Most organizations understand the bottom-line business value of having a loyal customer base. Some even recognize the vital difference between customer satisfaction (fulfillment based on a transaction or a series of transactions) and loyalty (a long-term relationship with deep emotional connection). It’s loyalty, not satisfaction that generates real growth and cash flow for the long haul.

Despite this recognition, many organizations overlook the most obvious and effective opportunity for creating customer loyalty: developing employees who are wholly committed to customer service.

Empowered to serve

Customer service can be a powerful differentiating factor for an organization. Over time, customers will demonstrate loyalty to companies that consistently serve them well, solve their problems, and make it easy to use their products or services, every time they want to do so.  

To deliver, companies must implement aggressive customer service measures at every organizational level. This often requires management give employees the right environment, the best tools, and the necessary support so they can act on service commitments.

But such empowerment is often elusive. Management will claim it empowers employees to do the “right thing.” But too often, employees are still paralyzed to act for fear of doing the “wrong thing.”

The root of the problem is that management often resists delegating real power to employees, fearing that to do so in any meaningful way could result in a loss of control over customer interactions. Sensing this tension, employees become reluctant to take on the additional responsibility and make decisions on behalf of the company.

In the end, the organization becomes lost in a non-empowerment cycle. The ill-served customer pays the price in inconvenience, and the company loses all hope of building loyalty.

To achieve the robust employee commitment that leads to exceptional customer service and ultimately to loyalty, employees must be given the power -- and the responsibility -- to serve. This includes giving them well-defined standards and processes, as well as granting them permission to take risks, be creative, and make mistakes.

Make it simple, keep it small

Customers dislike hassles, time-wasters, and above all, complexity. To meet customers’ expectations, companies must work to simplify transactions, products, and customer encounters.

To achieve the customers’ desired ease of doing business, companies might consider organizing employees into more appropriately sized teams. Smaller team sizes make for greater flexibility, agility, and speed. In fact, teams of around 7 to 10 people have been demonstrated to be the ideal size for enhancing service and building relationships.

Without the bulk and hierarchy, employees are encouraged to apply their full commitment focus to the customer service tasks at hand. They are able to respond more quickly to customer needs and demands, thus paving the way for loyalty-worthy service. 

Further loyalty improvements are possible for organizations that actively manage the loyalty potential. Such companies become “loyalty leaders” by dedicating resources to finding ways of improving the service experience throughout their customers’ lifetimes. Most importantly, their employees feel compelled to strive to make it easier for customers to want to do business with them -- today and in the years ahead.