Loyalty is More Important Than Profit

If you are a small or medium size business you should know how important customer/client loyalty can be to your business. When problems happen (and they will) it's how you solve that problem and how quickly that will determine what level of loyalty you will get from that customer. It is better to lose the profit on one order to save the loyalty for the next 10 orders. Plus that customer will tell friends and relatives how their problem worked out. You will get much more in the long run from the loss of profit to solve a problem. Put loyalty before profit to build your business and it's reputation.

Most big companies don't always believe this and you see it when something doesn't go right during or after a purchase. They use massive advertising to draw you in and treat you poorly when you get there. Then they have to use more advertising and better deals to get you back. What a waste of money and dumb way to run a business. If they provided better service and solved problems quicker they could sell their products and service for much less and make more profit. The one business that does come close to saving loyalty is Nordstrom (yes, I'm a customer) that let's floor sales associates solve problems immediately. Their employee motto is, "Use your best judgement at all times."

When you put loyalty before profits your business will grow fatser and the profits will be there anyway and for a longer period. When the economy gets tough it's those loyal customers and clients that will get you through it and keep your business alive. They will feel that you will take of them when any situation out of the ordinary occurs. Any when problems happen, solve them with a smile and welcome the opportunity to build loyalty and trust.

Barry is a business and customer satisfaction speaker and international author of 6 published books. www.idealetter.ccom