Acquiring good customers, earning their loyalty and retaining them for the long haul has been declared the only mantra to developing sustainable competitive advantage in a market landscape where technology ensures that firms and their competitors can duplicate any and every new development in a jiffy.
From call centres dealing with client’s clients to banks and restaurants selling intangibles; from FMCG majors to the local kirana shop, businesses are grown by not merely delivering to customer’s satisfaction but by achieving customer delight.
All strategies leading to this goal are two-pronged. In other words, firms pursuing the loyal customer have to work towards building long-term relationships as well as measuring satisfaction and effecting improvements to better its score.