problem was handled well are nearly as engaged as customers who never had a problem in the first place (49% versus 52%).

Second, the winning brands make it easy for their customers to provide testimonials and spread positive word-of-mouth. The study showed the extraordinary power of recommendation; a referred customer is more willing to forgive a service failure if they chose that company on the strength of a friend or family member’s recommendation. Nearly two in five referred customers who experienced a problem remain engaged. In contrast, only one in four non-referred customers remains engaged after a problem.

Finally, the top 10 recognize the central role employees play in engaging the customer. Many of the winning brands take a deliberate approach to engaging employees; measuring and responding to what matters to employees and using customer feedback to recognize and reinforce the behaviors that make a difference to customers.

What Can you Do to Create and Sustain Engagement?

While engaging customers in this economic environment is proving difficult for many companies, this study proves that it is possible. One way to do this is to systematically invite your customers to provide feedback about their experiences with you and ensure you take immediate action on that input.

This approach:

1. Makes it easy for your customers to tell you about their problems when they happen

2. Allowsyou to respond to these issues

3. Provides an opportunity to analyze and fix common service failures

4. Captures customer testimonials and recommendations

5. Embeds the voice of the customer into the organization helping you to recognize employees who deliver superior and create a culture of engagement