Loyalty Schmoyalty!
I am sooo tired of hearing businesses and organizations complain about customers’ and employees’ disloyalty. Why? Because there is no such thing as loyalty to a business or organization, nor to its products or services. There never has been and there never will be. But despite this fact, business leaders still use words like trust and affinity when describing the simple, self-indulgent acts of their constituents.
Let’s get real. Those acts were never anything more than a series of mutual concessions: “You give me what I value (in a product, service, or work environment) and I’ll give you what you value (money, time, intelligent work, etc.). And if, by chance, I decide to transact with you for a second, third, or fourth time—whether it’s work for pay or money for products or services—it’s simply because I expect something in return.” It has absolutely nothing to do with loyalty. People do NOT feel any sense of duty or obligation to a business or a product. So please…get over it, and get on with the real work of growing your business.
Why have we come to believe that “repeat” customers are “loyal” customers? How have we misinterpreted historical, egocentric actions with a deep emotional bond? I truly don’t know. Because in my mind, what was once referred to as loyalty—back in the hey day of mass marketing—was simply habitual buying patterns and limited choice cultivated by smart marketers with mega spending on advertising and control of distribution channels. Today, those same smart marketers have added bribery to the mix: “Buy from me and I’ll give you something free!” They call those particular tactics “Loyalty Reward Programs.” Ha!
So what has really been going on? Simple. People are—and always have been—cognitive misers. The three pounds of gray matter between our ears can only deal with a small amount of stuff at any one time. So we are always on the lookout for ways to avoid using it. Hence, repeat purchase decisions (or “non-decisions”, depending on your point of view).
Think about it (assuming you have a minute). When you have a son or daughter looking for help choosing a college to attend, a car making a horrible knocking sound, a boss pressing you for a detailed report, and an ill family member to care for, isn’t the LAST thing on your mind going through the hassle of switching your accounts to a new bank, or reading and evaluating the labels on toothpaste tubes. Of course! So, would you call your present choice of banks and toothpaste “brand loyalty”? Of course NOT!
Please don’t confuse switching barriers or habitual buying—which occurs when involvement is low and differences between brands are small—with brand loyalty. There is a HUGE difference. A difference that is putting a lot of hurt on many small and large businesses and organizations today. And it’s only going to get worse…MUCH worse. Why? Because enlightened business leaders are using technology and other forms of innovation—including innovative work environments which value people and their feelings—to make it easy for YOUR customers and employees to leave YOU and get the value they truly want (read: feelings) from THEM.
How many different ways can it be said? People don’t care a bit about you or your company. (Their seemingly disloyal behavior should have given you a big clue to this fact.) What they care about is how you make them feel about themselves and their decisions in their presence. So if you want “repeat” customer (duh!), stop trying to make YOURSELF feel good by ignoring their desires or by treating them in an insensitive and instrumental way, and start focusing on making THEM feel good. Any maybe, just maybe, they’ll come back.
