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Top1. Introduction
The ultimate goal of the marketing process in an organization is not to generate sales. Sales generation is only the beginning of building and managing customer relationships (Al-Hazmi, 2021). Such relationships help companies to create a loyal customer base. Market-driven companies realize that cultivating loyal customers is a priority for them. This helps companies to gain and to defend their market positions (Tulcanaza-Prieto, Aguilar-Rodríguez, & Lee, 2022). Unless companies invest in building customer loyalty, they will have to make constant investments in acquiring new customers to replace disloyal and unprofitable customers. Customers may also switch to competitive offerings in search of a better deal (Tesfom, 2022).
Companies put in efforts to build and to develop customer loyalty. It is a result of consistently delivering a superior product, service, and brand experience (Hwang, Kim, Joo, & Kim, 2022). Companies should enhance their own capabilities to earn strong customer loyalty. At the same time, increased consumer capabilities pose challenges to companies (Schauman, Heinonen, & Holmlund, 2021). The job of marketers is to connect with customers. Companies should inform, engage, and even energize them in the process. Companies should be customer-centered and should be adept at building customer relationships in addition to delivering superior offerings. Companies should also be skilled in market engineering and in product engineering (Shivankar & Deivanathan, 2021). Companies should focus on creating user communities. This is important for companies and industries that seek new ways to satisfy customer needs and to build loyalty (Lemos, Ramos, Moro, & Oliveira, 2022). Successful companies achieve market success by building a loyal customer base. Successful marketers are those who cultivate customer satisfaction and customer loyalty carefully. Companies should adopt strategies and initiatives to win customers and to beat competitors (Mandal, 2019).
The discussions indicate the importance of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in the growth of companies. Companies should analyze customer satisfaction and should develop a loyal customer base. Consequently, companies should manage customer satisfaction and customer loyalty effectively. Although the topic is important and relevant, few research studies analyze the management of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in organizations. The study aims to address this research gap.
The objective of the study is to analyze the various aspects of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty and how management of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty is done by companies. Various strategies and initiatives which are adopted by companies are analyzed.
The methodology adopted is a conceptual analysis of the various aspects of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in organizations. Literature available in research papers published in reputed academic journals on the topic are analyzed. More than 75 research papers published in top-tier journals are reviewed. Research papers published in recent years (2019-2022) are given more emphasis during the review. Primary data is not collected and empirical analysis is not done.