1) Are you especially loyal to any one brand?

If so, what is it and why are

you so loyal? When successfully building loyalty and community, trust
seems to be the biggest factor. How can a company build trust? Should
consumers trust companies? Why or why not? Do you think some
consumers are just more prone to be loyal to companies and other
consumers are not? Why or why not? 
Answer. Yes, I am especially loyal to one brand. It’s Apple and I am loyal
to this brand because of the following reasons:

Attention to
detail

Commitment
Excellent
to Net
customer
Promoter
service
System

Apple
Emphsis on
Unique
simplicity
customer
and
experiences
innovation

Focus on
employee
satisfaction
When successfully building loyalty and community, trust seems to be the
biggest factor.
How can a company build trust and what is the best approach to do so?
Every time I go out to buy a cell phone or car or any gadget there are few brand
names that strike my mind, for example if its cell phone Apple is the brand
breezing into my mind. The main reason of bending towards the specific brand
when out buying new product is years of trust which the company earned with
its sale and service. The quality is also a factor, but how the company treat its
customer after the product is sold defines the value of customer in the
company’s eyes. Same goes with the companies, like us wanting trust worthy
company, company demand loyal customers, customers who will suggest their
products to their friends and family and won’t hesitate to spend some extra
money to get the company’s quality. Loyal customer also pays company for the
premium service and the customer is also ready to trust the company with the
new product. Companies understand the fact that loyal customers do not come
automatically; it’s a result of careful management of policies and benefits
offered to loyal customers. So to build trust companies should work on
customers from both dimensions of loyalty – Behavioural loyalty and attitudinal
loyalty.

Best way to built trust and earn a loyal customer is to adopt the policy which
many airlines offer to their regular customers, loyalty points and offers, which
sends out the message direct to customer that they are valuable to the company.
Strategy like this is best suited to attract consumers under behavioural category.
To make more consumers which act on their will under an attitudinal loyalty
category, strategies like cause related marketing works.

Other than the strategies there are few characteristics to retain loyal customers:
Responsiveness by company:
How company response to customer’ complaint and what steps
they take to satisfy them.
Reward loyal customer
with distinguish labels, so that they can feel how different they are
from other loyal customers.
What are the ethical issues and obligations that come with trust once it is built?
When company have a brand name, reputation and image in the industry, they
are obligated to honour their consumers with the premium service and to retain
the image.
Customer Satisfaction:
Consumer should be respected especially when he is a loyal customer to the
brand for years. He is loyal so there are high chances that his complaint is
genuine, ticket should be raised immediately and prompt reply should be given.
Providing satisfaction should main point in books of ethics when dealing with
consumer.
Warranty and promise:
After sales companies/brands tend to ignore service. If some consumer claims
warranty most of the time company finds a loop hole and respond stating
there is void of norms and it’s not under the warranty. It’s one of the main
reason company loses its loyal customer. So, instead of making consumer
wander and bad mouth company, company should try level best in providing
warranty.
Protecting the data:
Company is obligated to store the personal information of their consumers and
should not disclose it at any under circumstances. Especially companies
operating over web, should keep data secure, any leak or hack will have
immediate effect on the company’s reputation.

Should consumers’ trust companies? Why or why not?

In my opinion the consumers should not trust a company very easily, the
consumers should wait and read reviews about the product and service.
Companies adopt various means of marketing such as sugging where they pay
young boys and girls to promote their brand and newly launched
product. One should be careful in investing huge amount in new product
specially because of being victim of sugging. In case new company is the only
option, because of budget or geographical reason consumers should know a
little more before doing the transaction. The consumers should review the
product manufacturing country, Google the complaints about the company,
previous success of products, customer care details etc.

Do you think some consumers are just more prone to be loyal to companies
and other consumers are not? Why or why not?

Yes, I do think that there are some consumers who are more prone to be loyal to
specific companies because of their experience with them over the years.
Satisfaction is the main reason that builds the trust in consumer’s mind, which
make them rely over the brand. While there are also customers who don’t tend
to rely on single brand and are open minded to experience different brands, they
might be loyal to one brand for a single sector of market, but not always a single
brand in every sector.
Should consumers’ trust companies? Why or why not?

