ENHANCING ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS THROUGH CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT

Customer satisfaction is “merely the entry point for achieving a deeper foundation that rests on total customer engagement,” by Benson Smith and Tony Rutigliano. Everyone aims to satisfy the customers: in fact, you and your competitors may have the same customer satisfaction ratings. What will set you apart from your competition and ensure the growth of your business is to satisfy yourcustomers to the point that you engage them. An engaged customer is the most valuable asset of any organization. Engaged customers assure a business of sustained and profitable growth. They are the first who will continue to repurchase your products, and the most likely to recommend you to other people. Your goal, therefore, isnot just to generate sales, but bring in loyal and engaged customers. So today, leveraging customer contributions is an important source of competitive advantage – whether through advertising, user generated product reviews, customer service FAQs, forums where consumers can socialize with one another or contribute to product development. This paper examines the concept of customer engagement, principles and process of customer engagement,engagement metrics to measure customer engagement, strategies for engaging with customers online, how engagement drives business success & recent trends in customer engagement.