.bodytext {float: left; } .floatimg-left-hort { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right: 10px; width:300px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 10px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} I’m sick of customer satisfaction. The worst companies in the world tout the fact that they won some satisfaction award. It’s not just a bad joke; it’s a pathetic statement.

The leaders of every company are hoping that their customers will reorder. They’re hoping their customers will spread the word about how great their products are and about how great their people are. And they’re hoping to proactively encourage others to place an order or do business with them.

That is NOT customer satisfaction.

That is customer LOYALTY.

Every company must have loyalty as its mission, not satisfaction.

Corporate drivel mission statements talk about exceeding customers’ expectations, talk about being No. 1 in the world, talk about shareholder value, and say NOTHING about the one quality that makes all of these things happen: LOYALTY.

The reason companies, especially big companies, don’t stress loyalty is that it’s much more difficult to achieve, and requires both an investment and a commitment on the part of senior management.

REALITY: The company and its executives must be loyal to employees, product quality and service excellence.

HERE’S THE SECRET: Loyalty must be given before it is received.

Look at the best companies in the world. They have great employees. They have great products. They give great service. And they’re easy to do business with. This makes them attractive. And these are the elements that create loyalty.

The one element that is most important is great service. Memorable service. Loyalty-based service. And that flies in the face of satisfaction (the lowest level of acceptable service).

Here are a few ideas to incorporate into your company’s loyalty imperative:

1. List all reasons customers call you for service. There are probably fewer than 25.

2. List all barriers that you place in front of a customer connecting with you. There are probably fewer than 10. (Automated attendant, voice mail, lack of 24-hour availability, inadequate Web site.)

3. Once you have all the opportunities and all the barriers listed, have a weekend retreat with senior management and front-line people to determine best practices; generate new ideas for serving and making it easier to do business with your company. Document (record) everything.

4. Put the ideas and the best practices into action. Create a training program for best practices, and invest whatever is necessary to make your company “barrier-to-place-an-order” free.

5. Rather than announce all of these changes in the form of a bragging advertisement or internal hoopla, let your customers have an opportunity to react and respond to your new and better way of doing business. Let the referral part of your business begin organically. Let loyalty be earned, not asked for.

5.5. All members of senior management must support this process both verbally and visually. If you’re going to evolve from satisfaction to loyalty, it has to be “hands on,” not just “words on.”

I wish more companies would add to their mission statement that they’ll be loyal to their employees – so that their employees will be loyal to their customers – so that their customers will be loyal to the company.

That is a loyalty chain. And it doesn’t start with satisfied customers. It starts with senior management understanding that loyalty is a way of life, not just a word. Loyalty is easily measured. Just look at your repeat business.

Satisfaction is also easily measured. Just look at the customers you lost.

If you would like one more great loyalty idea, go to www.gitomer.com, register if you’re a first-time visitor, and enter the words LOYALTY IDEA in the GitBit box.

Jeffrey Gitomer can be reached by phone at (704) 333-1112 or by e-mail at salesman@gitomer.com. © 2007 Jeffrey H. Gitomer