Making Loyalty Scale - CRMAdvocate: 4/9/2012

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My Take: Making Loyalty Scale
Gary Lemke, Chief Customer Advocate (April 9, 2012)

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Ah, elusive loyalty. Organizations often covet it. Customers seek those in whom they can put their trust. It can sound more like looking for a soul mate than the next transaction. Enter the importance of loyalty languages. And isn't it a wonderful thing when you can put loyalists to work for you?

We have five type of loyalty - Appreciation, Reward, Partnership, Rebate and Affinity. Are these loyal relationships the same? One reader wrote, "The best customer relationships are partnerships. Both parties benefit from the relationship and value the relationship. I think you hit the nail on the head. When you find someone who you trust, is easy to work with, and offers something you value, you will stay with the person and refer people to them."

My personal example (Tom, my HVAC man), is a real one-to-one relationship. But does that type of loyalty scale?

The same reader went on the add, "The positive reason we have volumes of published materials on support is because it can be difficult to ensure we are providing value, building trust, and are easy to work with when we have thousands of customers."

Perhaps the secret sauce is not about loyalty as much as it is about making loyalty scale.

What's your take?

Gary Lemke

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