Customer loyalty lessons from the new London branch

On Thursday 9 March, quality professionals met at the CQI offices in Furnival Street, London, for a packed-out event on customer loyalty.

More than 30 quality professionals gathered to hear Mark Eydman, CQP MCQI, managing director at Six Pillars Consulting, make his case for quality professionals to take a greater role in promoting customer loyalty.

Drawing on 30 years’ of experience in the profession, including his time as global vice president of quality and customer satisfaction EMEA and Americas at Schneider Electric, Eydman gave a detailed presentation on why a value proposition for customer loyalty is not enough.

By analysing the behaviours behind customer loyalty, he set out his definition of business success, in which customer loyalty, employee engagement and organisational effectiveness unite to create long-term profitable growth.

Everyone in an organisation is responsible for quality, from the CEO to the intern, but not everyone can be a quality expert.

While organisations agree on this model, the major challenge is putting this definition into practice and making sure the results are measurable.

Eydman explained how customer loyalty aligns perfectly to ISO 9001:2015, the revised standard which he described as “dripping with customer loyalty instructions,” including meeting and exceeding stakeholder’s expectations. As a result, quality professionals are ideally positioned lead in this area.

He also provided a host of helpful tools and practical advice including the importance of implementing a Net Promotor System, used in 90 countries across the globe, to develop a score for customer loyalty. 

Eydman said: “What unites quality professionals is their dedication to protecting and strengthening their organisations by making sure that stakeholders’ needs are met and, ideally, that their expectations are exceeded. Customers will be the most important group of stakeholders for the majority of businesses.”

"Everyone in an organisation is responsible for quality, from the CEO to the intern, but not everyone can be a quality expert. It’s important to have people who can provide the knowledge, tools and guidance to help everyone else play their part in pursuing excellence"

Mark Eydman’s customer loyalty reading list:

• ‘The Ultimate question, Driving Good Profits and True Growth,’ by Fred Reichheld
• ‘Closing the Customer Feedback Loop' by Rob Markey, Fred Reichheld and Andreas Dullweber
• ‘The Ultimate Question 2.0, How Net Promotor Companies Thrive in a Customer-Driven World,’ by Fred Reichheld

What’s next for the London Branch?

On 6 April Paul Simpson, CQP FCQI, will give a lively presentation on leadership in ISO 9001:2015 and on 27 April Richard Green will share his expert knowledge on the changing face of the management system audit.