With a new brand consumer should not trust a company very easily, should
wait and read reviews about the product and service. Companies adopt various
means of marketing such as Sugging where they pay young boys and girls to
promote their brand and newly launched product. One should be careful in
investing huge amount in new product specially because of being victim of
sugging.

In case new company is the only option, because of budget or geographical

reason consumer should know a little before doing the transaction. He should
review the product manufacturing country, Google the complaints about the
company, previous success of products, customer care details etc.

Do you think some consumers are just more prone to be loyal to companies
and other consumers are not? Why or why not?
Yes, there are always some consumers who are more prone to be loyal to
specific companies because of their experience with them over the years.
Satisfaction is the main reason that builds the trust in consumer’s mind, which
make them rely over the brand. While there are also customers who don’t tend
to rely on single brand and are open minded to experience different brands, they
might be loyal to one brand for a single sector of market, but not always a single
brand in every sector.

2) Have you clicked on an ad on Facebook? Do you like companies,

movies, or offerings on Facebook? What has happened when you liked
something? Discuss whether you think some consumers are more prone
to like offerings than others and why. 
Activity 
3) Many schools are trying to build loyalty programs that strengthen
alumni ties. Assess and critique any loyalty program your school has
(take a look at athletics first, as that’s usually where they start). Then
 redesign it. Be explicit in describing how your program will create the
four effects of a loyalty program. 
Answer.

1. A Focus on Relieving Purchasing Anxiety One of the most frequent reasons

customers don’t purchase something – especially an expensive or unique
product – is anxiety about whether or not it will work as it should. Concerns
that getting an answer from the company might be difficult if the product
doesn’t work as it should also come into play.

Apple neutralizes this anxiety through its customer service, letting clients know
that for any product they buy, they’ll receive the support they need to its fullest.
Brian X. Chen, New York Times, pointed this out, arguing that any product
review is worthless without an understanding of the company’s customer
service. Customers are making the purchase based not just on the quality of a
product, but on the quality of the service that accompanies it.

For one, the company offers a 1-year warranty on all its products, and also
offers to repair the products at no extra charge, or replace them with a free
product if they malfunction during the warranty period.
On top of that, buying from Apple also doesn’t feel like a risky experience to
people simply because of the huge network of retail stores Apple operates. If
there are any issues with their product, people know they can easily make a
reservation at their local Genius Bar, and take the product in for support.

Besides that, Apple customers also know they can rely on Apple-authorized
service providers and Apple Repair Centers if the Genius Bar just isn’t an
option.

Apple’s Support Page helps with this too. It contains tons of straightforward

self-help content. For some people, reading an article is a much easier task than
connecting with customer service reps.

All of that has a huge positive impact on relieving purchasing anxiety, which
eventually ends up contributing to Apple’s NPS.

2. An Obsessively High Attention to Details

Apple doesn’t just stick to offering quality and reliable products. The company
goes the extra mile and pays a ton of attention to the smallest details.

And consumers notice that. In fact, if you google “Apple attention to details,”

you’ll come across tons of articles talking about the brand’s “fanatical” and
“insane” obsession with details.

Here are just some examples to show you what we mean:

 The Apple Pencil’s weight is distributed in such a way as to ensure that

no matter which way it’s placed, it always rolls over to display the word
“pencil.” Its weight distribution also reduces its momentum when rolling,
thus reducing the risk of it rolling off the table.
  Pretty much all Apple notebooks have a slight indentation in the area
right below the trackpad to make it easier for Apple users to open the
laptop with just one hand.

 Newer Mac laptops feature a “smart” fan. Basically, when a user engages
the voice dictation feature, the internal fan’s speed is automatically
slowed down a bit so that the laptop can better hear the user speaking.

 MacBook Air and newer MacBook Pro devices have a “smart Caps
Lock” feature. Apple essentially prevents accidental Caps Lock
keystrokes by requiring users to hold the Caps Lock key a bit longer for it
to turn on.

Apple’s attention to detail goes beyond the products, into the packaging and the
experience that’s attached to it. The company doesn’t just deliver the purchased
items in standard cardboard packaging – it goes above and beyond and puts just
as much attention to detail into its packaging as it does into every product.

