The Loyal Customer — A Modern Business Fable
Once upon a time, there was a beautiful customer who fell in love with a very handsome product that was everything she wished for. The two were inseparable and spent countless hours enjoying each other's company. Then one day while the product was recharging, there was a knock on the door of the house and the customer went to open it.
There in front of her stood the most striking product that she had ever laid eyes on. It was easy to see that this sleek ergonomically designed model with its stainless steel frame and powerful long life battery could bring her greater joy than she ever imagined. She immediately invited this new visitor into her home for a 30-day money back guarantee trial. When the older product awakened and took one look at his replacement, he ran out the door and threw himself in the nearest landfill and was never seen or heard from again.
I have, for a long time now, been skeptical of expert opinions and professional publications that extol the economic virtues of "loyal customers," and advocate "customers for life" business strategies. While loyalty is truly an admirable quality in any human, it is also a rare trait that is becoming less pronounced in a world that embodies choice and rewards the betrayal of existing relationships. We live in an era of risk free purchasing where the appeal of a transaction is often based on the ease of return, the willingness to exchange, or the ability to discard without penalty.
Everything about our society is becoming nomadic. We move from relationship to relationship, job to job and product to product in the continuous exploration of available options that require little commitment and offer plenty of promise. The modern day employer does not want to invest in a long term employee. The modern day partner does not want to plan too far down the relationship road. And the modern day consumer wants to move across product categories, sifting for the benefit of the moment. We trade, dispose of, upgrade, downgrade and walk in and out of transactions through a revolving door of ever changing preferences.
The notion of a loyal customer was bred out of an era when a man's handshake sealed a deal, when people did what they said they were going to do, and success was enjoyed with a constant appreciation of where it came from. Business today, however, is drawn and practiced on a canvas of distrust. Products are pitched from behind a veiled curtain of vague language and puffed up performance claims. Sellers employ contracts to dissuade customer defection which is on the rise as consumers peek beyond brands and logos and discover a lot of sameness from product to product. The futile efforts of many businesses to stand out from their rivals with advertising campaigns that amount to nothing more than "me too" chants have created a species of nibbling consumer who hops from choice to choice, availing of each new trial incentive along the way.
It is my view that a business today would be better served if it were to abandon the notion of trying to create a loyal customer. Instead, focus on the creation of a purposeful and enduring product that will restore a sense of loyalty among shoppers who have strayed down the aisle of ambiguity. Create something of substance that will outlast this fickle cycle of consumer spending. Our sense of value has been compromised by a prevailing attitude of spontaneity over savvy. The product that is purchased on a whim today will be discarded in similar fashion tomorrow. Like the little pig who built his house with bricks, we must build products that can withstand the huffing and puffing of prowling customers moving from shelf to shelf.
The modern day shopper is not wired to shop with an allegiance to particular products, but is honed to scan, skim and surf across a sea of endless options. But products of substance, like a dutiful servant, will be there when the gallivanting master returns to his shopping senses.
So while we may never again graze on the loyal grasses that nourished many a great partnership down the ages, we may in the company of lasting investments re-acquire an appreciation for the grace of growing old in the company of familiar surroundings. And then maybe we can live happily for a substantial period of time if not "ever after." The End.