customer loyalty

I originally wrote today's post for CallidusCloud. It appeared on their blog on July 12, 2018.

When companies focus on people, their people - employees first, then customers - the numbers will come.

The ultimate fan is an immortal fan!

Does your company put employees first? or customer first?

I suppose that there's one more possibility - neither.

Sadly, that's the case for a lot of companies.

But that's not the topic of this post. This post is all about where employees fall in order of importance in your company.

Recently, I was reading an article in Industry Week and came across this paragraph.

First and foremost I thank each and everyone who continues to listen the speaking that occurs on this blog.  A special appreciation for those of you who make the time to add your voice to the conversation by commenting. I wish each of you the very best for this year – may this year be the best year of your lives.

Today, I’m up for grappling with the subject of customer loyalty as I have been immersed it it since the second half of 2016 – professionally as a consultant and personally as a customer.

Some years I find myself working on matters of strategy. Other years I find myself with ‘dirty hands’ working at the coalface – helping organisations build capabilities, and deal with operational challenges in the areas of marketing, sales, service, and CRM.  2016 has been a year where I have worked both on strategy and operations. What have I learned?

Customer Strategy

It isn’t just Donald Trump that mixes tidbits of fact with much fiction to appeal to those eager to believe. This is also the case when it comes to the business world. Especially so when we get to customer-centricity, customer experience, customer loyalty….. Whilst some folks can tell that Trump is talking nonsense, in the Customer arena it is that much harder to separate fact from fiction, and useful advice from nonsense. So, today, let’s take a fresh look at customer retention and loyalty.

Today's organizations are operating in an ever-evolving Omni-channel world, in which they need to ensure the right channels are available for customers. The right strategy is the one, which enables businesses to leverage these channels, to ask the right and relevant questions, and to bring all the data together in order to gain valuable insights. 

Who Benefits From Customer Loyalty?

Back in December 2015 Annette Franz in her post titled So, What Exactly is Customer Loyalty? made the following statement:

Do you know what customer loyalty is?

When people at your company think about "customer loyalty," are they thinking about your customers' likelihood to recommend? likelihood to repurchase? likelihood to purchase additional products?