Consumers Value Relationship Over Product Innovation

I want you to take a moment and think about your favorite brand. What makes you stay loyal to this particular company? Is it because its marketing messages resonate with your personal goals and interests? Or perhaps it’s due to the quality of customer care exuded through these messages. After all, customer care goes beyond the walls of the contact center. In fact, brand to customer relationships start with the marketing department and are further nurtured through customer care professionals who understand their consumers’ needs and communicate this knowledge effectively.

In fact, according to a recent study from The Fortune Knowledge Group in collaboration with Gyro, buyers find an array of qualities far more important than the actual product when it comes to choosing a company to patronize. Interestingly enough, in many cases buyers value a company’s corporate culture, beliefs, goals and dedication to cultivating long lasting relationships above product innovation.

And while product innovation is undeniably a huge factor in a brand’s overall success, today’s consumers are beginning to value the connectedness they feel with the brands they love. So let’s highlight a few ways businesses can work towards fostering better relationships with their customers based on the insights derived from the aforementioned study:

• Live and breathe your core values: Customers respect brands that emanate strong values and beliefs. So if one of your business’s core values is to be an industry game-changer by providing the utmost quality of customer care, then you’d better start acting like it. Your customers may not know this your core value, but in living and breathing this particular belief it will eventually become apparent. As well, it will help your team stay consistent in its delivery of customer care as each and every member must work to provide the same level of service.

• Weigh in on current events: Without becoming too controversial, try taking a stance on a particular current event or social issue through marketing channels like social media, for instance. Oftentimes it helps your consumers understand your values and beliefs. It will also give your brand a chance to further assert its unique personality, and customers that share the same value and beliefs as your brand will likely become that much more loyal to you. But before taking this approach consult some do’s and don’ts…read our article about Starbucks attempt at weighing in on a social issue.

Never underestimate the power of human connectedness; it just might be the differentiating factor between you and a competitor.

Steve Brubaker began his career at InfoCision in 1985. In his current role as Chief of Staff and as a member of the Executive Team, he is responsible for HR, internal and external communications, and manages the company’s legal and compliance departments. Brubaker is a member of a number of professional organizations, including the DMA and PACE. He also donates his time to serve on several university boards, including the Executive Advisory Board for The Taylor Institute for Direct Marketing at The University of Akron and The University of Akron Foundation Board. He has also been honored with a number of awards and recognitions for his contributions to the call center industry, including the ATA’s highest honor, the prestigious Fulcrum Award.