Is Loyalty Alive Or Dead?

In almost every speech I make I say that loyalty is dead, but keeping the customer interested is in.

What I mean by that is due to the amount of competition, customers can easily be lured away from a business that they have patronized for years. Examples are the jeweler that learns that one of his oldest customers bought a $10,000 diamond bracelet while she was on an anniversary cruise in the islands. Or the local book store whose best customer buys an expensive book online from Amazon.com because she read the review online and said to herself, “Why not place the order?”

My point is that customers, regardless of how good they are, will just drift away if we don’t do something to constantly keep their interest. As bad as that might be, it gets even worse. You have, or you think you have, a very loyal customer and you make a mistake with them. How long will they stay loyal?

Two things happened to me that made me write this tip. First, I was the opening keynote speaker at an economic summit in Colorado. Another speaker who followed me contradicted my assertion that loyalty was dead. He said it’s alive and well. OK, so we disagreed. It’s probably just his interpretation and he is entitled to his opinion, even though I have never had anyone really question my premise before.

I had almost forgotten the discussion of loyalty when my wife experienced something that destroyed the loyalty she had with a retailer. Two-and-a-half years ago we bought a spa for our home on Cape Cod. I met a wonderful spa dealer when I spoke at the Aqua Pool and Spa Show. He was not the closest dealer to where we lived but we did include them in our short list of potential dealers. We drove about 45 minutes to get to the store but we saw what we liked, the prices seemed competitive, and the people were wonderful. So we bought the spa from them.

We went on to have a very positive experience with the installation and training period and even continued to buy all of our supplies from them. I guess you’d call us loyal. So far, so good. This past winter was one of the roughest winters we’ve had in years; it tooks quite a toll on the spa cover. It started to sag in the middle. It wasn’t anyone’s fault other than Mother Nature’s. So when we called the spa company to order another cover, we didn’t ask for an allowance or reduction even though the cover hadn’t even survived two winters. It happens and you can’t blame the retailer or even the manufacturer. So we placed the order for the new cover, paid for it and my wife was told it would take 4-6 weeks for the delivery.

We waited and then called to see if the cover had arrived. Sure enough it had just come in and my wife scheduled a time to have it delivered. The delivery was going to be a week later but we preferred to be there for the delivery. Because I was on the road, my wife had to drive the nearly two hours to Cape Cod our primary residence. After arriving she waited for 5 hours, but no one showed or called. She called the dealer to find out what happened and they admitted there had been a lack of communication with the delivery company.

The delivery was rescheduled for the following week. She then drove home. Since she was promised delivery for the following Friday, she drove down the following Thursday afternoon. Again, no delivery. This time, the delivery company told her that they had said Saturday, NOT Friday, and my wife had made the mistake. OK, we were miffed but still loyal. At least until Saturday came and went without a delivery or even a phone call. When she called the spa company, they were surprised that the delivery had not been made and said that they would have to follow it up next week with the delivery company since they could not get in touch with them over the weekend.

I’m not loyal anymore. I want my money back. We were lied to. STOP! Let’s put this in perspective. Am I ending a near-perfect relationship because of a delivery problem? YES, you bet I am! And I bet you would too. Why? Because there are plenty of other companies that sell the same product. I don’t need the aggravation. But it was only two delivery days. Sorry, you lost my interest in your company and I don’t care about your excuses. You terminated my loyalty as effectively as if you’d out-and-out asked me not to do business with you anymore.

If a customer is going to be loyal, does it mean through thick and thin? Good times and bad? Ah, there’s the source of misunderstanding for many retailers. Customers simply aren’t all that loyal even during the good times. When you throw in a little adversity, they’re history. You have to keep working to keep your customers. Make an effort. Why were we calling the pool company to find out where the delivery people were? Shouldn’t it be the other way ’round? If the dealer had called to check on progress, communicated with us, and intervened to ensure that the delivery commitment was kept, it would have made all the difference. But it’s too late now.

We’re all just one bad experience away from losing a loyal customer. So, we can keep on doing things the way we’ve always done, and watch our loyal customers drift away to businesses that treat them the way they’d like to be treated. Or we can accept the fact that loyalty is a highly perishable commodity and do things differently.Maintaining loyalty, like keeping a marriage strong or tending to a valued friendship, requires constant nurturing and TLC. Otherwise loyalty dies. Keep your customers interested, informed and coddled. It works to build a business.