It doesn't matter what type of industry you're operating in - customer loyalty is one of the most invaluable assets you have. This is particularly true in a field like manufacturing, however, where you're surrounded by competitors with new ones cropping up all the time.
Once people find a solution that "just works," they tend to stick with it. Not only is a satisfied customer more likely to turn into a repeat customer, but people are also willing to spend more money as that loyalty level increases.
This also speaks to the negative ripple effect that occurs when you're constantly dealing with unplanned, unpredictable equipment downtime. If you can't rely on your own machines to produce quality parts on a regular schedule with no stop time or production issues, how can customers depend on your business? This is why, if you haven't already begun your own equipment downtime tracking process, now would be an excellent time to start.
The Real Cost (and Benefit) of Loyalty
According to one recent study, a massive 82% of all companies agree that retaining one of your existing customers is always cheaper than going out and acquiring a new one. When you also consider that reducing your customer churn rate by 5% can boost profitability anywhere from 25% to 95%, you begin to get a sense of why this is such an important topic.
Customers are loyal to companies that offer products and services they need, yes. But it also goes deeper than that. They want to know that your products not only do what you say they can (meaning they help someone solve a problem or accomplish a goal that they can't on their own), but they also do so reliably.
Dealing with constant instances of unplanned equipment downtime flies in the face of the second half of that statement.
All of this underlines why machine downtime tracking is so important. If you're operating in an industry like pharmaceuticals, people may be depending on what you're manufacturing to get critical medicine or other items to patients. If you're in food and beverage manufacturing, customers are depending on you to keep their own businesses afloat.
If your machines are constantly going offline for unpredictable periods of time while recurring issues are looked at, your reputation starts to suffer. You may have high quality products, but you've got little in the way of "dependency." At a certain point, people will start to wonder - is it better to risk a potential slight dip in quality for another provider who doesn't suffer these types of delays? For many, the answer will likely be "yes" - which is a situation that no manufacturing enterprise wants to find themselves in.
If you'd like to find out more information about the impact that customer loyalty has on your business and the effect that unplanned downtime can have, or if you'd just like to start tracking machine downtime across your own enterprise but aren't sure where to begin, please don't delay - contact Thrive today.
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