![](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OhWWsR1afKg/SSGgSqsLBcI/AAAAAAAABl0/FSpdxHpDxGY/s320/engagement+graphic.jpg)
So with that perspective in mind, what is engagement? We don’t have a commonly-accepted definition yet. Some of the popular definitions are oriented to the impact on the brand, others to how we actually measure engagement. I’ll look at branding issues in this post and metrics in a follow-up.
Let’s start with the idea that it’s more than loyalty. We all know that many satisfied customers defect. I asked a group of students last week how many were “for sale” to better offers from marketers. Almost all of us are. So, as the caption of the graphic indicates, we need to go beyond satisfaction in our effort to prevent defections. Here’s Allegiance’s definition of engagement:
Allegiance considers engagement the emotional bond or attachment that a customer develops during the repeated and ongoing interactions accumulated as a satisfied, loyal and influencing customer.
Peppers and Rogers add that all definitions of engagement have three basic components;
![](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OhWWsR1afKg/SSGgl9e3N_I/AAAAAAAABl8/tSFHJv5DGzw/s320/engagement+chain.jpg)
The thrust of the Peppers and Rogers paper is that engagement can and should be measured. Their engagement chain concept shows the major drives of engagement for both customers and employees. The drivers are measurable and the paper notes they can be divided into engaged, swing and disengaged customers. They don’t say so, but it seems most efficient to target swing customers in an attempt to increase their level of engagement.
![](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OhWWsR1afKg/SSGg3RG-l6I/AAAAAAAABmE/2FHX87qWd78/s320/engagement+outcomes.jpg)
One thing that strikes me is that this is the update to the Bain loyalty studies that made such an impact on marketers in the 90s. Those studies helped realize the importance of customer loyalty and retention marketing programs. Even then we recognized that loyal customers recommended, referred and, in general, were advocates for the brand.
We have now invented the term “engagement” to help explain what happens beyond loyalty. I’ll come back to how to create engagement and more on engagement metrics in days to follow—stay engaged!
Customer service starts and ends with employees, every employee needs to understand their role and take action to contribute to a great customer experience. I am definitely agreed that happy employees means happy customers and happy customers means better business..
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