How much attention, you ask? Consider this – the company has a dedicated
packaging designer who spends months opening prototype boxes made by
Apple’s designers. A lot of testing goes into making the packaging a joyful
experience for the customer.

The result of this is that buying and opening an Apple product is a sensory

experience. From the first interaction with an Apple product – in this case,
opening the box – customers have a sense of Apple’s attention to detail and
design philosophy.

This relatively small factor can have a big effect on purchases, as it might help
the company stand out from its competitors by delivering a unique experience to
its customers.
This experience is closely linked to the product itself. The sensory response of
opening up the box and first using the product is an event that customers
subconsciously remember each time they use an Apple product.

One of the Apple’s strengths is best expressed through a simple rule: “Sell an

experience, not a product.”

Buying, opening, and using an Apple product is a memorable experience for

people, not just a consumerist tendency – which is a major factor that influences
Apple’s NPS.

3. A focus on employee satisfaction

If you’re not familiar with eNPS, it stands for Employee Net Promoter Score,
and it’s a derivative of the NPS methodology. The surveys work pretty much
the same way, but instead of focusing on customer satisfaction, they focus on
employee satisfaction.

Basically, eNPS helps you find out how happy your employees are working at
your company, and how likely they are to recommend your business as a
working place to others.

Why is that relevant? Because happy, satisfied employees are productive

employees! According to some research, happy employees are 20% more
productive than their unhappy counterparts. And that boost was achieved by
just spending $2/person on snacks and drinks!

Plus, companies with engaged employees outperform businesses without

engaged employees by a whopping 202%. What’s more, companies with highly
engaged employees can see a revenue growth of around 2.5 times that of their
competitors – not to mention high employee engagement can also reduce
expensive staff turnover by approximately 40%.
And if your employees are happy and productive, your customers will be
satisfied too. If employees are unhappy, eNPS lets you know about that so you
can take action.

Now, Apple was actually one of the first companies to adopt eNPS. Apple
began surveying their own employees every four months to find out how likely
they would be to recommend the store as a place to work.

The company recognized the importance of employees being Promoters

themselves. After all, only an employee who truly believes the service they are
selling is the best in the market can turn a customer into a Promoter.

The eNPS score is calculated the same way as the NPS score, with the total
ranging between -100 and 100. Apple’s eNPS score seems to be 25. That might
not seem impressive, but it’s actually a pretty good score, given that eNPS is
usually lower than NPS since employees are stricter critics than customers.

But how does Apple achieve high employee engagement?

Here are a few things the company does to keep employees happy and
motivated:

 When employees work in teams, rewards are applied to team

performance.

 Apple created a culture of fandom at work by letting employees use

company products regularly, giving them discounts, and even some
products as free gifts to them.

 Apple offers employees regular training sessions to improve their skills

and help them develop better ideas.
  At Apple, employee contributions are not measured by how long they
worked at the company, but by how many projects an employee has
worked on. Also, the best ones are always rotated between current
projects.

 Apple employees can get a raise without a promotion. For example, a

designer could get a raise without being promoted to a team manager if
it’s not the kind of job they’d be good at or happy doing. Apple focuses
on having people do the jobs they are best suited for.

4. Unique Customer Experiences

It’s predicted that, by 2020, customer experience will overtake price and

product when it comes to brand differentiation on the market.

If that will happen (and it very likely will happen), Apple is more than prepared
for this. A simple Google search is enough to reveal how many Apple
customers are pleased with the unique experiences the brand offered them –
like replacing a phone for free because a customer waited too long for the
problem to be diagnosed, or replacing a month-old computer with a brand new
one because a key was depressed for someone who was going to college.

This kinds of experiences are usually a result of Apple’s 5 steps of service (the

acronym for those steps is actually APPLE). The 4th step (“Listen for and
resolve issues or concerns”) encourages employees to get to know their
customers better so that they can offer them a higher degree of convenience
and personalization.

The fact that convenience is important is a no-brainer, but what about

personalization? Well, according to research, 51% of consumers expect that –
by 2020 – companies will manage to anticipate their needs, and make relevant
suggestions based on that. Also, increasing personalization on more channels
can increase consumer spending by around 500%.
Apple doesn’t just deliver personalization in the form of unique customer
service. The brand’s services are usually highly oriented towards offering users
a personalized experience.

