Two years ago, a study by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) revealed that four out of five executives believed that companies were losing sales every year because of a failure to engage customers. Furthermore, 80 percent suggested that increased customer engagement would translate into improved customer loyalty, and 75 percent said it would translate into increased revenue and profits. So how do you engage a customer? Conventional methods of customer engagement include asking for their feedback on surveys, training your employees to provide good customer service, and holding a customer appreciation event. Those activities are great gestures, and customers certainly enjoy being listened to, treated well, and appreciated; however, they are not enough to sustain a customer relationship. With today’s sophisticated customers, those customer satisfaction and feedback processes are almost implied. It is customer engagement that drives loyalty and return on investment (ROI): 68 percent of the time, an engaged customer leads to increased sales; 67 percent of the time, an engaged customer will recommend a product to someone else.¹

Engaging a customer creates relationships. Engagement is the deep connection a company or brand creates with a customer, a connection that drives purchase decisions, interaction, and participation over time.² Studies also indicate that customer engagement results in higher employer satisfaction and increased competitive differentiation. How do you create a company focused on engaging the customer?  Read more »