Healthcare services have expanded significantly in the modern world with several healthcare providers offering a wide array of services. The evolution of healthcare services has given customers several choices when choosing a specific service. Customers have thus become extremely cautious when making decisions regarding healthcare services by looking at factors such as customer services and accessibility. For the given scenario, the current healthcare organization is facing several challenges regarding maintaining loyal customers. The organization is a medical supply company and offers durable medical equipment. However, their competition is increasing and market share is shrinking. The best strategy that should be adopted by the company is to focus on customer loyalty by focusing on contemporary customer loyalty practices, identifying benefits of customer loyalty, and having a strategy that focuses on training, social media, and improved customer services.
Contemporary Practices to Improve Customer Loyalty
Improving Customer Experience
There are several contemporary practices that can be used to improve on customer loyalty. One of the first and most applicable practice is to ensure that there is an improvement in customer experience. An improvement in customer experience ensures that customers find the services provided by the organization desirable. This makes the customers more likely to go back to the company when looking for other similar services offered by the company. An improvement in customer experience can be established through an active involvement with the client. Contacting the client through text messages or emails and identifying whether they have been satisfied with the services and identifying ways to improve the service is the first step to improving customer service.
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Commitment to Privacy
The changing digital and technological landscape means that customers increasingly have to store their information through different systems and platforms. Patient privacy is a concern for most customers as healthcare providers have to store private customer information. The field of healthcare and medicine is especially sensitive and delicate. Most topics in healthcare such as STDs and HIV/AIDS can be somewhat embarrassing. Patients that have their information leaked are likely to feel embarrassed and may not return to the same organization for further analysis or treatment (Salihu et al., 2018). Customers need to feel that their information is protected adequately and that no information is being leaked. This should give customers the confidence when dealing with a specific healthcare organization. Having a high degree of privacy ensures that customers are comfortable when working with a specific company and this is likely to make loyal customers.
Loyalty Programs
Loyalty programs are programs that specifically target and attract customers to engaging in a repeat purchase of a specific service. Some examples of loyalty programs include discount on repeat purchases, providence of gift cards, having a membership program, and additional perks and offers on frequent buyers (Magatef & Tomalieh, 2015). The organization should have a system that identifies patients that visit the entity regularly. The frequent customers should then be treated to discounts and offers so as to ensure their loyalty to the organization. New customers should be automatically enrolled to a membership program and informed that they should be able to receive discounts on a second visit or when they refer someone to the company. This could work by giving customers a card which should be used to identify customers in case they engage the services offered by the company on a later date.
Having a Personalize and Customized Experience
The high level of competition among healthcare providers means that companies should be ready to offer customized and personalized experiences. Patients today are also seeking services that show that the patient is treated as an individual. This implies that patients want to be appreciated and noticed as individuals. Patients are also seeking to be engaged on a personal basis throughout the discussion of problems. Achieving a personalized customer experience in a large healthcare organization could be challenging. However, it could create a significant difference and make a positive impact for the patients and the healthcare organization. A personal touch will make customers feel valued and make them more likely to visit the company repeatedly.
Communication and Transparency with Customers
Maintaining a strong communication channel and being transparent with customers could improve the interaction with the customers and make the services more appealing. Customers that feel that some information is being withheld by the company may be distrustful of the company. Additionally, customers may have confusion regarding the nature of services offered by the company. Providing clarity on the nature of services by maintaining a strong communication channel can be used to help customers regarding any assistance when dealing with the company. Technology through social media presents a reliable way where customers can communicate with companies regarding services provided by the company. The organization can answer client questions and provide communication support through the different social media platforms.
Benefits of Loyal Customers
Loyal customers have several benefits to any healthcare organization. One of the first benefits that any organization should notice with loyal customers is a constant revenue stream. Loyal customers are repeat customers and provide a constant revenue that the company can anticipate throughout its operations. The constant revenue stream will ensure that the company can properly budget and allocate resources required to undertake specific initiatives.
Loyal customers are also beneficial as they give the organization a chance to sell more products. Umashankar et al. (2017) observed that loyal customers can pay more for services and make huge purchases. After experiencing better services, loyal customers were found to focus less on the price of products and instead focus on the convenience and rewards from the different products. The general result is that there could be more revenue gains for the firm. Loyal customers have a trust in the organization for reliable quality and this gives the organization a chance to sell most of its products.
Loyal customers can also help a company by reducing the associated costs related to customer acquisition. Obtaining new customers is a difficult process for any company and it requires money and time. Intensive marketing efforts is usually required to obtain new customers. Customer loyalty ensures customer retention and the company will not spend any huge costs towards acquiring new customers.
