Prescription for

cutting costs

By Fred Reichheld

Loyal relationships

In the current downturn, many companies are tightening belts. But too many are missing their biggest opportunity to keep costs down: building loyal relationships with customers and other stakeholders.

How do loyal relationships translate into cost savings? Consider the cost of serving a long-standing customer versus the cost of courting one. Across a wide range of businesses, customers generate increasing profits each year they stay with a company. In financial services, for example, a 5% increase in customer retention produces more than a 25% increase in profit. Why? Return customers tend

Chick-fil-A has so effectively mastered the economics of loyalty it can afford to pay store operators double or triple its industrys average compensation and still give 10% of profits to charity.

to buy more from a company over time. As they do, your operating costs to serve them decline. Whats more, return customers refer others to your company. And they’ll often pay a premium to continue to do business with you rather than switch to a competitor with whom theyre neither familiar nor comfortable. Of course, not every customer has potential to be profitable and long-standing. Cost-effectiveness dictates that you segment

clients to identify the subset that holds this potential, so you can target your investment in relationship-building.

Fred Reichheld is a fellow of Bain & Company, and author of Loyalty Rules! How Today’s Leaders Build Lasting Relationships, Harvard Business School Publishing, September 2001.

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Consider the case of Vanguard, the mutual fund industry cost leader. When Jack Brennan took over as CEO in 1996,Vanguards flagship S&P 500 Index Fund costs were just 0.20% of assets. By 1999, they had declined to 0.18%—a 10% improvement. One of the reasons is that Brennan, like his predecessor, John Bogle, is committed to customer retention. And Brennans particular passion is selecting the right kinds of customers up front—the kinds with high potential for long-term relationships with the firm. For example, a few years back,Vanguard rejected an institutional investor that tried to invest $40 million in a fund, because Vanguard suspected that the customer would soon churn the investment, creating extra costs for all the existing customers. The customer complained to Brennan, who supported the decision and used it as an opportunity to underscore the need to be selective about customers.

Loyalty leaders also reduce costs by building trusting relationships with employees. Consider Chick-fil-A, a chain of quick-service restaurants that has so effectively mastered the economics of employee loyalty that it can afford to let store operators earn compensation that’s double or triple industry averages, while generating enough cash to grow the chain and give about 10% of profits to charity. Those compensation standards help grow loyal employees who nurture attractive client relationships.

Performance feedback, too, bolsters loyalty. Every store operator can easily find out (right on the instore computer) his or her standing in comparison to the other 600 or so Chick-fil-A operators on

Loyalty leaders develop annual report cards on suppliers and dealers with as much care as they give to annual reports for investors.

measures including sales, sales growth, and profits. The stores whose performance falls into the bottom 15-20% of all Chick-fil-A units automatically get extra attention from company consultants. Customer survey frequency is doubled, and improvement plans are developed with each operator. Operators and employees receiving the added scrutiny understand it is meant to help them get back on track; they know that long-term relationships require honest, twoway communications and learning, and they value the companys commitment to that goal. The ultimate result, of course, is a dramatic saving in hiring costs; Chick-fil-As average store operator turnover rate is 5% versus the competition’s 35-40%. Customers, employees, suppliers, distributors, channel partners—almost every stakeholder in your company is a potential cost-reduction crusader. If you facilitate a supplier’s operations by being flexible about delivery times, for example, that supplier might be more willing to flex for your special need. And over time, as you build trust, that supplier will likely be loyal to you even if one of your competitors offers a more attractive short-term contract. You’ll both save on switching costs; and if youre attentive, you’ll maximize the efficiency of your transactions as your relationship matures.

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What are the secrets of the loyalty leaders?

The companies that best understand cost savings through loyalty take very deliberate steps. A few you might consider:

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Reward your sales teams and marketing channels di if for acquiring customers that stick. Considerfy y ccu commission or bonus reductions if customers us st defect before 18 months. to om

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Systematically rank all of your customer al r-aac ll cq acquisition campaigns on the basis of their lo qu oc ui yield of loyal customers._ca _is Shift resources towards at si programs that attract the richest mix of loyalit te e m ti customers.^ma_ar(Many firms today are wasting halfio rk on their marketing expenses on disloyal customersn iin ke et nc who will never stick around long enough to ti ce in en pay back the acquisition investment.) ng nt ti

Develop annual relationship report cards on en nt suppliers and dealers (and customers and employees)ti if with as much care as you give to annual reports fy y wwa for investors. Test a 360-degree feedback system, ay ys starting with senior managers and rolling out to s tto o h all employees.^he el

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nd Loyalty leaders such as Vanguard have shifted e tth de he er almost half of their customer transactions to thee IIn rp nt pe Web. Make sure your Web site is so simple to te er er rf use that many customers will prefer this fasterfo rn ne or and cheaper alternative. et rm me

No company is immune to the pressures of the: er rs market. But companies that focus on building s: loyal relationships that by their very nature keep costs^: to a minimum are far better positioned to remain strong in the face of market turbulence.

BAIN & COMPANY

BAIN & COMPANY, INC.

Corporate Headquarters Two Copley Place Boston, Massachusetts 02116 1 (617) 572 2000