Customer Loyalty is Worthless

I’m facing a conundrum.   The other day I put out a question asking how we put customers first in our business and asked these questions:

How important is customer loyalty?

Do you measure the percent of returning customers?

Do you have training programs in place that reinforce a “Put Customers First” culture? 

I have received some interesting responses; some that were expected, some that were enlightening and then one that stopped me in my tracks.

Chris Brown of Marketing Resources-Results said this:

I’d have to say customer loyalty is low on my scale.

We don’t have customers in our business, we have clients. And loyalty from them isn’t one of the things we’re looking for. Loyalty is for football teams and dogs. I don’t know why but the word loyal reminds me of reluctance to change. I know it’s one of the boy scout characteristics we all should strive for but in business or even as a consumer, it’s the “best deal,”, “the best value,” and the complete package that everyone wants.

If I buy the same products year after year because I’m loyal, it’s probably because I’m afraid to try something new. Or too busy to research what’s new. Isn’t it better to try something new and then come back to the original when you found out which was better, then never test at all?

Loyalty seems passive. I think the word satisfied or satisfaction is even too weak. I love to have our clients be thrilled, amazed, delighted, happy, blown away and in general, overjoyed. Some how the word “loyal” falls somewhere in the more moderate range with the word satisfied.

She’s right.  Loyalty is a passive concept.  I never thought of it that way.  I equated loyalty with repeat business – the golden goose of success.  But if loyalty equals humdrum, then what does that say about the relationship we develop with our customer?

Do words and phrases like “assume” and “take for granted” and “habit” begin to creep into our thinking when we approach our customer? 

Holy Cow Batman!  That isn’t going to work.

As Chris says – we need customers who are Delighted!  Surprised!  Overjoyed!

So although I’m not ready to say loyalty from our customers is worthless – I do wonder how we keep the excitement in the minds of our customers when they think of us. 

How do you continue to put customers first? 

What do you think about customer/client loyalty?

As a business – do we begin to get lazy when thinking of our repeat customers and even go so far as to take them for granted?  How can we keep it fresh so they are excited and delighted?