media channels-, a very beneficial form of organic marketing.
3. Personal recommendations from friends and professional acquaintances seem more trustworthy than a traditional “one-size-fits-all” advertising approach. Consider what would happen if each of your clients advocated for your service/product to even just one other person. This surpasses the reach of many marketing campaigns and quickly establishes a high level of trust for your future customers, thus creating an opportunity to shorten your sales cycle.
4. Ensuring your clients consistently receive the best treatment allows you to stand out from the competition. Customers notice when their needs are being met. If you acknowledge these needs and continue delivering the best experience possible, they will consistently choose you over the alternative options.
5. An often overlooked benefit is the way that positive customer experiences impact revenue. Kolsky’s study on CXM also found that 55% of surveyed customers would be happy to pay more for a better experience. That means that over half of your customers don’t mind giving your organization more of their hard-earned money if it means they are guaranteed better treatment.
6. Finally, great customer relations allow you to devote fewer of your precious resources to crisis management. By prioritizing the customer’s experience, you can anticipate potential crises before they happen. Dissolving customer concerns produces a positive interaction, which may turn into additional purchases from the same client.

Employing the Best Client Experience Strategies

Direct Objective Consulting has over 20 years of experience in implementing marketing tactics and will be happy to help your organization realize its full potential.

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It is evident why successful organizations focus on delivering outstanding client experiences and why retaining existing customers is just as important as recruiting new ones. If you are seeking advice on how to create, implement, and solidify retention techniques to give your clients a memorable customer experience, contact us today!

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What Lufthansa’s Bad Customer Service Can Teach Us about Marketing

Published: 10/02/2011
(Revised: 02/02/2023)
Reading time: 2 minutes

Recently, I had two friends stuck in Egypt as the country was collapsing into chaos. As you have probably heard, the calls for a change in government grew violent, and as the situation became increasingly unstable, foreign governments began advising an immediate evacuation of their citizens who remained in Egypt. The incumbent government, in an attempt to quell the uprising, cut off prominent telecommunication systems, which included the internet. Thus, my friends who got stuck inside Egypt needed me to arrange their departure.

They already had two tickets for February 20th with Lufthansa Air, so it should have been a fairly simple procedure to switch flights in such extreme circumstances. I called Lufthansa to arrange an immediate flight change.

I was surprised to find, however, that Lufthansa’s “good-will” policy regarding the Egyptian crisis only applied to people flying “between January 28th and February 15th”. This meant that any ticket exchange would cost $250 in booking fees, and would only apply to flights a week later. Without hesitation, the agent noted that, if I wanted to buy a ticket that would leave the next day, I’d be charged the maximum fare for a one-way ticket and my friends’ original February 20th tickets would not be refunded.

When I spoke to the supervisor about the seemingly arbitrary date of February 15th, he curtly replied, “I am not God, sir. We have to set a date for the conflict to end.” He then refused to let me speak to his supervisor and suggested I send a fax. It has been two days, and my friends are now safely in Montreal (flying Air France), though there are still some serious questions that need to be raised.

As a human being, my perception is now that Lufthansa is willing to risk its clients’ lives in order to make a few extra bucks. As a marketer, I can tell you that this is not a good strategy. At the cost of little short-term money, they lost three customers (and possibly more if you’re reading this blog). A company as big as Lufthansa should know that it’s ten times more difficult to find new clients than it is to retain existing ones. If Lufthansa is keen on remaining profitable in the long-term, a humanitarian evacuation crisis is a perfect way to create good publicity.

During this crisis, Lufthansa seemed to ignore a number of viable options to promote themselves and practice actual “good-will”:

- Assist foreign governments and cut deals to fill flights that were partly empty anyway.
- Another option would have simply been to instruct their customer service representatives to stay on the line to resolve a situation rather than abandon it prematurely.
- The company missed the opportunity to pack each leaving flight to the brim, sending plane loads of stranded travellers back home to tell everybody what they feel about Lufthansa Air. Instead, Lufthansa’s “good-will “ included an expiration date.

So, we’re left with a few morals to the story:

1. The quick buck is good for pyramid-scheme operators, but businesses that want to develop long-term relationships with their clients should show respect for their clients.
2. Think outside of the box and find creative ways to turn potentially negative opportunities into positive results.
3. Customer service is part of your company image. Make sure to involve your marketing people when you set client policies.
4. Finally, don’t fly to the danger zones of the world. And, if you must, don’t do it with an airline that turns its back on its clients when they’re really in need.

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Avoid Lufthansa’s mistakes! Direct Objective Consulting places significant emphasis on public relations and, with a proven track record of over two decades in facilitating customer retention, we know the ins and outs of client satisfaction. Consult with us to learn more about optimizing your corporate identity efforts.

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Simon Robin CEO, Hardent

Category: Customer Retention