Customer Relationship Marketing

Customer Relationships are 12 Times More Powerful than Customer Satisfaction in Driving Purchases per New CRM Market Research

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--This tough economy has significantly increased what customers expect from businesses.

According to Ernan Roman, President of Ernan Roman Direct Marketing, “Per results of market research we have conducted over the past 12 months, in this prolonged tough economy, people have come to expect a decent level of Customer Satisfaction. This is viewed as a minimum competency and no longer differentiates a company. Customer Engagement and Relationship (CRM), have become the powerful new factors which impact likelihood to remain a customer and re-purchase.”

Roman adds that “Relationship strength has 12 times more influence on retention and repeat purchases than Satisfaction. Customer Engagement and Relationship also trump Customer Satisfaction in driving likelihood to recommend a company to friends and family. Relationship strength has 18 times more influence on word of mouth recommendations than Satisfaction.” For additional details, click here:

This has tremendous implications for all CRM customer relationship management marketers, especially those who are focusing on acquiring new customers and not allocating sufficient resources to strengthen the quality of engagement with current customers.

Innovative CRM marketers like Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, and AmieStreet.com have achieved significant results by providing deeper levels of engagement and value for customers. Results are significantly greater than from traditional “Spray and Pray” blasts of email, mail, and phone.

Results Microsoft achieved by providing small business customers with deeper levels of CRM engagement and value:

• Exceptionally high opt-in rates: 40% to 70%+
• Click-through rates up to 75%
• Spending by SB+ members significantly exceeds non-members. Case study:

AmieStreet.com is another CRM customer relationship marketing innovator. This young company is the hottest on-line social networking music company. Their relationship marketing results:

• 16% increase in new customers
• 16% increase in repeat purchases
• 75% increase in newsletter-driven sales. Case study:

Microsoft and AmieStreet.com achieved this magnitude of results by committing to deeper customer engagement through a disciplined 3 step CRM process.

3 Action Steps to help you leverage these market research findings into improved results

The 3-Step Voice of Customer Relationship Marketing Process® we developed includes:

• Step 1: Conduct Voice of Customer Market Research to gain an in-depth understanding of your customer’s and prospect’s expectations and preferences in today’s economy. For details,
• Step 2: Engage customers and prospects to opt-in and self profile their preferences. Use this information to create uniquely powerful databases which deliver targeted and relevant CRM communications. For details:
• Step 3: Deliver content via multiple media, per opt-in preferences of customers and prospects. For details:

For a summary of the 3-Step CRM process, click here:

To request the following white papers, click below: