Milwaukee, WI, Jan 31, 2011—Market Probe, a global research firm, announced today the names of the four banks that posted the highest levels of Customer Advocacy in their respective regions in 2010, based on the firm’s survey of the 15 largest U.S. banking institutions.
“The regional winners were TD Bank in the East region, SunTrust Banks in the South region, KeyBank in the Midwest region and Wells Fargo & Company in the West region,” reported Dr. TR Rao, President and CEO, Market Probe. “These four banks posted the highest Customer Advocacy scores in their respective regions from retail customers who considered these institutions to be their primary banks.”
The results were based on a June 2010 national survey in which consumers were asked to rate the bank they considered to be their primary bank. Approximately 300-400 consumers rated each of the 15 largest U.S. banks. Consumers were asked how many positive referrals they had recently made to others about their primary bank, and about their attitudes that reflected the positive depth of their relationship with their primary bank. The Retail Monitor established that these banks have achieved the highest levels of identification with their customers, contributing to strong organic growth and customer loyalty. Customer Advocacy is a new contemporary metric that measures the degree of customer identification.
Rao says that advocacy occurs when a customer is fiercely loyal to the company so that they not only spend as much as they can with it, but they also speak highly of their trust and experiences to others via face-to-face contact, phone, email, blogs and social media. “Those businesses that engage their Advocates and reduce their Alienated customers will enjoy significant financial benefits,” adds Rao.
The Advocacy Ladder developed by Market Probe measures whether a customer feels Alienated, Ambivalent, Allegiant or is an Advocate for a particular business. It is based on various questions asked of customers regarding their favorability, recommendation, future consideration and evidence of word-of-mouth regarding a particular company.
Next survey scheduled Market Probe will conduct the next Retail Banking Customer Advocacy Monitor in May of 2011.
Market Probe In addition to its corporate headquarters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Market Probe has US offices in St.Louis, Portland and New York. it also have offices in Canada, Belgium, France, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, India, Bahrain, Singapore, Hong Kong and China with in-house facilities for field services by Web and phone. The company listed among the Honomichl Top 50 US Research Firms and has been providing business solutions to the financial services industry for over 25 years.
For information, please visit http://www.marketprobe.com or contact Jack Jefferson, Manager of Marketing Communications at Market Probe at 414-778-6000.