How High-Quality Products Win Customer Loyalty

Think about all the products you’ve purchased in the past year. How many have you purchased repeatedly? Which ones left a sour taste in your mouth, a bad review online with an adamant warning to family and friends to never buy that product?

Cultivating a positive and profitable brand reputation is hard, long-term work. Poorly made products that don’t perform as promised can be an instant detriment to brand reputation, and recovering from the subsequent fallout is costly. The quality of a company’s products directly correlates with brand reputation, and establishing a good reputation is much more than a one-time effort. It’s an ongoing process that demands consistent high quality and building trust between company and consumer. And companies like USANA Health Sciences—a leading manufacturer of award-winning nutritional products—recognize the hard work needed to build a loyal customer base through good products.

How Do We Determine Quality?

Before we can decide whether a product’s quality meets or even exceeds expectations, it’s important to first establish standards.

First, consider why the product was created and determine whether it achieves its purpose. What problem is it meant to solve? Before every great product came a challenge, a puzzle, or a task to be done. Before the invention of the laundry machine and dishwasher, household chores took vast amounts of time. Before the invention of the automobile, traveling was expensive and difficult. But car manufacturers and producers of household appliances made their customers a promise: life will be easier with our products in your homes. Nowadays, most can agree life is easier, and we can allot more time toward other tasks that occupy our busy lives.

Next, a high-quality product should be easy for anybody to use. Simply put, if the product is more complicated than the need for the product itself, few customers will consider the product to be worth the investment. It should be tailored to customers’ needs and fit their lifestyle. When a product is efficient, durable, affordable, and simple, customers will come back again and again.

If a product meets these parameters, odds are you’ve created something of quality that customers will love. Let’s look at a few of the positive effects of high-quality products on a company’s reputation.

1. Better products, more satisfied customers.

In the recipe to a successful company, customer satisfaction is the key ingredient. Everyone loves finding products that meet their needs. When a company provides something that meets or exceeds expectations, customers are more likely to share it with friends, and they’re less likely to return it. Happy customers are the ones who see the value in a product and are willing to purchase it repeatedly because they know they’ll walk away happy.

2. Quality builds trust.

Brands that consistently offer efficient and effective products are the ones consumers stick with. It’s easy to make a purchase if you already know a company will meet your needs. Think about the repeat purchases we all make in our lives. When it comes to basic groceries like toilet paper, milk, or breakfast cereal, it’s common to buy the same brands from the same stores week after week. Even larger purchases like cars or electronics have customers looking for the same brands when they need something new.

For example, most Apple customers will reach for an iPhone every time they need to replace or upgrade their phone. Car owners who have driven a Subaru or Honda will happily invest in another car from the same manufacturer. This is because they know what they’re getting, and they trust these companies to provide safe and efficient cars. Consistent product quality promotes brand loyalty in a way flashy sales pitches or misleading commercials never can.

3. Continuous improvements create loyalty.

As the world rapidly changes and customers’ lives change with it, the products they buy must improve to continue being effective. While a company develops products, they make discoveries along the way. These lead to more efficient and upgraded goods customers will notice, and they’ll appreciate these innovations and how much more effective the products have become.

Of course, nothing will be perfect after just a couple of updates. Customer feedback is invaluable, and the only thing better than product innovation is product innovation based on customers’ recommendations. So embrace customer feedback, even if it’s negative! Look at it as constructive criticism that will ultimately make a difference for loyal customers.

4. Tell your friends! Increased word-of-mouth advertising.

No matter how much a company might spend on marketing, whether it’s a billboard, TV commercial, or even a good old-fashioned radio ad, a friend-to-friend recommendation is one of the most effective ways to bring in new customers. When a good friend tells you about a great movie they just saw, you’re more likely to go see it. But on the flip side, you probably wouldn’t bother spending money to watch a movie with poor reviews, especially if those reviews came from a trusted friend or family member.

The same is true for the purchases we make on a day-to-day basis. We depend heavily on the experiences of those around us to determine which products are worth our money. When someone goes to their friends to ask which shoes, phone, or car is the best, a company wants their product to be the first recommendation.

Prioritize Quality—Your Customers Will Notice!

Although it may take some time and improvement, people notice when a product goes above and beyond the competition. And when they do notice, they’ll be clambering back to their favorite brand, excited to see what they’ll do next.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes