Marketing, customer satisfaction and loyalty
Satisfied customers will follow you everywhere
Most CRM strategies are obsolete. Yours too?
Jan29

Most CRM strategies are obsolete. Yours too?

The functionality of CRM software determines CRM strategies. In this article, I explain why many companies are following strategies that have become obsolete.

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Net Promoter Score (NPS): a reliable measure of customer satisfaction?
Nov17

Net Promoter Score (NPS): a reliable measure of customer satisfaction?

The Net Promoter Score (NPS) is universally used to measure customer satisfaction. However, it was created for another purpose. Find out in this article whether the NPS is dependable and its limitations.

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Customer-centric approach: definition and 3 strategic axes
Feb20

Customer-centric approach: definition and 3 strategic axes

Customer-centric approaches put the customer at the center of all business decisions. This means designing activities and processes to achieve maximum customer satisfaction in marketing. These strategies proved particularly successful for brands: our B2C statistics support this. In this article, we come back to the concept of customer-centric brands. Finally, we present 3 effective strategic axes, all summarized in our summary table. Contact us to understand the reasons for customer loyalty Summary 5 statistics on customer-centric...

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Lead scoring: its 4 benefits on sales performance
Feb15

Lead scoring: its 4 benefits on sales performance

Lead scoring proposes a different approach to customer acquisition. This method detects the proximity of a brand’s prospects to the act of buying. It focuses on the “best” potential customers: this classification greatly simplifies lead management. Thanks to recognized scientific sources, we clearly define lead scoring. We also explain the 4 reasons why this concept boosts your sales performance. Contact us for your B2B market research Summary What is lead scoring? The inextricable links between lead...

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Account-based marketing: 3 advantages and 3 strategies to adopt
Jan27

Account-based marketing: 3 advantages and 3 strategies to adopt

Account-based marketing is an alternative way of targeting customers. Rather than designing campaigns for the majority, it prefers to base itself on key customers. Thus, it is a process that takes the personalization of the marketing message to the extreme. This has several advantages: prospects are more easily converted and feel fully understood and satisfied. But how to implement a good account-based marketing strategy? At the end of this article, you will find the 3 tactical...

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Marketing automation: definition, advantages, and platforms [Guide 2023]
Jan23

Marketing automation: definition, advantages, and platforms [Guide 2023]

Marketing automation simplifies the life of brands. Its ability to relieve and strengthen companies’ marketing and sales teams makes this process a must in sales prospecting. You need to use the right marketing automation platforms to implement it properly. MailChimp and GetResponse are two good examples. This article aims to define the boundaries of the concept before explaining its 3 main advantages. Contact us to measure the 6 dimensions of customer experience Summary What is marketing...

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Netflix Preview Club: a private panel for Netflix market research
Dec20

Netflix Preview Club: a private panel for Netflix market research

The Wall Street Journal just revealed that Netflix may increase the size of its “Netflix Preview Club” to tens of thousands of test customers from 2,000 today. These privileged customers see the movies in preview. Their scores help to improve them substantially, like market research that would be conducted on a product still in the prototype stage. This research aims to be as close as possible to subscribers’ expectations in a market where huge budgets ($14...

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Trigger marketing: definition, advantages and strategy [Guide 2023]
Nov25

Trigger marketing: definition, advantages and strategy [Guide 2023]

Trigger marketing is a branch of automated marketing. It follows the customer experience from A to Z, with messages designed to attract, convert and retain customers. It has many benefits, as it encourages purchases and amplifies brand notoriety. What are its advantages? How to set up a trigger marketing strategy? This article aims to clarify any grey area around this theme, which is essential to online retailers.   Contact us to increase your customers’ loyalty  ...

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Customer satisfaction: issues and challenges in the post-covid era
Nov29

Customer satisfaction: issues and challenges in the post-covid era

What are the challenges of customer satisfaction? Can we still build customer loyalty? This is a reasonable question to ask. Indeed, we can observe a return of transactional marketing to the detriment of relational marketing, prevalent since the 90s. With the erasure of human relationships announced by automated stores and Facebook’s metaverses, what will be left in the future to build customer loyalty? If you only have 30 seconds The increasing digitalization of our society, accelerated by the...