For instance, Apple Music uses personalization to pick the best soundtracks for
every user. Apple also utilizes user info like purchase and download history to
make what they call “Personalized Recommendations” on the App Store and
iBooks Store.

Customer feedback plays an important role in user-oriented personalization too.

For Apple, feedback is clearly important, given they make it very easy (and also
encouraging) for customers to leave feedback for most of their products and
services.

5. A Clear Understanding of the Power of Simplicity

One of the best ways to provide consumers with a positive experience with your
brand is to offer simplicity. Research backs that up too – consumers desire
simpler, faster, and more seamless brand engagement.

Apple’s emphasis on simplicity is immediately noticeable when you consider

that most Apple services support single sign-on features. For instance, you
can use your Apple ID to access all services hosted by Apple, which is much
more straightforward than having users keep track of multiple IDs to use
different services.

Apple’s focus on simplicity is also noticeable when you take their

omnichannel support into account. Customers can get in touch with Apple’s
support team through live chat, email, or by phone. But that’s not all – the
company also offers support on Twitter, and has a dedicated YouTube support
channel too.
How does omnichannel support contribute to a high customer satisfaction, you
ask?

Well, it seems that companies with omnichannel engagement strategies manage

to retain around 89% of their customers, and 64% of consumers expect to
receive real-time assistance regardless of the channel they use. Offering this
type of support is more likely to get your customers to promote your brand to
others.

6. A Brand Built on Innovation

One of Apple’s biggest selling points is its unique hardware and software.

The main reason they manage to offer products like that is because they focus
on innovation. By that, we don’t mean they just create products that are new.
They also make sure they are useful, they are likely to be adopted, and that they
will lead to change.

The AirPods and Apple Watch are great recent examples of the company’s

ability to innovate on the market. What’s more, even though the AirPods were
met with skepticism, Apple powered through it and delivered on their promises.
And when users noticed problems with the product, they were quick to act on
that feedback.

Is innovation tied to Apple’s NPS, though?

Yes, it seems it is. According to research, 84% of consumers say it is

somewhat important that the company they buy from is innovative. 75% of
them would also be likely to pay a premium price for innovation.

And if consumers are happy with the products they buy, they will probably
recommend them to others, or just talk about them online. As a result, those
customers will most likely become Promoters for the brand they like, raising its
NPS score.

Considering all of that, it’s not hard to see how Apple’s NPS score can get a
boost from its innovative products.

7. Continued improvement of customer satisfaction

Contrary to the common belief that Apple doesn’t like to listen to its customers,
Apple was one of the first big proponents of Net Promoter Score. Fred
Reichheld’s popular book, The Ultimate Question, explains how Apple used Net
Promoter Score prior to 2006 to influence its practices.

Example of Apple Watch NPS survey

A focus on continually improving and increasing Net Promoter Score affects
every level of work at Apple, from the big picture to day-to-day store
operations. Reichheld explains how Apple puts NPS to work in the management
of its retail stores:

“Comments from customers help store managers prepare for service recovery
calls with Detractors to close the feedback loop. The outcomes of these calls,
together with the customer comments, provide important coaching and
feedback messages that are passed along to employees.”

NPS feedback is analyzed and provided to stores on a daily basis. Whenever

Apple receives a poor score from a Detractor, the store manager follows up over
the phone to clear up the issue within 24 hours. The response is rapid, and it has
serious positive results for Apple’s ratings.

According to Reichheld’s book, internal studies showed that Detractors whom

Apple contacted within 24 hours were significantly more likely to buy Apple
products in the future than Detractors that couldn’t be reached. Apple worked
out that each hour on the phone with a Detractor had a value of $1,000 in
additional revenue for the company.

8. Focus on customer value, not money

Research by Deloitte and Touche found that customer-centric companies were

60% more profitable compared to companies that were not focused on the
customer.

If Apple’s main focus was on making more money, they probably wouldn’t
have been so successful now. Instead, they focused on their customers and it has
paid off.

Today, Apple is one of the world’s most successful and profitable technology
company. It holds over 40% of the US smartphone market and has a
fantastical 87% brand loyalty across the US and Europe.

So think less about profit and more about customer value. How your company
and your product or service can create more value for your customers.