Chapter 9: How to Generate Real Customer Loyalty{0}
Steve McKee’s article entitled How to Generate Real Customer Loyalty is basically an article on five tips or principles to generating customer loyalty.
The first principle that he talks about is roots of loyalty. If you serve your customers well and give them what they want in an “old fashioned” way, they will be naturally loyal to your company. It is something that you cannot buy, but you need to let come naturally.
The next principle is appealing to the heart. People are loyal to people that put themselves out for people. They make themselves vulnerable, which leads to behavior from personality- not rationality.
The next principle is take your time. People will be loyal to your company more over time. It simply takes time to build the loyalty that you are looking for.
The next principle is a two way street. Loyalty only builds when it is reciprocated. Trust (which leads to loyalty) is what builds loyalty. The idea is that you want to mutually reveal things so that you can build that trust. He uses the example that families develop relationships with their give-and-take relationship.
The last principle is it’s more than numbers. Not everything can be measured. It is a good idea to go out of your way to do the little things. It is not just about what physical things that you give your customers, but the mental things as well. It could be handshakes, jokes, or just really friendly service.
This relates to the textbook in that the chapter is about customer relationships. This is just one aspect of the customer relationship.
McKee, S. (2007) How to Generate Real Customer Loyalty, BusinessWeek. Retrieved October 29, 2009, from http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/jun2007/sb20070606_425478.htm