The Power of Highly Satisfied Customers
Find out the difference between satisfied customers and highly satisfied customers and the impact on your business..
I was recently reading a Harvard Business School case study on Starbucks.
Being one of the few people who do not drink coffee, I am not the most
frequent Starbucks customer. But, the wireless internet access and Chantico
drinking chocolate have gotten me in there regularly. But I digress..
The study talked about many facets of the success of Starbucks. The part
that interested me most was the difference between satisfied customers and
highly satisfied customers. For ages, many businesses have aimed for
customer satisfaction. However, the pot-of-gold is in the highly satisfied
category—getting each and every customer to not only be loyal, but also to
recommend your brand.
As you wrestle with the payoff of enhancing your customer service training
investment, consider these findings in the study:
• The satisfied customer visits 4.3 times per month, spends $4.06 and is a
customer for 4.4 years.
• The highly satisfied customer visits 7.2 times per month, spends $4.42 and
is a customer for 8.3 years.
Doing the math, the satisfied customer spends $209.50 per year and is worth
$921.78 over the span of their 4.4 year customer life. The highly satisfied
customer spends $381.89 per year—an increase of $172.39 or 82 percent more
per year—and is worth $3,169.67 over the span of their 8.3 year customer
life.
Now, while I was born at night, it wasn’t last night. As the old saying
goes, the most powerful force is compound interest. In our case, the most
powerful force is getting customers to highly satisfied—an 82 percent sales
increase if you can move each customer from satisfied to highly satisfied.
Show me another inexpensive (if not free) way to increase your sales 82
percent!
Since many of your customers are already in the highly satisfied category,
you won’t see an 82 percent increase. However, reallocate your efforts (and
dollars)—stop trying to attract new customers or get the unsatisfied ones to
satisfied. The big lever is moving the customers up to highly satisfied and
your sales will follow.
Be distinct or become extinct and watch those highly satisfied customers
help you make the competition suffer—and your sales grow!
This article was written for for QSR Magazine/Journalistic Inc.
About the Author