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Customer Loyalty: how Nespresso takes advantage of this with a single click
Jan22

Customer Loyalty: how Nespresso takes advantage of this with a single click

How to sell more with your e-shop? How to build customer loyalty? These are questions that many traditional retailers are asking themselves when customers are converting massively to e-commerce. In this article, we present a system developed by Nespresso and strangely forgotten by conventional retailers. Yet, it makes customer loyalty a driving force for business growth. Introduction 80% of the purchases we make in supermarkets are recurring purchases. Charles Duhigg explains in his book “The power of habit” that a buying...

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France’s best craftsman does everything to ensure customer satisfaction [video]
Dec18

France’s best craftsman does everything to ensure customer satisfaction [video]

In this 19th (and last) episode of “The Business World with Pierre-Raffaele“, our star presenter goes to meet Philippe Rhéau, Best Craftsman of France (MOF). Philippe Rhéau is a craftsman with a passion for products, respect for taste but also a tireless pursuit of customer satisfaction. In this episode, after overcoming the stress of the camera, Philippe reveals himself as a professional who has at heart to enhance the products. He also tells us about his...

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8 factors influencing customer loyalty after a complaint
Oct07

8 factors influencing customer loyalty after a complaint

Good customer complaint management has proven its effectiveness in increasing customer loyalty for decades. Recent market research, published in September 2020 provides insight into how this efficiency varies according to your business sector. This is the first research to understand the economic, sectorial and relational effects on customer loyalty after a complaint has been processed. The authors study the differences between products and services, as well as the impact of constraints linked to the customer himself (age, gender, and so on)....

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Rethinking the customer experience in museums with (Big) data
Sep09

Rethinking the customer experience in museums with (Big) data

How can Big Data help museums reinvent themselves? How can data collection techniques be used to understand visitors better? How can data be used to build visitor loyalty? In this article, we propose a series of reflections on current and future museographic devices and on “data” initiatives that can be put in place to improve the customer experience and increase visitor loyalty. Summary Introduction Museums in the Age of Big Data For better exploitation of digital traces Conclusion Sources Introduction...

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[Podcast] Philippe Rhéau, the Best Craftsman of France … in Belgium
May02

[Podcast] Philippe Rhéau, the Best Craftsman of France … in Belgium

Philippe Rhéau is Best Craftsman of France, at the head of a pastry shop … in Belgium. He is a character who makes an impression. Tall, strong, imposing, he has his passion for pastry pegged to his heart. Quiet, his interview was not the easiest to do. But as the minutes went by, we discovered a real entrepreneur and a lucid manager. He is also a man steeped in values, convictions, love of work and customer satisfaction. He is also a...

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How can small stores counter the giants of e-commerce?
Mar27

How can small stores counter the giants of e-commerce?

90% of purchases are made in actual stores, only 10% online. Yet the end of small business is predicted almost daily. How can we resist giants like Amazon, Bol.com? That’s what Pierre-Raffaele wanted to know when he invited an entrepreneur to his studio, and who was not short of answers: Marc Filipson. He runs Filigranes, the world’s largest one-storey bookstore.   In this 10th episode of “The World of Business with Pierre-Raffaele”, we’re going to talk...

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Customer loyalty: 5 brands that create unforgettable customer experiences
Mar18

Customer loyalty: 5 brands that create unforgettable customer experiences

Every brand wants to be remembered. They all want their customers to come back. But how do you make sure your brand is remembered and how do you increase customer loyalty? There are a lot of factors that influence consumer behaviour. I have reviewed my own experiences and identified 2 essential ingredients. Summary Introduction The 2 essential ingredients to make your brand unforgettable 5 brands that create unforgettable shopping experiences and develop customer loyalty What can...

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[Podcast] Emna Everard revolutionises the organic market with Kazidomi
Mar16

[Podcast] Emna Everard revolutionises the organic market with Kazidomi

The organic food market is growing steadily. Between 2008 and 2018, household expenditure on organic products more than tripled. In Belgium, it has gone from +/- 220€ per year in 2008 to more than 750€ in 2018. It is in this buoyant context that Emna Everard launched her start-up Kazidomi. A recent graduate of Solvay Business School, she started her company without any previous professional experience and has just raised €1m to support the growth of...

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25 million customers to satisfy per year: the mission of Veronique Vergeynst
Mar09

25 million customers to satisfy per year: the mission of Veronique Vergeynst

Satisfy 25 million passengers a year. If this sounds like an impossible mission at first glance, Veronique Vergeynst is the right person for you. The Head of Corporate Marketing at Brussels National Airport was voted French-speaking marketeer of the year in 2019. The challenges are immense and multiple: managing and measuring customer satisfaction, creating a memorable customer experience, customer loyalty as well as innovation. In this podcast we take a look back at Veronique’s work, the...

