Customer loyalty does oftentimes seem like an unreachable dream given today's volatile market situation.

Authors Sandy Rogers, Leena Rinne and Shawn Moone dove into the results of the Franklin Covey studies that show how "campfire stores" achieve revenue and profitability goals thanks to fiercely loyal customers and the employees that prioritize the happiness of those customers.

Finally read this book. Great one. There are many things you can learn what it means to ensure loyalty.

The cornerstone of customer experience is always Empathy. And the track to empathy always inevitably winds through multiple factors such as Organizational Ethos, prevailing Customer Loyalty constructs, etc. "Leading Loyalty" by Sandy Rogers; Leena Rinne; Shawn Moon excellently outlines the intricacies of Customer Loyalty while also detailing the much lesser-known minutiae of Customer Centricity. The book is peppered with examples from organizations as well making it a well researched, thoughtful book for both business leaders and enthusiasts alike. Thank you, NetGalley for the ARC.

I liked that the authors differentiate between not disappointing customers and delighting customers in order to win fierce loyalty. The focus of this book is on the latter, the joy it can bring and its impact on the bottom line!

The value of working to achieve fierce loyalty is in the strong human connection and so these customers offer repeat business, buy a wide range of products or services from you, refer you to others and will forgive the occasional mistake. Research confirms that raising loyalty scores raises overall profitability.

A scary statistic quoted is that while 85% of companies believe they deliver, ‘a superior customer experience,” only 8% of their customers agreed with them. Wow! this certainly suggests we need to look at ourselves and our businesses long and hard in terms of our ability to deliver what our customers want. It therefore clearly highlights the great opportunity available to the leadership of companies who are prepared to measure their service and change what they do to better meet their customers’ expectations.

It all starts with the employees as, “The customer experience rarely exceeds the employee experience (Shep Hyken).” So it follows that unhappy staff, poorly trained staff and/or a high turnover is staff are all factors that are going to make it harder for you to deliver exceptional customer service. It, therefore, makes sense that leadership needs to model, teach, reinforce and hire for the loyalty principles.

The three aspects for each individual within the organisation to work on to achieve Fierce Loyalty are:
Demonstrating empathy: the top priority) making a genuine human connection and listening to the hidden story of customers
Taking responsibility for meeting the needs of others: discovering the real job to be done and following up to strengthen the relationship
Acting generously: so sharing insights openly to help others to win and surprising them with unexpected extras

In order to bring about the change that needs to be made Loyalty Huddles are a key contributor to the process. This series of 11 targeted huddles for the team encompasses celebrating, learning, committing and scheduling follow-ups. Each 15-minute session is designed to strengthen the skills outlined in the book.

For those who like details and lists to follow, there are many resources included in the book to help you find your way.

With many thanks to the author, the publishers Harper Collins Leadership New York, and NetGalley for my free copy to review.