Know-How Exchange : Just for Fun

Benny,
Don't be a sap. Customers are loyal only to themselves. As long as you understand and provide a mechanism for meeting their needs, they will be loyal to you. The minute you stop or their needs change, they will stray away.

Read about the "loyalty" that Harrah's Casinos and Resorts is building. They are building loyalty by scienfically measuring what their customers what and providing it.

My dog has loyalty too, at least until my wife walks into the room...

I believe customer loyalty is a "very real" concept and is epitomized by what has gone before. When we marry our spouse we make the agreement to be loyal in sickness and in health, for richer, for poorer, for better for worse.

Customer relationships have essentially the same flavor. Say you have sold a product to a customer for many years at a price X. The product has had its hiccups and you've always worked to overcome them. Sometimes they were your fault and sometimes they were a matter of how the customer was using your product. A new entrant comes into the market with a product that is 20% cheaper and advertises it as the cure for all the customers ills.

Some customers will switch but many will recognize that the relationship they have is one they can trust whereas the proffered relationship is one they have limited knowledge about. Essentially customer loyalty is based upon at least two of the same three things that most relationships are based upon, Faith, Hope, and even Love.

Tell your professor he is a cynic. I am sure that many alumni of your own educational institution chose to attend your school based upon loyalty and past experience even though there are good cheaper alternatives out there which could provide similar products without the shared sense of history.

Phil

There is no question that commitment drives customer loyalty at least in part.

"Consumers do, in fact, form relationships with the brands they consume (Fournier 1998). Intuitively, affective commitment lies at the heart of a consumer-brand relationship because consumers come to identify with and be involved with many of the brands they regularly consume."

However I disagree with the definition of "loyalty as preference, all things being equal." True customer loyalty imples "preference when all things are not equal"

We recognize the differences yet we accept them because in total we have had more positive experiences than negative experiences with a brand. Dell had a bad experience with laptop batteries sometime back. Mattel recently had a bad experience with some of their flagship toys. My guess is that in both cases the brands will maintain a cadre of loyal customers because they demonstrate a bi-lateral commitment with their customers. Every customer is not created equal. Some will be greatly influenced by price and offers of comparable goods at a better price. Others will believe that an ongoing relationship with a vendor outweighs considerations such as cost at least at a modest level of price premium.

How many companies are loyal to their customers? When products fail (even out of warranty), when prices drop (or ratchet up), when quality drops, when recalls happen, when new models are introduced, etc.

Loyalty is reciprocal. If I deal with someone who helps me, and continues to do things to help me, then I'd rather deal with them than another stranger. I may stray from that relationship (better offer), but loyalty means that I'll return after making a full comparison of the service/product offered (i.e., not "blind loyalty").

Loyalty is earned over time. It's not a clever message or promise. It's what people do, not what they say.

Hi Bennydunreallycare,

Hope you're having a great day but more importantly a wonderful life.

Well let me deal with your primary question below.


Is a customer ever going to be faithful to just cause?

Yes customers can only be committed to the just causes of corporations and organizations who have the ability to align their purposes with the causes of customers. We call this ---"SERVICE"---. When an organization ---FAILS TO ALIGN--- it's causes with that "SERVICE" then they fail to get the end results they expect. We call these expectations or end results "EFFECTS". In metaphysical terms nothing happens without a cause. When there are ---No causes--- then Effects cease to exist. Because thoughts are things all thoughts are causes.

THE MAJOR FAILURE OF MOST BUSINESSES IS TO OPERATE IN THE REALITY OF CAUSALITY....
Causality is using the practical fundamental laws of the universe in order to create the effects you desire to see manifest. Causality is living within the realm and very existence of cause.

YES ---CUSTOMER LOYALTY--- does exist and can not be debated or disproved and truthfully it can only be denied by those whose very experience lacks the proof of it's existence. It is a cause that has been put in motion and the effects can be proven. For whatever the mind can conceive it can achieve. The mind is endless in it's creative ability but rational thinkers chose to disprove the very existence of others experience because their mind is closed to anything outside of the ---LOGIC of REASON---. And while your experience or the experience of someone elses may exclude ---CUSTOMER LOYALTY--- it does not decrease the very existence of this truth.

IGNORANCE IS THE CULPRIT...
But it is because of ignorance that we stumble, error and are often confused by the realities of others experience. And so we willfully choose to debate, redefine, and argue the truths of others even though we have not sufficiently applied the principles they say work.

STOP DEBATING AND APPLY PRACTICAL EXPERIMENTATION TO THE ARGUMENT AND DISCOVER YOUR OWN BELIEFS...WE CAN AGREE TO DISAGREE...AND THAT'S OKAY!


So my friend stop arguing trying to prove the very existence of CUSTOMER LOYALTY but seek out those who are aware of its existence and willfully choose not to believe them either until you have applied THE LAWS OF *TDP...TESTED, DISCOVERED and PROVEN the very depths of other mens and womens ideas.

SEEK OUT GOOD TEACHERS LIKE SEARCHING FOR PURE GOLD...
And remember the experience of teachers can be limited so rather than adopt their limitations seek out seasoned teachers who have large volumes of experience and chose them as your leaders. A good teacher is to be sought out like pure gold and when you find gold you have to heat it to high temperatures to cause the dross and whatever is not gold to be purged in order to end up with pure gold. But again I say "CUSTOMER LOYALTY" does exist as I have experienced it and my legacy of creating customers around the world is my proof of that very existence.


Here's the answer to your Secondary question below.

But are we able to convert consumers to be as loyal as dogs?