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A study demonstrates the effect of design on customer loyalty
Feb26

A study demonstrates the effect of design on customer loyalty

Here is some marketing research that will be of interest to more than one of you. A trio of German researchers has just proved, thanks to four successive studies, that the design of an object has a positive impact on customer loyalty. In other words, an attractive object encourages its owner to use it more often and to remain committed to it afterwards when it is time to replace it. In this article, we explain the...

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Advertising: how to make your company more visible right from the start?
Feb14

Advertising: how to make your company more visible right from the start?

How do you make your business visible right from the start? Are there several advertising methods? What exactly is advertising? All these questions (and many others) are at the heart of the questions asked by Pierre-Raffaele, a 10-year-old future entrepreneur. To help him build his business project, he receives Karim Debbah, an advertising specialist. With him, he not only retraces the history of advertising but also discusses the methods, within everyone’s reach, to make oneself known....

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To increase customer loyalty, Nespresso launches a subscription offer
Sep13

To increase customer loyalty, Nespresso launches a subscription offer

Three years ago, Nespresso launched the Prodigio, a connected appliance. The latter, under the guise of a few “gadget” features, actually controlled your coffee consumption and prepared the automation of orders. Since this marketer’s dream did not come true, Nespresso opted for a more user-friendly solution and has just launched a subscription-based package. What has changed? Not much. In today’s article, we analyse Nespresso’s subscription offer in light of the item we published yesterday on the...

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PayLead: A new wave of loyalty in the world of banking
Jun07

PayLead: A new wave of loyalty in the world of banking

PayLead is redefining banking loyalty by offering consumers the opportunity to be compensated in proportion to their purchases from their business partners. In this article, we return to the initiative launched by Charles de Gastines and Jacquelin Becheau La Fonta nearly three years ago. Summary Presentation of the company Genesis and history The fields of application How does it work? The future and key figures Presentation of the company Co-founded by Jacquelin Becheau La Fonta and...

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Customer satisfaction : Bpost Bank makes basic marketing mistakes
Feb13

Customer satisfaction : Bpost Bank makes basic marketing mistakes

Admittedly, interest rates are at their lowest. Certainly, the savings of Belgians have never been so high. Indeed, the banking sector is under pressure. And yes, bpost is not doing well. But is it really enough to explain that Bpost Bank, the Belgian postal bank 50% owned by Bpost and 50% owned by BNP Paribas, is making such gross marketing errors by unilaterally and in the shadows deciding to make its customers pay their cash withdrawals...

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Should customer satisfaction always be a priority?
Aug16

Should customer satisfaction always be a priority?

Should customer satisfaction always be a priority? Not when satisfying customers has a negative impact on your profitability. That’s what an Amazon’s customer, Nir Nissim, recently discovered when he was banned from the e-commerce platform because he had made too many returns. His escalation to Jeff Bezos eventually allowed him to be brought back in the big family of Amazon customers. Yet, this kind of experience is likely to leave Mr. Nisim with a great dose...

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Retailer “la Halle” discovers hidden costs of loyalty cards
Apr11

Retailer “la Halle” discovers hidden costs of loyalty cards

Loyalty cards and advantages for customers are costly. I explained many years ago that loyalty should not be “bought” because he destroys so much value and, above all, so much profits. Moreover “buying” your customers’ loyalty is a short-term strategy. It’s not based on deep-rooted customer satisfaction. Just on mere financial benefits. What is really funny is to see how firms react when they eventually discover the hidden costs of loyalty cards. In today’s post let’s...

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The next hand-written you’ll get may have been produced by those robots
Feb19

The next hand-written you’ll get may have been produced by those robots

Is there anything better for customer satisfaction than getting a personal hand-written note? The pleasure of getting one will soon fade away once the secret to thousands of mass produced hand-written notes gets revealed. Why do personal hand-written notes so much drive customer satisfaction ? Every customer wants to be different. Who would like to be treated like everyone else? Getting a hand-written from a company leverages the feeling that you are different. Who else would...

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Online market research reveals the #1 factor to reduce showrooming
Feb07

Online market research reveals the #1 factor to reduce showrooming

Showrooming is a massive problem for brick-and-mortar retailers. Customers visit stores but eventually make their purchases online. Operating a brick-and-mortar point of sale becomes more and more difficult. A scientific research reveals the #1 thing retailers should do to avoid showrooming. And it’s not about price. Showrooming in context and phygitalisation  Showrooming is a symptom of the tug-of-war between the offline and online worlds. Offline business are slowly dying while online sales are booming. As a...