Loyal customers are customers that are satisfied with the nature of products and services offered by a company and are more likely to engage in word of mouth advertising. Loyal customers will only be established when a company has a good customer service. As the company strives to build loyal customers, it will focus on improving customer experience and customers having a positive attitude towards the company. Patients that visit healthcare organizations and were satisfied by the services offered are more likely to spread the positive aspects of the service to several individuals (Martin, 2017). Having loyal customers is thus a strategy that a company can employ to ensure customers can talk positively about the company, engage in word of mouth advertising and referrals.
Competition
Customer loyalty can also help an organization to reduce the impact of competitors. Having more products sold to loyal customers means that competitors will have several challenges when trying to get into the market. Loyal customers are less likely to choose products from competitors and competitor companies and organizations will find it difficult to acquire new customers. A company with loyal customers will be immune to competition and thus have a better chance in the market.
Recommendations for the Company
Social Media Strategy
The organization can improve customer loyalty by focusing on a series of strategies. The first strategy that should be adopted is that of a social media strategy. The social media strategy will focus on having a social media presence where it posts on a frequent basis. Such a strategy will help the organization develop its brand and have a personal aspect. Customers are more likely to be loyal to a popular brand (Bilgihan, 2016). Having social media presence ensures that the organization is popular and that it brands itself adequately.
Social media presence will create a personal touch when dealing with various customers. The organization can post frequently and encourage patients to engage practices that improve on health and wellness. This can improve the branding of the organization and make give it a personal touch. Such an approach should also improve engagement with customers. The organization can also use its social media presence to address customer issues and complaints from their patients. This should assist in understanding the customers better and to address any issues that may deter any customers.
Customer feedback could also be handled through the social media platforms. Customer feedback will be used to gather information from customers regarding whether they have been satisfied or dissatisfied with the company products and provide details about the general experience with the company. Customers could be asked questions regarding whether they could engage the services of the company or purchase its products again. The organization can then make improvements based on the comments from customers.
Improving on Product Quality
The other recommendation that should be adopted by the organization is to build quality products. Quality products is a sure strategy to ensure that customers are satisfied with the products sold by the company. Customers that will be satisfied with the initial product they purchased are more likely to purchase from the company again. Satisfied customers that purchase quality products are also likely to recommend the products to their friends. This will ensure that there are several referrals to enable the company to maintain continual customer growth. The company can ensure that its products are of good quality by finding suppliers that sell top quality products.
Communication and Customer Service Improvement
The company should focus on improving customer service as customer loyalty is highly dependent on customer service. Communication and engagement with customers in a way that shows care and concern for the customers is a strategy to improve customer satisfaction. Improvement in communication will involve having transparency in order to enhance interaction with customers. The company should publicly put in place all information regarding its products and services. This should build customer trust and satisfaction which in the long run builds on customer loyalty.
Training
The organization should also engage in training of its employees to ensure that they can provide adequate and quality services to customers. Employees should be trained on how to create positive experiences with their customers in every interaction. The training can also be based on how to use social media and other customer loyalty programs to ensure customer loyalty.
When designing the training program, it should have a clear purpose and the reason for adopting the training by the organization. For instance, employees should be informed that the training will involve learning how to ensure that they deliver services in a way that can be used to improve customer loyalty. The training should have achievable goals and measurable objectives (Paek & Lee, 2018). One of the objectives of the training would be that the managed becomes informed regarding contemporary methods to build customer loyalty. The measurable objective for the training would be that six months after the training that there would be a notable improvement in customer loyalty.
Conclusion
Customer loyalty is an integral part of an organization to ensure that the organization can have a steady stream of income. Loyal customers can help an organization reduce the impact of competitors. It can also help reduce cost of customer acquisition by reducing marketing costs. Contemporary practices that are used to improve customer loyalty include loyalty programs, improving customer experience, improving communication with customers, and having a personalized and customized experience. The organization should adopt these practices to ensure that it builds loyal customers. Social media should be used by the organization should communicate with customers and collect customer feedback. The company can improve on the quality of its products and customer experience to improve customer satisfaction. A training program for the management and employees should also be adopted to ensure that they are updated with contemporary methods and strategies to build customer loyalty.
References
Bilgihan, A. (2016). Gen Y customer loyalty in online shopping: An integrated model of trust, user experience and branding. Computers in Human Behavior , 61 , 103-113.
Magatef, S. G., & Tomalieh, E. F. (2015). The impact of customer loyalty programs on customer retention. International Journal of Business and Social Science , 6 (8), 78-93.
Martin, S. (2017). Toward a model of word-of-mouth in the health care sector. Journal of Nonprofit & Public Sector Marketing , 29 (4), 434-449.
Paek, J., & Lee, C. W. (2018). The effect of education and training on service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty in airline industry. Management Review: An International Journal , 13 (1), 49-64.
Salihu, S. I., Yusof, Y., & Halim, R. (2018). Disclosing HIV Status: Confidentiality, Right to Privacy and Public Interest. Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities , 26 (2).
