Ensuring quality standards for customer loyalty: tips and best practices

What is one of the most important cores of marketing? It is the desire that a customer, once convinced of a company or a product, should stay as long as possible and not migrate to potential competitors. The reason for this is extremely simple: such a customer is not only considered to be much easier to handle, but also usually causes noticeably lower costs with higher sales - typically, the cost ratio of new to existing customers is therefore around 5:1. Not least for this reason referral marketing still works so well.

However, it must be clear that what keeps a customer after an initial, positive experience is, above all, consistently high quality in all respects. Establishing and adhering to quality standards is therefore a responsibility that should not be skimped on under any circumstances. This applies above all to the following points, which are largely generally valid (= independent of the industry):

1. a uniform, consistent approach to communication

Customer and company want to communicate, must communicate. No matter in which specific way. However, this is precisely where many companies tend to outsource their customers after a certain (short) period of time.

When it comes to convincing new customers, the front line of canvassers is often called upon. Professionals in communication and product knowledge. They can captivate a previously undecided customer, convince him - and, above all, instill in him an expectation about how to communicate with this company.

In the further course, however, the aforementioned outsourcing then takes place out of false thrift: The customer is passed on to other communication partners, often these are actually third-party companies to which the (existing) customer support has been outsourced.

This is fatal, because the staff there cannot communicate as personally and effectively as the customer is used to. Moreover, it also goes against the trend, because excessive outsourcing has long been considered outdated.

Best Practice: Ideally, a customer should receive the same high-quality communication at all times with the same contact persons. At the very least, however, the support of valuable existing customers should not be mindlessly outsourced.

2. reliable, safe delivery at any time

Deliveries of goods are a significant cost factor - and not only because the B2B area has long been part of the packaging law. No, of course they cost both the shipping company and, depending on delivery conditions, the recipient good money, because typically suppliers are interposed.

A great many companies have already experienced severe slumps in this area in recent times. Primarily because they switched to more economical alternatives, either in terms of the type of packaging or the delivery service provider.

Now this does not mean that thriftiness is fundamentally worse; however, it often results in quality losses, especially when it comes to delivery - later or more unpredictable deliveries, sometimes even battered shipping boxes or - the marketing super-GAU - a product damaged by the supplier or the delivery and transport conditions.

Best Practice: Deliveries or their conditions may only change at the same level, but better only in the direction of even greater quality. This begins with a constant high quality protection of the goods through consistently transport-safe packaging and extends to cooperation with transport service providers where lower costs are not at the expense of everything else.

3. written down and bindingly communicated rules

One employee familiarly addresses existing customers by their first name, while another treats them as if they were an unknown new customer; one employee works in a customer-oriented manner, while the other is more company-oriented.

It's inconsistencies like these that can quickly cause disagreement among existing customers. Because although they are in contact with one and the same company every time, it sometimes feels different to them each time.

Best Practice: Quality standards are only as good as those who have to comply with them - i.e. those who are actually in contact with customers or ensure that they are satisfied by goods or services. Accordingly, all quality standards must be standardized. Every employee must know them in detail, be trained in them again and again. And there must be zero tolerance for deviations. The qualitystandard means that the quality always remains the same.

However, this also involves evaluating the specifications again and again, exposing sources of error - and also questioning those who ultimately have to implement the standards before they are introduced. Here, networking within the company with positive feedback loops is unspeakably valuable.

4. the pursuit of recognized certifications and their use

Many quality standards can only be internal to a company, as they are an important unique selling point that sets a company apart from all its competitors. However, this is definitely not a universal rule.

In fact, it makes tremendous sense to have quality standards certified, especially when they are industry-wide or even exceed them. A prominent example of this is everything, what is covered by ISO 9001 falls. To be certified under it, the following steps are necessary:

1. The selection of a certifying service provider takes place. Here, many companies are represented on the market.
2. An in-house pre-audit will be held to explain the details.
3. This is followed by two audit stages, which clarify the actual state in the house.
4. Based on this, either measures are defined and processed, or direct certification takes place.
5. The certification is reviewed every three years.

The primary advantage of such certifications is that companies can establish uniform, international quality standards. However, many certificates lead to an entry in officially visible lists - this in turn can be used as a secondary advantage for external presentation. Perhaps not with existing customers, but certainly with new ones.

Best Practice: In the case of quality standards, it should always be examined to what extent they can be officially certified. Firstly, because this allows good things to be made even better. Second, because official certificates have a strong, positive signal effect on the outside. Of course, these processes cost money, which is the exact opposite of frugality, but it is usually money well spent.

Author:
Heiner Jahnen has been working in the field of content management for over 20 years.