What Factors That Motivates Customer Loyalty?
Customer Loyalty
Texas A&M University’s Leonard Berry and his associates (1994) found there are five predominant factors that motivate customers to be loyal. Berry’s findings have been used in customer service research by many organizations, and they provide the framework for popular books such as Delivering Knock Your Socks Off Service, by Kristin Anderson and Ron Zemke (1998).
The five main factors that influence customer loyalty are
1. Reliability: The capability to deliver the service that was promised, in a dependable and accurate way
2. Responsiveness: Eagerness to help customers and to deliver prompt service
3. Assurance: Employee skill, knowledge, and courtesy, and the ability to solve problems confidently and convey trust
4. Empathy: Caring, individual attention, and interest in building relationships with customers
5. Tangibles: Appearance of buildings, facilities, equipment, and communication materials.
You might think of these factors as part of a customer’s hierarchy of needs, including the essentials (deliver what you promise) as well as higher order needs (deliver with care).
This hierarchy is similar to Maslow’s theory (1987) that people are motivated first by the basics, but also by more sophisticated needssuch as self-esteem and self-actualization.
Another tool for considering customer loyalty is customer relationship management. CRM is a popular concept that focuses on building lifelong relationships with customers, and marketing products and services based on customer needs.
The CRM model encourages doing what it takes to retain customers. This includes personalizing transactions as much as possible in order to gain loyalty. Personalizing increases the value an organization has to customers, and vice versa.
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