An article in the Harvard Business Review evaluated customer survey questions for effectiveness in measuring customer loyalty and the reputation of a business. After much research, it was determined that a customer’s willingness to refer a service or product to someone else was the strongest indicator of a loyalty, even above a customer’s rating of satisfaction.

The article reports, “When customers act as references, they do more than indicate that they’ve received good economic value from a company; they put their own reputations on the line . . . In most of the industries studied, the percentage of customers who were enthusiastic enough to refer a friend or colleague—perhaps the strongest sign of customer loyalty—correlated directly with differences in growth rates among competitors.”

At Voice Link of Columbus, Inc., we certainly know this to be true. The secret to our success is our 82% referral rate. This referral rate is telling us that we’re doing a great job for our clients. Our clients are showing their appreciation and loyalty by referring other businesses to us, and telling them about how Voice Link has made their jobs easier and their customers happier.

For example, consider this email we received from one of our clients: “I wanted to say I have been in the medical field since 1966, and Voice Link has the best customer service of any answering service I have ever dealt with. I am retiring at the end of the month and I’m doing a lot of reflecting back on the old days and I just want to say that you and your staff do an excellent job.”

Just like many other customers we serve, this customer’s appreciation had a domino effect. He told someone else about how Voice Link helped him better manage his practice and communicate with his patients, and then that person had the same experience and told someone else, and on and on.

So when you’re evaluating an answering service or call center to see if it’s right for you, go beyond asking for customer testimonials. Ask for the company’s referral rate, and then ask for permission to speak to a customer that’s in an industry similar to yours. The best answering services should have nothing to hide but will have plenty of happy customers who are willing to share about how the partnership has worked for them.

If you’d like to learn more about why Voice Link has such a high referral rate, watch this brief video with founder JoAnn Fussell. A live answering service can also make your customers happy enough to refer your service or product by becoming an extension of your business and providing consistent, outstanding customer care via phone or email, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Customized communication solutions, secure messaging, and appointment scheduling will save you time and money while increasing customer loyalty. Voice Link offers month-to-month service agreements to meet your unique needs, with no hidden fees. Our excellent reputation, expert staff, and state-of-the-art technology will exceed your expectations. Request information online or call us at (800) 262-2799 for a free consultation.

[cta id=”7487″ align=”none”]