Do You Work For A Loyalty-Focused Company?

How does the company for which you work measure up when it comes to building customer loyalty? Find out if your company is loyalty focused with this Loyalty Scorecard.

Give your company 5 points for every "True" answer.

1. Our company has clearly defined customer standards and they are frequently communicated to employees.

True or False

2. Our employees are empowered to take ownership and resolve customer problems by offering creative solutions.

True or False

3. Our employees understand that co-workers are their primary customers and that we are all part of a customer service chain.

True or False

4. The top managers in our company are required to participate in customer service training.

True or False

5. Employees in every department are held accountable for the same quality of customer service that is expected of front-line employees.

True or False

6. Employees are allowed to bend the rules whenever possible in order to meet the needs of our customers.

True or False

7. Employees are encouraged to follow up with every customer who had been angry, upset or had a complex service problem resolved.

True or False

8. Our employees can recommend a competitor when our company cannot provide the service or product that a customer has requested.

True or False

9. On performance reviews, employees are rewarded for excellent customer service skills.

True or False

10. Employees in our organization feel valued and appreciated.

True or False

11. Employees with positive attitudes are more likely to be recognized and promoted.

True or False

12. Rude or unpleasant employees are terminated after disciplinary measures fail to change their negative behavior towards customers and co-workers.

True or False

13. Employees are given frequent opportunities to grow professionally and personally through training programs offered in our organization.

True or False

14. Our CEO or president is visible and takes time to get to know employees at all levels of the company.

True or False

15. Great employee ideas on how to improve customer service are heard and implemented.

True or False

Scorecard Results--If your company scored:

55-75 Points--Congratulations, you work for a loyalty-focused company.

30-50 Points--The company is on its way to being loyalty focused, but there is significant opportunity for improvement.

0-25 Points--Your company may need to assess its service standards, offer additional training and review customer service accountabilityat all levels of the organization.

Customer loyalty is the responsibility of every employee within anorganization. It is earned by building positive relationships, one customer and co-worker at a time. It is a well-known fact that loyalty-focused companies outperform their competitors. Loyal customers are more pleasant to deal with. They purchase more products, refer new customers and are more forgiving when problems occur.

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Achieving customer loyalty is easy when you understand customerexpectations and how you can surprise and delight them through friendly,fast and flexible service. You will learn how in "Achieving CustomerLoyalty." It is now available in video and DVD formats at: http://www.theloyaltyleader.com/customer-loyalty-box-seminar.html

You have permission to reprint any of my articles in your newspaper,magazine, trade publication, at your Web site or in your ezine. All Iask is that you use the entire article, my byline and this identifierparagraph:

Debra J. Schmidt, a.k.a. "The Loyalty Leader," helps companies boost their profits by leading them to greater customer, employee and brand loyalty. You can subscribe to Debra's free email newsletter packed with loyalty building tips at: http://www.theloyaltyleader.com/

customer loyalty