Marketing Management, 16th Edition

Building Customer Loyalty

It is not enough to attract new customers; the company must also keep them and increase their business. Too many companies suffer from high customer defection. Yet many still focus the majority of their promotional efforts on acquiring new customers rather than on trying to retain existing ones, despite the high costs associated with the need to constantly counteract customer churn. Prioritizing customer retention by building customer loyalty is by far the more effective approach to long-term profitability than trying to acquire customers who are likely to leave the company as soon as they catch sight of a better deal.

Three of the most effective strategies for building customer loyalty include interacting closely with ...