Customer Retention in Uk

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Customer Retention is the activity that a selling organisation undertakes in order to reduce customer defections. Successful customer retention starts with the first contact an organisation has with a customer and continues throughout the entire lifetime of a relationship. A company's ability to attract and retain new customers, is not only related to its product or services, but strongly related to the way it services its existing customers and the reputation it creates within and across the marketplace.

Customer retention is more than giving the customer what they expect, it's about exceeding their expectations so that they become loyal advocates for your brand. Creating customer loyalty puts 'customer value rather than maximizing profits and shareholder value at the center of business strategy'.[1] The key differentiator in a competitive environment is more often than not the delivery of a consistently high standard of customer service.

Customer retention has a direct impact on profitability. Research by John Fleming and Jim Asplund indicates that engaged customers generate 1.7 times more revenue than normal customers, while having engaged employees and engaged customers returns a revenue gain of 3.4 times the norm.

Standardization of Customer ServicePublished standards exist to help organizations deliver process driven customer satisfaction in order to increase the lifespan of a customer. The International Customer Service Institute (TICSI) has released The International Customer Service Standard (TICSS). TICSS enables organizations to focus their attention on delivering excellence in the management of customer service, whilst at the same time providing recognition of success through a 3rd Party registration scheme. TICSS focuses an organization's attention on delivering increased customer satisfaction by helping the organization through a Service Quality Model. TICSS Service Quality Model uses the 5 P's - Policy, Processes, People, Premises, Product/Service, as well as performance measurement. The implementation of a customer service standard should lead to higher levels of customer satisfaction, which in turn increases customer loyalty and customer retention.[2]