The relationship between companies and customers is a complex dynamic based on trust and satisfaction. When customers feel that they are well looked after and understood, they tend to remain loyal to a brand. In this blog post, we will take a closer look at the link between good customer service and brand loyalty. We will also address the question: What makes good customer service?
Customer service is the backbone of many successful companies. It is the way in which companies interact with their customers, fulfil their needs and solve problems. Excellent customer service goes beyond the mere fulfilment of requests – it creates trust and loyalty.
Good customer service is characterised by a fast response time. Customers appreciate it when their enquiries and problems are dealt with without delay. This requires digital customer touchpoints and trained staff in particular.
Customer service employees should be empathetic and understand customer needs. The ability to put yourself in the customer’s shoes and always be friendly creates a positive customer relationship.
A key aspect of good customer service is solving problems effectively. Customers expect their concerns to be taken seriously and to be dealt with quickly and satisfactorily.
Customers appreciate consistency in customer service. This means that the quality offered should always be consistently high, regardless of time and channel.
The way in which a company communicates with customers is crucial. Clarity, politeness and transparency are key factors for good communication.
Customers appreciate it when they have the feeling that they are being looked after individually. Personalised customer service that responds to specific needs increases customer satisfaction.
Good customer service should be easy and always accessible. Nowadays, customers want to determine their preferred customer service contact channel themselves as far as possible. Whether by email, live chat, social media or self-service app, it should preferably be asynchronous, flexible and without media discontinuity.
Brand loyalty refers to the strength of the relationship between customers and a brand or company. More specifically, the positive relationship and willingness on the part of customers to repeatedly purchase products or services, as well as the ongoing commitment to a brand. Customers develop loyalty towards a company when they have a consistently positive experience with the company – regardless of whether they identify with the company’s external values, are satisfied with the quality of the products and services or have had a consistently good experience with customer support.
Brand loyalty is extremely important because it can boost sales, reduce marketing costs, increase turnover and attract new customers. This is because loyal customers tend to share their positive experiences with friends and family. Customer satisfaction therefore goes far beyond loyal.
The connection between excellent customer service and brand loyalty is obvious. Nevertheless, many companies underestimate the value of good customer service in today’s fast-moving, competitive society. According to the Zendesk Trend Report 2020, customers switch to a direct competitor after just one bad customer support experience. If the negative experiences add up, the proportion of dissatisfied customers who are willing to switch is as high as 80% – and the trend is rising.
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When customers experience that their concerns are taken seriously and competently resolved, they feel valued. This creates trust in the brand and promotes loyalty. However, good customer support, which ultimately leads to brand loyalty, now involves much more than just friendly, competent and fast advice or problem solving. In the past, customer service was only seen as a necessity – the means to an end, because it has to be done. Customers can meanwhile switch to the competition with just one click. Nowadays, good customer support can tip the scales in favour of brand loyalty. The above-mentioned criteria for good customer support are now joined by innovation and the selection of digital customer touchpoints.
Good customer support now not only includes the friendliness of employees during telephone support, but also the exact opposite of personal contact. Customers expect modern, asynchronous and contactless contact channels to solve their problems and enquiries independently (90% of Germans want to solve their problems independently) – around the clock and tailored to the individual problem on site. The younger generation in particular expects these services from their providers. Once customers have been won over, this does not mean that they will remain loyal to your brand. For this generation, a completely new criterion that influences their customer experience counts.
Whether digital and asynchronous or in person on the phone. One thing is certain: in today’s competitive landscape, good customer support promotes brand loyalty among satisfied customers. They have access to a wealth of alternatives, and companies that do not invest in excellent customer service risk losing customers to the competition. In order to build brand loyalty, companies should not only focus on providing first-class products or services, but also invest in first-class customer service, taking all of the above criteria into account.
