Why Consistency Is The Key To Customer Satisfaction

September 16, 2019/in Why Consistency Is The Key To Customer Satisfaction /by Michael Grewe

“Trust is built with consistency.” ~Lincoln Chafee

This SMarketing Blog Post focuses on the key topic of Consistency and its role in the customer’s journey.

In a recent McKinsey survey on customer experience across 27,000 consumers and 14 industries, results showed that measuring satisfaction on the entire customer journey is 30 percent more predictive of overall customer satisfaction than measuring happiness for each individual interaction along the way.

In addition, maximizing satisfaction with customer journeys has the potential not only to increase customer satisfaction by 20 percent but also to lift revenue by up to 15 percent while lowering the cost of serving customers by as much as 20 percent.

These results highlight three important elements of consistency:

1. Customer-Journey Consistency. Consumers interact with business across multiple points of contact. Each of these areas should have processes in place for delivering a consistent customer experience. However, few companies can deliver consistently across customer journeys, even in meeting basic needs.

Assuming a 95 percent satisfaction rate for each individual interaction—whether measuring responsiveness, the accuracy of information, or other factors—even this level of performance means that up to one in four customers will have a poor experience during their on-boarding journey.

2. Emotional Consistency. The McKinsey study also showed that positive customer-experience emotions—such as the feeling of trust—were the biggest drivers of satisfaction and loyalty, and consistency plays an important role in creating that sense of trust.

This emotional connection to the brand through trust is what leads to customer loyalty.

3. Communication Consistency. A company’s brand is driven by more than the combination of promises made and promises kept. What’s also critical is ensuring customers recognize the delivery of those promises, which requires proactively shaping communications and key messages that consistently highlight delivery as well as themes.

Southwest Airlines, for example, has built customer trust over a long period by consistently delivering on its promise as a no-frills, low-cost airline. Customer perceptions of the brands reinforced operational realities.

So, what can your company do to drive consistency?

1. First, map out your customer journey by defining all the points of interaction.
2. Next, fix areas where negative customer experiences are common.
3. Finally, don’t wait – take action now.

Researched and Complied by: Michael T Grewe, SMarketing Founder, a San Diego, California based company that offers graphic design service, printing and promotional products.