Do What Is Best For Customers Then Revenue And Profits Will Follow

In December 2012 Raconteur Media published an article on loyalty.  Below are some extracts we felt were pertinent to the Quercus vision:

The secret of success remains the same - to awaken the customer’s imagination and then deliver on the promise

If all marketing decisions are made on the basis of whatever is best for customers then revenue and profits will follow

Achieving loyalty from just 5% more customers could lead to an average increase in profit per customer of between 25 and 100%

Significant demand for brands to not only be present in the social space but to be responsive and have a real dialogue with customers

The relationship with a customer is very much built on what you know about them. The more you know, the more you can tailor the communications you send to them and the more likely they are to be loyal

Groupon-like programmes attract promiscuous shoppers, whose spend isn’t profitable and who quickly switch to a competitor whenever they are offering a better deal.  Promotions result in sales peaks but have no long term effect on loyalty

It is very important that marketing spend is directed at those customer segments that have room for improvement and at those customers who do actually respond.  Money should not be wasted on marketing to customers who do not change their behaviour or are deal seekers

Loyalty is actually not a good word for customer retention programmes.  Few consumers ever define their relationships with suppliers as ‘loyalty’ - Michael Porter

The era of primitive discounting is now giving way to highly adaptive analytic systems that are capabale of deploying highly personalised campaigns and generating marketing optimisation scenarios

The challenge for the average retailer is to distinguish between its mainstream customers, deal seeking customers, convenience customers, fine foods customers, health oriented customers, ecologically and ethically sensitive customers, and its most profitable customers, segments, products, locations and categories

Customer centricity is not just another management initiative to be sponsored within the existing organisation - it is the taking apart of the existing organisation and the fashioning of the completely new way of doing business