The Effortless Experience

Conventional wisdom holds that to increase loyalty, companies must "delight" customers by exceeding service expectations. Some focus on dazzling them at the cost of neglecting to solve basic service problems - a big strategic mistake.

Through extensive research and surveys, the authors have concluded that loyalty has much more to do with how well a company delivers on its basic promises than on how dazzling its service experience might be. The authors prove that delighting customers doesn't build loyalty, and they show how acting on this insight can help improve service, reduce costs, and decrease customer churn.

By employing practical tactics - such as teaching reps not just to resolve customer issues but also to "forward resolve" common issues - companies will be better able to focus on delivering a nearly effortless experience. That will lead directly to the improvements in customer loyalty they had been aiming for all along.