Three Tips for Building Incredible Loyalty for Your Company, Your Department, You

 
Issue #20: October 31, 2002

To our readers:

Loyalty is a concept that has changed significantly in the business world over the last 20-30 years. It is no longer assumed, or even desired, that employees and employers will stick together for 30 years. Employees leave for a better opportunity, and employers lay off employees when it helps them meet their financial goals. Customer loyalty is still much sought-after -- frequently through computerized Customer Relations Management programs and Points/Rewards programs.

Call these the "high tech" routes to customer loyalty. KMA, Inc. also recommends the "high touch" route to earning loyalty, not only from customers, but from employees, colleagues, your boss, and anyone else with whom you interact in business and your personal life.

In The Old Dispensation: Loyalty in Business, published by Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, author John J. Clancy, Ph.D., says that "Today, the common view of loyalty is predicated almost exclusively on the bargain model" which in the employment world means the work-for-money bargain. He suggests that " . . . the species of loyalty that is most beneficial to both an individual and an organization is more usefully thought of as an emotion than as an act of will. It's often irrational, like falling in love. And like love, it takes a lot of abuse before you truly lose it."

People who are loyal to you have an emotional investment in your success. They will forgive your honest mistakes and will willingly work with you to overcome deficits that develop in your relationship. This is a brand of loyalty that could serve you well in your business and personal relationships. So if you don't attain this kind of loyalty through bargains and deals, how do you get it? You get it through behaviors that elicit the positive emotions we feel when we're gratified, relieved, buoyed up, surprised by something good.

1. Do something for someone that will inspire her to say, "he didn't have to do that for me, but it really helped me that he did."

A friend of mine had a bracelet watch she loved. The beaded-bracelet broke, so she went to a bead store in her neighborhood to see about restringing the bracelet. She bought thread and beads, and the sales woman told her, briefly, how to restring it. Inspired by the variety and beauty of the beads in the store, my friend thought she and her daughter might create beaded jewelry for the women on their Christmas list that year. She went home and restrung part of the bracelet, but was not sure how to finish it off, so she returned to the bead shop. Once there she picked out a few more beads for the bracelet and asked how to finish off the restringing. The sales woman informed her that she was not permitted to spend much time explaining how to string beads; the owner of the shop offered classes and that's where customers needed to go to learn beading techniques. My friend talked the woman into giving her a quick rundown of a simple method for finishing the watch bracelet, and left the store resolved to not shop there again.

The shop owner had sadly misjudged how to win business. Her policy of withholding assistance was meant to free up her sales people to take care of mundane tasks in the shop and to encourage people to take advantage of her classes. Instead it alienated many customers. If, instead, the saleswoman had taken an interest in what my friend was doing, made some helpful suggestions about the project, perhaps handed her a flyer listing upcoming beading classes, my friend would have left thinking, "she really didn't have to do that for me, but it really helped me that she did." She would have signed up for beading classes, bought beads and tools to string jewelry for friends and family, and would have felt emotionally connected to that shop and those people who had introduced her to the wonderful world of beading. She would have become a loyal customer.

On the other side of that coin, Decatur First Bank is a company that frequently does things it really doesn't have to do for its customers. A community bank headquartered in the city of Decatur, Decatur First has been known to give loans to small businesses who were turned down by larger banks. These businesses realize that Decatur First Bank's willingness to take a chance on them financed their success, and they feel deeply grateful. They in turn use Decatur First Bank for every banking product and service they can. Their loyalty is assured.

2. Do something that makes someone say, "I didn't even know that would make my job easier, but it did, and I'm so glad you did it."

If you see a way of accomplishing a goal or task more easily, go ahead and do it, even if it will benefit someone else and not you. When you help someone ease their workload, simplify their day, look good because they can accomplish more in less time, that person feels indebted to you. It could be as simple as a manager's noticing that an employee struggles to wheel his chair from desk to file cabinet and back, and buys a larger mat to go under the employee's chair so it slides effortlessly between his work stations.

If you understand computers and can reconfigure someone's desktop to make their tasks easier to accomplish, offer to do it. If a colleague is not using a time-saving capability of his telephone, offer to show him how to use it. If you see that your organization is spending a lot of time and money on something--company meetings, delivering products, unloading trucks, preparing proposals, conferencing with customers, making follow up telephone calls, etc.--take time to figure out a cheaper, less time-consuming way of doing it and share that with the person(s) affected by it. Take time to think about better ways of doing things, and when you come up with one, help implement it.

3. Tell someone something that makes his or her life easier or more enjoyable.

If you know where a free parking space is in the midst of expensive parking lots, share that with a colleague, your boss, a customer. If you know a shortcut from one location to another, tell someone who could save time using it. The people who save time, money, and effort because of the information you share with them will have a good feeling about you and about knowing you. They will be loyal to you.

Do things that improve someone's life and work, and that person will feel a connection to you that is enhanced by emotion. That emotional connection will translate into a loyalty that rewards you many times over for your efforts. And loyalty is hard to lose.