Customer Loyalty

[Harold Mansfield]

Seth Godin posted a new one on loyalty that I thought was right on target.
It's a quick read that I wanted to share:

excerpt:

If your offering is always better, you don't have loyal customers, you have smart ones. Don't brag about how loyal your customers are when you're the cheapest or you have clearly dominated some key element of what the market demands. That's not loyalty. That's something else.

Link:
Seth's Blog: Loyalty (http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/09/loyalty.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2Fsethsmainblog+%28Se th%27s+Blog%29&utm_content=FaceBook)

[greenoak]

i guess thats true...it IS all about them ...and we would be unwise to expect them to be loyal against their main interest...does that really happen?
. they can get in the habit of you and really like doing business with you......and pick you when its mainly equal choices between you and someone else ... maybe thats loyalty.......and maybe they would try to be loyal to you in a bad situation when if it was another business they would just say forget it...
i dont get his point that someone would stay with you if another business was actually a lot better for them.... i think they would dump you.... not because one little part of the other business was better...but if your whole offereing wasnt the best, or really close to the best for them,, why would they stay? sounds kind of unreal to me..

interesting....

[Harold Mansfield]

When I read that it hit home right away. Having been in the Nightclub industry here in Las Vegas, you understand almost immediately that there is no loyalty in that business at all. It's a constant scramble to outdo your competitors with the best tricks and gimmicks. You only had regulars as long as the place was hot or had the best buzz.

I'd like to think that I have a handful of loyal customers, but I have a couple that I know would have gone with a cheaper competitor but I pulled it off with something or other.
Although to date I have never heard anyone say "Wow, you are really high"(prices).

[Spider]

I believe customer loyalty is attainable. I read Ken Blanchard's book, "Raving Fans!" a few years back - definitely recommended -- Amazon.com: Raving Fans: A Revolutionary Approach To Customer Service (9780688123161): Ken Blanchard, Sheldon Bowles. (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0688123163/?tag=i45mc-20)

"Making your customers Raving Fans is the competitive edge today. This book can jump-start you in that direction." -- -- James F. Nordstrom Co-chairman of the Board, Nordstrom, Inc.

If fan loyalty can be achieved with sports teams (and we know that happens,) it can be achieved with any "team" - including your business.

[greenoak]

it sure can with sports...look at the poor cubs fans..
..but in business i dont expect it really...i have to make it happen over and over....they feel loyal to me, they might say they are loyal but ..if i get stale wouldnt they will find someplace more right for them,,,
i cant imagine competing in nightclubs in las vegas!! that sounds really hard.... for me i hardly have any close or direct competition..nobody has our size or mixture .....lots of places pull off parts of our business tho...like a big local festival just sold garland and lots of misc to my customers, garland and lots of product i have and want to sell to them....

[Spider]

it sure can with sports...look at the poor cubs fans..
..but in business i dont expect it really...i have to make it happen over and over....they feel loyal to me, they might say they are loyal but ..if i get stale wouldnt they will find someplace more right for them....Why would you expect it in sports but not in business? Haven't the cubs gotten stale and still retained their most ardent fans? How did they do that?

[greenoak]

the poor faNS LOVE THE CUBS!!! isnt sports way more emotional than business...my dh has loved the reds since he was a kid....
i dont knw....maybe i do have loyal customers...im not taking that for granted tho...