Who has earned your loyalty?

The other day I asked myself, “what businesses have earned my loyalty?“ Trying to answer this question prompted me to ask another; "Why do I feel loyal to them?"

The Compact Oxford English Dictionary defines loyalty as “a strong feeling of support or allegiance.” In other words, as a consumer, what businesses do I feel a strong allegiance to? What have they done to earn my continued support?

I chose a simple exercise to answer these questions. First I listed each business I deal with on a regular basis. Then I add a comment about my feelings of support or allegiance, good or bad. Instead of listing the business by name I listed them by the service they provided.

Here is an excerpt from my list.

Electric Company - I feel no allegiance to them at all. I remain their customer simply because I have been too lazy to change providers.

Telephone Company - Another business I feel no allegiance too. My wife and I have recently been discussing changing telephone companies.

Automobile Insurance Company - This business I feel a sense of semi-loyalty. We have been their client for over 8 years. We remain clients because of convenience more than from any great feeling of satisfaction.

Hair Stylist - Total loyalty to this business. Every 6 weeks or so, for the past 4 years, they have continued to earn my repeat business with competitive pricing, quality work, and personalized friendly service.

Credit Union - Feeling extremely frustrated with them right now. For over 15 years we had felt a great deal of loyalty to them, but this changed recently (see blog article: “Eight Minutes to Lose a Customer”).

Grocery Store - I feel more loyal to their sale pricing than to the store itself. Usually our weekly grocery shopping is spread between 2-3 different grocery stores. The bulk of our spending depends on who has the best sale that week.

Restaurants - My loyalty is spread among 4 restaurants with varying cuisines. On a scale of one to ten, with ten representing my ultimate loyalty, these restaurants rate around a six or a seven.

Department Stores - I feel no loyalty to any particular store. My store selection is determined by where I can receive the best price on the items I want or need.

Automobile Repair Shop - This business I do feel some loyalty to. The owner has previous done excellent work on several of my vehicles.

Gas Stations - Again, I feel no loyalty to any particular brand. My spending is dictated by price and / or convenience.

And the list goes on…

When I completed this exercise I was surprised by how few businesses I actually fell a strong allegiance to. Apparently, there are only a few businesses in my life that have really earned my loyalty.

"You don't earn loyalty in a day. You earn loyalty day-by-day" JEFFREY GITOMER

I invite all my readers to compile their own list and share their results. I would venture to say nobody can honestly list more than ten businesses that have truly earned their loyalty.

Is the lack of loyalty I feel more a reflection of my attitudes and expectations or is it merely a response to the service which I typically receive?

Stay tune for the answer in my next blog article: How to earn the customer’s loyalty.