Because human beings fall into the animal kingdom they can operate in the same degrees that all other animals exist if they choose. So the answer to your question is the same as above...YES! Using the right methods with a consistent program that makes the necessary adjustments you too can convert consumers to be as loyal as dogs. The problem I see with this point of view is that most people think that ---CONVERSION--- is a consistent process. There is no consistent program that can be CONSISTENTLY consistent and work prefectly, systematically, the same in the minds of your customers each and every time without fail...Because unlike dogs human beings can chose to willfully act different because they are CONSTANTLY being influenced by outer circumstances and they have the ability to apply or not apply rational thought. REMEMBER... our only real problem in life is our failure to be "MORE Creative" than we’ve ever been. If you “Invent” your opportunity YOU WILL most definitely create your future. I'm only an email away from you if you need my help. Is there anything else I can do for you?

Your Servant,

Deremiah, *CPE (Customer Passion Evangelist)

Bennydunreallycare,

Here is some evidence of Customer Loyalty by a gentleman who has been endorsed by Philip Kotler, Kellogg Graduate School of Management in my home state of Illinois, Kevin Roberts, Hamish Pringle, Professor Malcolm McDonald, Professor John Quelch of Harvard Business School.

Peter Fisk, one of my mentors from the UK who lives in Northumberland right next to where my ancient ancestors arose out of Cumbria, wrote the book "Marketing Genius", and he has discovered the truth of Customer Loyalty. You see he talks about it in real experiential truth that allows you to see the fragility of Customer Loyalty in this day and age but in describing how fragile it is he sets the foundation for how to observe and approach it. Fisk then describes it's present day setting in terms of how companies use it but also the opportunity for you and others to develop it. Here's some proof of the existence of CUSTOMER LOYALYTY from his very well written book "Marketing Genius" and in his own words taken from page 317-320, 323 and if you haven't read the book how can you see the genius of what he's saying...

Concept 11.2 CUSTOMER LOYALTY

Customer loyalty is rare and difficult to achieve. Choice, convenience and cheap prices mean that it is now incredibly easy not to be loyal. And, indeed, the initiatives that were supposed to drive loyalty - loyalty cards and their points schemes - have deeply marginalized the pursuit from business mainstream to marketing gimmick.

Customer loyalty has become associated with cards, points and rewards. Yet gaining a person's loyalty - so that they will drive an extra ten minutes to their preferred supermarket, or pay a premium for their preferred brand, or dress themselves from top to toe in the same label, or forgive a company when something goes wrong - is a much more involved and represents a long-term challenge.

The economics are important too. In "The Loyalty Effect, Fred Reicheld defined the financial logic for building customer loyalty, arguing that loyal customers will:

* Stay longer- renew their purchases over time.

* Buy more - adding other products or services.

* Pay more - prepared to tolerate a premium, or no discount.

*Cost Less - Cheaper to serve, requiring less selling and support.

* Tell others - become advocates, telling their best friends too.

Indeed, Reicheld's most recent work considers the last point in detail and demonstrates how advocates are the most important source of improved long-term value, and a key incidator of future profitability. He calls these customers 'net promoters', as on balance they positively go out and recommend your brand to others like them who of course are likely to become loyalists too.

The 'loyalty ladder' is a simple device that demonstrates each level of customer loyalty, and how each step reflects a greater level of encagement and more profitable purchase behaviours.

Advocacy
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Affinity
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Retention
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Satisfaction
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Purchase
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Preference
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Interest
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Awareness
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However in language at least, we have grown tired of the mechanisms that have become associated with loyalty. 'Loyalty cards' came to our attention initially through the frequent flyer schemes of airlines, AAdvantage of American Airlines, followed by the Executive Club of British Airways, and everybody else who then had to have one. More recently everything from luxury goods to bagel stores offer loyalty cards too.

While there are many fantastic aspects to the best programmes, the basic principles of collecting points for the more you buy is tired. The monetary value of such programmes is usually 1-2% and, while it might seem like you are getting something for nothing, there are far easier and quicker ways to save more money.


1. Profile the loyalty of customers
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Profile your customer database in terms of attitudes (e.g. preference) and their behaviours (e.g. purchase, referrals).


2. How do they differ in affinity?
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Segment the customers by the strength of their affinity to you, and current value of their purchase behaviours.


3. Where is each on the ladder?
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map each customer (or segment) on the 'loyalty ladder' identifying the step which best describes each.


4. What level could they go to?
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What is the potential to take each customer higher up the ladder? To the top or the most realistic level?


5. What would grow this loyalty?
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How would you grow their affinity?
What actions or incentives would move each up the loyalty ladder?


6. Develop loyalty action plans
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Develop a one-to-one relationship programme to better engage the most potentially valuable customers.


(the end of Customer Loyalty concept...next concept he introduces is Customer Partnering)


As you can see he does state that the boredom that some have driven (Customer Loyalty) this unique opportunity to bond with their customers in order to make them more loyal has actually become quite tired and boring but he still believes that the loyalty can be developed as evidence of his six step programme. So while in his opinion CUSTOMER LOYALTY is fragile and extremely rare he does not rule out the truth that Customer Loyalty does exist and can be developed. I hope this helps you very much as it did me when I read this over a year ago when I first bought the book. And this book is full of concepts that truly show you how to become a Marketing Genius. Thanks for devoting your time to a bit of study, meditation and reflection.

Your Servant,

Deremiah *CPE (Challenging Positively Exuberantly)

Loyalty schemes were originally introduced to differentiate and to increase cost/complexity of switching.

Now (almost) everyone has one, the differentiator isn't so much the scheme, but the intricacies of the scheme. And the more loyalty schemes are developed and redeveloped, the more they all tend to become the same.

I have a theory that the old saw of "great customer service" is fast becoming the hard-to-copy differentiator that creates loyalty.

Moments of Truth, anyone?

ChrisB