Benefits for Customers and Firms

Both parties in the customer firm relationship can benefit from customer retention.This is,it is not only in the best interest of the organization to build and maintain a loyal customer base,but customers themselves also benefit from long term associations.

Benefits for Customers:

Assuming they have a choice,customers will remain loyal to a firm when they receive greater value relative to what they expect from competing firms.Value represents a trade off for the consumer between the components.

Confidence Benefits:

Confidence benefits comprise feeling of trust or confidence in the provider along with a sense of reduced anxiety and comfort in knowing what to expect.One customer described his confidence that resulted from having developed a relationship with a service provider.

Social Benefits:

Over time,customers develop a sense of familiarity and even a social relationship with their service providers.These make it less likely that they will switch,even if they learn about a competitor that might have better quality or a lower price.This customer's description of her stylist in a quote from the research just cited illustrates the concept of social benefits.

Special Treatment Benefits:

Special treatment includes getting the benefit of the doubt,being given a special deal or price,or getting preferential treatment as exemplified by the following quotes from the research.

Benefits for Firms:

The benefits to organization of maintaining and developing a loyal customer base are numerous.In addition to the economic benefits that a firm receives from cultivating close relationships with its customers,a variety of customer behavior benefits and human resource management benefits are also often received.

Economic Benefits:

Research reveals that over the long run,relationship-oriented service firms achieve higher overall returns on their investments than do transaction oriented firms.These bottom line benefits come from a variety of sources,including increased revenues over time from the customer,reduced marketing and administrative costs,and the ability to maintain margins without reducing prices.

Customer Behavior Benefits:

The contribution that loyal customers make to a service business can go well beyond their direct financial impact on the firm.The first and maybe the most easily recognized,customer behavior benefit that a firm receives from long term customers is the free advertising provided through world of mouth communication.

Human Resource Management Benefits:

Loyal customers may also provide a firm with human resource management benefits.First,loyal customers may,because of their experience with and knowledge of the provider,be able to contribute to the co-production of the service by assisting in service delivery.often the more experienced customers can make the service employees job easier.