If put to the pinch an ounce of loyalty is worth a pound of cleverness.
I’ll take fifty per cent cleverness to get one hundred per cent loyalty.
Loyalty is a subject that has been discussed for as long as people have been talking about business.
Or war, or politics – or even sport…
The two quotes above – respectively from Elbert Hubbard and Sam Goldwyn – sum up the traditional thinking.
But is the nature of loyalty – both to the brands we buy and the companies we work for – changing? Was John Barth being far more realistic when he said, “All men are loyal, but their objects of allegiance are at best approximate?”
Let me ask two questions this morning: what do brands and businesses need to do to keep the loyalty of their customers? And what do we – as the owners and directors of SMEs – need to do to earn the loyalty of the people who work for us?
Let’s begin with loyalty to brands – and as a starting point, car brands. A recent study in the US found that brand loyalty among luxury car makers was declining sharply. Only three companies, Genesis, Maserati and Tesla scored positively: ten others, from BMW down to Land Rover, scored negatively.
Now, there may be some extenuating factors: timing of new models, for example. The cost of living and the pandemic may have something to do with it – but I still found it surprising that ten out of 13 long-established brands were losing customers.
And it’s not just cars…
‘Consumers ditch brand loyalty post-pandemic’ was a headline I remember reading. That article was written in February and cited price and convenience as the reason we’re less loyal than we used to be. You may have noticed one or two price rises since the end of the winter. I suspect we are all far more price sensitive than we used to be.
So what do we need to do to build loyalty? To make sure our customers and clients stay with us?
Two experiences with moderately-successful brands stick in my mind. I still remember the first time I bought anything from Amazon. I can’t recall the exact wording but their promise was clear: it’ll be with you tomorrow. ‘Right…’ I thought. ‘I’ve heard that before.’
But there it was.
Amazon made the promise, kept the promise – and they’ve always kept it. And no, it is not doing our town centres any good. Yes, I am slightly ashamed of the ridiculously everyday things I buy from Amazon. But if they say it’ll be with you tomorrow, it will be.
…And I remember my first iPhone. ‘Where are the instructions?’ I thought. ‘The fools have sent me a phone without any instructions.’ And then I turned it on and realised I didn’t need instructions: that the design was so good, so intuitive, that flicking through that tiny little booklet to find the instructions in English was gone for good.
So what do we, as businesses, have to do?
Deliver an outstanding product or service, keep our promises – and then deliver more. My first iPhone had 101 features I definitely didn’t need. Now? I couldn’t be without them.
What about the people that work for us? As we’re constantly reminded, working for one company for 40 years is gone for good.
So we need to recognise and accept that that the nature of work is changing – that the new generational cohorts coming into the workplace want very different things to their parents’ generation. A four day week? A better/work life balance? A company that shares their ethical values? Your team wants all these and more.
But you know what? I don’t think we have to do anything different to the key messages that have run through this blog for more than 10 years. Our job as leaders is to lead: to set out a clear vision for our businesses: to communicate that vision and make sure everyone buys into it.
It’s to show we understand one simple fact: that the people who work for us are every bit as important as the people who buy from us. And to show loyalty to them. ‘Life’ happens to everyone at some point: we need to understand that and make allowances for it.
Let me end where I began, with another quote on loyalty. This is from Jerry Lewis:
I have a loyalty that runs in my bloodstream. When I lock into someone or something you can’t get me away from it because I commit that thoroughly. That’s in friendship, that’s a deal, that’s a commitment. Don’t give me paper – I can get the same lawyer who drew it up to break it. But if you shake my hand, that’s for life.
I doubt that Jerry Lewis had ever heard of The Alternative Board. But he’s described it – and its members – perfectly.
