What is ladder of Loyalty in Business context, the customer relationship approach towards customer
The ladder
of loyalty, the term which we hear more often in building any sort of
relationship or establishing trust in the relationship. This describes many
situations and consequences which are dramatized in front of humans, the only
way to be build or regain the trust is through this ladder of loyalty. In
context of maintaining or establishing relationship with customers companies
use variety of processes under-governed by categories of stages involved and
Ladder of Loyalty shows the different stages from prospect to final partner,
all together in a sync.
From,
Prospect to Final partner this whole process in Ladder of Loyalty has six
different stages involved and we will look and examine all this stages in
further we move in this article. The best way is remember is via seeing the
below mentioned Ladder picture, the movement is from down-to-up i.e.
bottom-to-up process.
So, here
are the six stages of Ladder of Loyalty:-
1
1. Prospect
The
very down and first stage in ladder loyalty is prospect, it is the time when
customer are in seek of marketer’s definition. In simple words, it means
searching an area thought to yield a valuable mineral deposit, searching opportunities
that might add value to the company. This prospect is at the introductory stage
where they have ample of opportunities and ample of diversification available
to choose, the only condition is that whether for the company they are able to
manage or turn the prospect into customer because it the first and most
important stage among all six stages because—an opener is a trend setter, more
the best he or she, best the team’s end result.
Related:How to Prospect for New Customers
2.Customer
The well-known example of turning prospect into customer is done by luxury car
making company—BMW. For some period of time they have focused inquiring about customer’s
perception and their reactions. They have declined their production for some
period of time and they focused more onto converting Prospect into Customer because
more the company knows the customer more chances are that company’s loyalty
ladder will be followed by next stages. The basic idea is to retain or not to
retain customer in this process from company point of view, as the customers
are being differentiated on the basis of two aspects, firstly, the value they
represent for the company and secondly the representation of the needs. Some
customers need very standard service or products while some are their which
have very customized needs which needed to be full-filled by the company in order
to retain them.
Related:6 Ways to Build Customer Loyalty
3. Client
Customer reaches this next step of the ladder only and only when they purchase
the product more than once. The main difference between Customer and Client in
this case is that, customer buy’s the product once while client repeat the
buying behavior. The best example to understand about client imposition is just
go and check which product or services are present in more number in your home.
Say for example, you liked the NEXA Car service superior in low model premium segment
car after purchasing Maruti Baleno Alfa Model from NEXA showroom you became the
customer for NEXA and now you are very satisfied with the NEXA delivery of
service. On your next purchase say after one year you are planning to buy to
buy new car of bit higher segment—Maruti Ciaz, since you have experienced NEXA’s
service as the best you will go to purchase another car from NEXA dealer only. So,
for them you are second time buyer and now you changed from being prospect to
customer to client. The first more advantageous and repetitive ladder which in
turns contribute more to the company is accomplished. Till this stage, many
people have reached and companies had ate the ripen fruits too.
Related:From Prospect to Client in Thirty Seconds
4. Supporter
Continuing to the example of NEXA, say for example, you are satisfied with
their services fully and now it’s time for recommendation—Your very close
friend had arrived at your door on Sunday morning just to ask—Bhai Car lena
kaha se better rahega ( Bro! from where should I purchase car). This time since
you are very much satisfied with NEXA’s service performance you will surely recommend—Bhai
NEXA me ja (Brother! Go to NEXA showroom). The point is obvious—You are
supporter now because you are spreading positive Word-of-Mouth (WOM). One very
fine study has been done in the area of Service defection by Technical
Assistance for Research Programme (TARP) in United States of America and it
states that “Each dissatisfied customer
on an average will tell 15 other people whereas each satisfied customer will
tell no more than 6 people”. Hence, the probability of negative
Word-of-Mouth is higher compared to positive Word-of-Mouth. The logic is simple—the
more frustrated you are the more cross-respondent you are.
Related:Building a Brand Through Customer Support
5. Advocate
No, not that Black apron man fighting the case for client in court room. In business
context, it means supporter who gives company valuable response for the
improvement of products or service standards. This are usually, the person who
are more advocative towards the particular product or services. Current example
of March 2018, WhatsApp Beta- testing availability features for some categories
of smartphones, this is done in order to know the loop-holes of present product
or service provided. So, that company could take further steps to improvise and
make the product or service more sustainable in the real-time market. This is
very common in industrial sector, service provider set-up the prototype to
their selected client and asks for feedback—positive and negative both, more
focused on improvisation.
Related:Brand Advocacy: 9 Ways to Turn Your Customers into Advocates
6. Partner
The final stage of the ladder of loyalty, where the prospect had been turned to
the partner. However, this is not the main aim of any company until and unless
they require so but first prospect converted to customer followed by client,
supporter, advocate and lastly they reach to partner stage. One cannot be the
partner unless he or she doesn’t have the rights in decision-making process of
the company. Ideally, it’s the highest level of bond between the company and
customer. Therefore, the relationship marketing goes very far beyond what people
think about the behavioral repetitive purchase. The best it comes the best it
becomes.
Related:Don't Get Customers ...Make Partner
The
ladder of loyalty in many situation is the important ladder for Profit Impact
of Marketing Strategy(PIMS) because it is the main process in their bundle of
their business-to-business or business-to-customer process. It the shine side
of the ball which can be used properly and in hidden way to clean bold their competitors.
The more companies focus on this process the more their chance of surviving the
intense competition. The probability of customer acquisition is very high. The
prospect becomes your customer and client and finally reaching the improvishment
and decision making stage helping the company’s growth and act as the power
house of Customer Relationship Management Pandora box.
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