A Loyalty Check List

I have written a number of blogs about metrics but most of them have been focused on the customer. I have also developed a rather comprehensive checklist that provides an in-depth assessment of a company's commitment to loyalty. I have included a simplified and reduced version of this assessment below. Please note that this checklist has a copyright; however, it can be used by anyone as long as the source is noted.


Dr. B’s CHECKLIST
To Assess Internal Loyalty Components in a Company


[Directions: respond to each statement using a rating of 0 = not at all; 1 = minimally; 2 = moderately;
3 = significantly]


I. CUSTOMERS

A. Identify homogeneous customer segments to determine the kind of customers to whom you can deliver superior value. ___

B. Understand your target customers and determine specifically how you will retain them. ___

C. Identify specifically which, where and how often customer expectations have
been met, exceeded, or not met. Remember, whatever the customer says is a
problem, is a problem! ___

D. Determine accurately your company’s ability and willingness to handle customer questions, inquiries and complaints effectively. Identify specific procedures for
each customer question. ___

E. Determine accurately the extent to which your recovery process reduces defections and/or retains customers whom might otherwise switch to the competition. ___

F. Identify the percentage of your customer base at risk. ___

G. Maintain programs to ensure customer retention throughout the product or
service lifecycle. ___

H. Establish specific vehicles and opportunities for multiple levels of interactive communication with your customers. ___

I. Articulate specific examples of how your company earns the personal trust,
respect and loyalty of each type of customer. ___

J. Assess the meaningful reciprocal loyalty between your company and your
customers. Identify specific ways in which each feels and demonstrates some
obligation to the other. ___


II. PRODUCTS and SERVICES

A. Identify specific new products and/or services based on your customers’ changing needs, desires and expectations. ___

B. Identify the process by which you anticipate evolving customer needs and
wishes through intelligence-gathering and analysis. ___

C. From your customer’s perspective, scrutinize your products and services to determine the gap between their expectations and experiences. ___

D. Specifically how do you keep customers actively involved throughout your
product or service lifecycle? ___


III. EMPLOYEES

A. Understand and can state clearly the share purpose between the company and
each employee. ___

B. Employees have integrated the company values and priorities into their work life. How do you know? ___

C. Ensure that management decisions and behaviors are congruent with the stated vision and goals of the company. ___

D. Design operating structures and incentives to empower front-line staff to take the initiative to serve and delight your customers. ___

E. Implement an effective retention strategy aligning employees’ enlightened self-interest with the company’s interests. ___

F. Ensure that every employee understands thoroughly their personal contribution, their role and responsibilities in the overall activities of the company. ___

G. Articulate specific examples of how the company earns the trust, respect
confidence of its employees. ___


IV. MEASUREMENT SYSTEMS

A. Track and understand the market and revenue impact of poor quality, customer problems and priorities. Determine the percentage of your customer base at risk then set priorities accordingly. ___

B. Determine the gap between what the customer expected and what the customer actually received. ___

C. Evaluate each critical incident with your customer and determine accurately the nature and extent of the problems where they occur. ___

D. Measure each priority area accurately and continuously. Review the results regularly with top management. ___

E. Identify core causes of defections rather than triggers. ___

E. Determine your company’s ability to handle customer complaints and inquiries effectively (recovery process). ___

F. What is the net present value of your customer base? ___

G. How much is a new customer worth? ___

H. How much is it worth to keep an existing customer? ___

I. Determine the actual payoff for problem prevention and resolution. ___




• Review your scores by section to determine categories of strength and/or weakness. If your average ratings overall fall within the two-to-three range, CONGRATULATIONS!
• If you have 6 or more of the 9 measurements scored at 2 or higher, CONGRATULATIONS!
• Otherwise, you may want to get more directly involved with specific problem areas.