Loyalty Can't Be Bought
Forget deals galore; it is time to treat customers as business partners and make good of their insights if companies want to thrive in the long run.
- Apr 1, 2019,
- Updated Apr 3, 2019 7:35 PM IST
Consider this. I am a loyalty member of Jet Airways, Vistara, Emirates, Etihad, Air India and a few other carriers. I am also a member of the loyalty clubs of Marriott, Hyatt, Taj, ITC, Hilton, Leela and a few more.
I am a gold or platinum member of Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle and Westside. Then there are various other memberships to travel and e-commerce portals. However, I cannot be all that loyal to all these companies if I am a member of the loyalty programmes designed by competing brands. I will be more of an opportunist.
It seems these so-called loyalty-marketing programmes have failed to create any sense of loyalty among millions of customers. Perhaps they are also trying to be opportunistic in a world where customer expectations are always changing.
Enterprises seem to think that loyalty can be bought or forced on customers. In reality, they should try to engage people more deeply if they want to create loyal customers who bring value to the business.
When people do not get involved, they do not care and have no reason to feel loyal. By treating them as partners, one can engage customers beyond the traditional buyer-seller connect. But if this were the case, why had not anyone done it?
We can get customers involved by treating them with respect, and they will reward companies with more business. Amazon is an excellent example of this policy, but Flipkart, the new Wal-Mart of India, may take a long time to master this strategy. Amazon invites customers to review the products they purchased, encourages them to publish lists of other favourite brands/products and also allows them to sell used items on its platform.
Such opportunities often provide anonymous consumers with a chance to participate in the company's business. Also, it has a no-questions-asked 30-day return policy in place and refunds your money within 72 hours, again a gesture of respect. Incidentally, many customers complain that Amazon has blocked them permanently for returning too many items, but many of these issues have been resolved; overall, the company is quite lenient in this respect.
Consider this. I am a loyalty member of Jet Airways, Vistara, Emirates, Etihad, Air India and a few other carriers. I am also a member of the loyalty clubs of Marriott, Hyatt, Taj, ITC, Hilton, Leela and a few more.
I am a gold or platinum member of Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle and Westside. Then there are various other memberships to travel and e-commerce portals. However, I cannot be all that loyal to all these companies if I am a member of the loyalty programmes designed by competing brands. I will be more of an opportunist.
It seems these so-called loyalty-marketing programmes have failed to create any sense of loyalty among millions of customers. Perhaps they are also trying to be opportunistic in a world where customer expectations are always changing.
Enterprises seem to think that loyalty can be bought or forced on customers. In reality, they should try to engage people more deeply if they want to create loyal customers who bring value to the business.
When people do not get involved, they do not care and have no reason to feel loyal. By treating them as partners, one can engage customers beyond the traditional buyer-seller connect. But if this were the case, why had not anyone done it?
We can get customers involved by treating them with respect, and they will reward companies with more business. Amazon is an excellent example of this policy, but Flipkart, the new Wal-Mart of India, may take a long time to master this strategy. Amazon invites customers to review the products they purchased, encourages them to publish lists of other favourite brands/products and also allows them to sell used items on its platform.
Such opportunities often provide anonymous consumers with a chance to participate in the company's business. Also, it has a no-questions-asked 30-day return policy in place and refunds your money within 72 hours, again a gesture of respect. Incidentally, many customers complain that Amazon has blocked them permanently for returning too many items, but many of these issues have been resolved; overall, the company is quite lenient in this respect.