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Zalando free-returns policy drives customer loyalty up
Jan29

Zalando free-returns policy drives customer loyalty up

Online retailer Zalando has announced revenues of €4.5b in 2017, up 23% from the year before. Despite a slight decrease of its Ebit (from 5.9% to 4.7%-4.9%), profits before taxes will be over €200m. This is a very solid result for a company that needed huge economies of scale to be profitable. The logistics and supply-chain costs are indeed a major cost center and the free-returns no-hassle policy of Zalando cost them huge amounts of money...

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Customer satisfaction : courtesy ensures everlasting emotions
Sep28

Customer satisfaction : courtesy ensures everlasting emotions

I happen to be very often on business trips to meet clients. One recurrent problem when you travel alone is to find a place for dinner where you’ll feel welcome although you are alone. I was in Amsterdam for a few days (and nights) and had that problem once again. I discovered a small Indonesian restaurant a few meters away from the restaurant. I felt so welcome at restaurant Sama Sebo that I decided to come back...

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Customer satisfaction is all about expectations : a real example
Sep18

Customer satisfaction is all about expectations : a real example

My good friend (and former customer) Patrick Mascart is in the photo/video business and has also become an expert in aerial photo and video services. Through his agency he has worked for prestigious clients like the European Commission and many other large organizations. The other day he posted on Facebook the transcript of a phone call he just received. You’ll learn a lot about customer satisfaction. Read further. The story Here’s the story Patrick posted on...

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3 key principles to follow for your good customer satisfaction surveys
Aug21

3 key principles to follow for your good customer satisfaction surveys

I hear companies claiming they have x% or y% of customer satisfaction, proudly claiming Net Promoter Score (NPS) of so much and that many returning customers. While these figures seem great at first sight, this doesn’t tell us much. Read further to understand why satisfaction and loyalty scores must be interpreted carefully. We will once again use the example of the Belfius bank to illustrate this article. You will in particular discover some essential rules to...

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How Big Data will influence the future of advertising
Jul25

How Big Data will influence the future of advertising

“What is the impact of Big Data on online advertising” is the question I was asked to answer on the occasion of an EGTA ((European Group of Television Advertising) workshop that took place on 29 and 30 June 2017 in Brussels (my thanks to Yuri Loburets for his kind invitation to speak). Rather than repeating the same clichés about Big Data again and again I chose to put advertising and Big Data back in a historical perspective....

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Moncler and DKV don’t care about customer complaints
Jun23

Moncler and DKV don’t care about customer complaints

Who said big companies are customer-centric and focused on customer satisfaction ? Besides firms which tweak their satisfaction surveys to obtain better results (see the example of Belfius), others simply seem to ignore the basic principles that ensure satisfied customers. Handling complaints is one of them. Moncler : how to NOT handle a complain You all know Moncler. It’s one of the most successful high-end leisure fashion brand. It’s an amazing brand that has turned into...

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The single most loyal customer American Airlines wanted to get rid of
Jun08

The single most loyal customer American Airlines wanted to get rid of

Some customers are better than others and need to be very well taken care off. But not Steve Rothstein. For American Airlines this customer was the one to get rid of and American Airlines did spend a lot of efforts to kick that customer out after he had flown 10,000 flights in first class with the airline. Discover this amazing story below. Probably the single most loyal customer Rothstein bought a lifetime AAirpass in 1987 for...

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Customer loyalty : 3 sets of KPI’s that should become your priorities
May17

Customer loyalty : 3 sets of KPI’s that should become your priorities

My good friend Christian Barbaray published an article (in French) where he listed the KPI’s that firms most commonly monitor. He split them in 3 categories (“global”, “asquisition”, “loyalty”) and concluded that firms on average monitor 11 KPI’s. What I find interesting is not so much the number of KPI’s they follow but rather the type of KPI’s they follow. While some of them make perfect sense (revenues, visitors on your website) others seem to me...

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Ford builds trust and satisfaction with the Ford video check
Apr10

Ford builds trust and satisfaction with the Ford video check

Ford is currently rolling out a new digital tool that will help build trust and enhance customer satisfaction : the Ford video check. We tested it and it’s just amazing. Read further to see how Ford is transforming the car maintenance experience into a trust building experience that will eventually improve customer loyalty. Car maintenance and repair : a matter of trust If you have already brought your car for repair, you know how stressful it...

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