Rich White writes on how to leverage your profit and growth through customer loyalty

Let’s demystify a common bit of management jargon right out the blocks – starting with the ‘Service Profit Chain’. It’s about how the value that your business ultimately provides is actually driven by your employee’s satisfaction, loyalty and productivity. In the search to reach the maximum customer satisfaction you should turn your thoughts to how you engage with your employees.

Thousands of organisations worldwide have used the Service Profit Chain concept to improve their business performance. Think of it as a management tool for understanding the profitability of your consumer-oriented, or ‘service’ business. It calls into use the three R’s of marketing: Retention, Referrals and Related sales, all of which pose a series of questions for your management team.

Questions like; “How can we help employees become so enthusiastic for their organisation that they go out and ‘infect’ countless customers with a similar loyalty, and dedication?” Or, “How do we create customers that are so satisfied with their experience that they share their stories with others and persuade them to try our product?” If you can answer these, they will provide you with ever-valuable constructive criticism and possibly even new product ideas.

Understanding relationships between customer satisfaction and employee productivity is the key to raising the ‘ownership quotient’ among both your employees and your customers. One of our most cherished clients, a major blue-chip consumer brand, put it this way;

When our employees are satisfied and engaged, the tangible result is deeper customer satisfaction. Our work with incentivesmart has resulted in our team members being happier and more engaged than ever before, and that engagement is showing up on our bottom-line.

Treating your employees well builds brand loyalty

Research shows that customers are willing to pay more for products and services provided by companies that prioritise their employee’s well-being. So, employee satisfaction is a ‘no-brainer’, but getting it right needs careful introspection and planning.

For more information on how to drive improvements within your Service Profit Chain and also improve customer experience, get in touch with us today.