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December 9, 2003

2:30 pm | 0 recommendations | 2 comments

Customer Loyalty Matrimony

| posted by John Moore

Tom's comment got me thinking in terms of customer loyalty as marrying a customer with a company. The similarities are endless... rich territory for discussion.

Is your loyalty to a company as fleeting as the loyalty you had to your junior high school crush? If someone better looking started flirting with you, would you drop your loyalty to your current boyfirend/girlfriend for a one-night fling?

Is there a company that you feel so strongly about from a value relationship and an emotional relationship that you would declare your unconditional loyalty to? Is there a company that you would marry?

If so, please join me in the following ceremony of Customer Loyalty Matrimony:

We are gathered here today in the FC Now community to unite this customer, {insert customer name}, with this company, {insert company name}, in the bonds of a true reciprocal relationship known as customer loyalty matrimony.

If any competitor or any customer evangelist can show just cause why these two should not be joined, then let them speak now or forever lose the business opportunity.

{Customer name}, will you take this company as your partner to engage in commerce with in the holy estate of customer loyalty matrimony? Will you evangelize her, respect her, provide customer feedback to her in good experiences and in bad experiences; forsaking all others, be true to her as long as you both shall live? (I will.)

{Company name}, will you take this customer as your partner to engage in commerce with in the holy estate of customer loyalty matrimony? Will you respect her, deliver upon all promises to her, be truthful to her and reward her with the highest quality goods or services and the best customer service in good economic times and in bad economic times as long as you both shall live? (I will.)

Please join hands and repeat after me (customer first).

I, {Customer name}, take {Company name},as my loyal company of choice to buy from and to evangelize for from this day forward until bankruptcy do us part.

I, {Company name}, take {Customer name}, as a loyal customer to help them actualize their aspirations and to deliver the greatest value to from this day forward until bankruptcy do us part.

By the authority vested in me by the writings of Adam Smith, I pronounce this consumer and this company to be loyal to one another.

You may now kiss competitors good-bye.

Tags: Management, guest hosts: williams + moore
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Recent Comments | 2 Total

December 9, 2003 at 3:45pm

Justin Hitt
... and like in a real marriage, at the first sign of trouble both parties are sent to counseling-- then after a heated divorce the customer runs off with half the companies assets. Customer loyalty is a more situational. It would be great for companies to get long-term contracts that bind a customer to a company, but a customers needs can change over time. The same can go for the company. (I guess this is where swinging is introduced into the marriage.) A company has the responsibility to provide value to the customer, while the customer has the responsibility to be profitable in nature. Perhaps a better relationships is one of situational unity where the company and customer come together only when they want to fulfill mutual desires or solve specific problems. Remember, sometimes the only think keeping a customer is the cost to switch to someone else-- a measure of the investment, time, and effort to bring in another solution. While an emotional connection plays strong in consumer relationships, in the business world it is not the entire picture. I can see where you are going with this article, but the point I wish to make is that it's not healthy for a customer to marry itself to a company. (In the case of profitability, it's not healthy for a company to marry a customer.) Perhaps, companies and customers should just remain good friends and only come together for mutual reward-- you know the kind of relationships where they listen and lookout for each other. Close, but not close enough to sleep together, that way no one gets screwed. Respectfully submitted, Justin Hitt Consultant, Author & Speaker http://iunctura.com/weblog/
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December 9, 2003 at 3:55pm

Tom Asacker
Justin makes some good points. But it's not necessary to get a long-term contract to secure long-term loyalty. It takes mutually beneficial relationships over time. Take a look at how companies like REI do it.
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