Forrester Research has recently published its Customer Advocacy 2008: Consumers Rate Their Banks, Brokerages, and Insurers. The contents were highlighted by 1to1 Media senior editor, Kevin Zimmerman in his article, Consumer Rankings of Financial Services Firms Hits Five-Year Low. Zimmerman stated that consumer perceptions in the Financial Services industry have hit their lowest levels since Forrester began the survey five years ago. The main reason for these low confidence levels was identified as a broader issue including the subprime credit problem, dropping stock markets worldwide, and soaring gas prices.
One thing caught my eye in this article that I think is the real source of the lowering confidence levels. Mr. Zimmerman mentions that “[there is]…a growing perception that [financial service] firms are doing only what’s best for their own bottom lines – and not what’s best for their customers – is having a negative effect.”
Assuming that’s true, let’s look at this issue from a marketing perspective. The driving force fueling any business is the customer. Without customers the business wouldn’t exist. Now, with seeing this report on falling customer perceptions, why would a company continue to leave the customer out and focus exclusively on the bottom line? The only way to permanently change the bottom line isn’t through cost cutting and elimination of customer service, it’s through customer retention and maximizing lifetime customer value. That’s right; the customer is the only certain entity that can permanently impact the bottom line.
In the article, Bill Doyle, a Forrester reports author, vice president and principal analyst says, “We always hear that the best way to build customer advocacy is to follow the golden rule – but that doesn’t happen nearly enough.” A great theory, but how can we utilize the golden rule to fulfill the brand promise?
The answer is simple; carefully listen to your customers and respond appropriately. It takes a strategic plan for building a valued relationship. Individualized customer engagement through 1:1 multichannel marketing is the only way to reach each customer. After all, no two customers are identical. The downturn in perception within the Financial Services industry can be reversed through careful relationship planning, listening, understanding, and communicating. When executed on an individualized level, with each and every customer, you can develop a nurturing relationship. This ongoing conversation will help the customer build trust with the brand, become loyal for a lifetime to the company and, over time, will create brand advocacy for the firm.
Increasing the bottom line is one of the most important charges with any business, but not at the expense of long-term customer value. If the customer is king then brand advocacy is the key to the kingdom. By engaging your customers on an individualized level, they will become loyal advocates to your company, never defecting and always touting their relationship with your brand. Communicating on a personal level with your customer is the best way to permanently increase the bottom line. No other single marketing effort is more effective.
