Losing sleep wondering why your best customer hasn’t answered your emails or phone calls? Shocked to learn they left you for a competitor? “After all these years, how could they do this to me?”, you ponder. “What nerve! I always gave them my all.”
What if your all wasn’t good enough? “At the very least they owe me a courtesy call”, you insist.
What makes you think they owe you anything at all? “I knew something was up. It had been a while since I’d heard from them.”
Are you blaming the client for not staying in touch with you? “How could they tell me they love me then leave me?”, you question.
Well, that was then and this is now. They probably had as good a reason to love you as they did to leave you. Truth is, your best client lost that lovin’ feeling. They moved on leaving you puzzled and perturbed.
Maybe they will come back. Maybe they won’t. I call this the Fickle Factor. Clients (aka consumers) have every right to disappear without giving notice. You can hope they come back. You can pray they stay! In reality your high hopes and prayers will always fall short of guaranteeing a customer’s loyalty. Dear friends, this is a frustration expectation.
Is your business plagued by low loyalty? Perhaps you believe that loyalty is a thing of the past; a mere pipe dream; an obsolete consumer behavior. I don’t blame you if you’ve given up your loyalty to loyalty. That said, give me a chance to change your mind.
When the late, great Zig Ziglar was asked if he thought loyalty was old fashioned he remained a believer: “Not only is loyalty old fashioned, but hopefully it is going to come back in fashion this day because it is a critical element in life itself.”
Any entrepreneur worth their salt knows the extraordinary value of the come-back client. Need I remind you that customer turnover comes at a very high cost? I’m with Zig. I believe that loyalty is desired and required more than ever.
Let’s take on loyalty and figure out why your best clients are stickin’ or kickin’. Here’s your homework assignment: Before we meet again put on your consumer cap. Start a list of what businesses you have deserted and why. Start a second list of what businesses you love and could never leave – and why.
Stuart Cohen, Chief Motivation Officer at StuartLloydCohen.com
If you can think big, Stuart will help you do big! An accomplished 28-year travel industry executive turned serial solopreneur, Stuart is a creator of brands and an energizing motivational speaker. He motivates & maximizes personal performance in leadership, entrepreneurship, salesmanship & wellness.
