(Time to read this Blog is about 4 minutes)

Before we get to the main topic, here are a few things to get you thinking or smiling:

1. My Biz Quote of the week:
   “Our staff know stuff and they hate it when we don’t ask.  When we don’t ask, they assume that we don’t care and, if we don’t care, why should they?
    
   When we listen to our staff, 2 wonderful things happen.  First, we learn from them …and, second, we honour them. Both are important.”
   …Donald Cooper.
    
2. Quick Biz Tip:
   tips to help you build a powerful brand…how do you rate?
   1. ☐ Be relevant and authentic.
   2. ☐ Be consistent and dependable…but also surprise and delight.
   3. ☐ Be a story…and tell your story. From the beginning of time, humans have loved stories. Stories engage us, draw us in and deepen relationships. 
   4. ☐ Inspire sharing. Social Media allows your customers to share their experiences with you and become ‘Brand Ambassadors’ for you.  Give them experiences worth sharing.
       
3. Thailand is having a moment. Travel + Leisure Magazine has named Thailand as its  2025 ‘Destination of the Year’.  Bangkok, the country’s capital, attracted more international visitors in 2024 than any other city in the world. 
    
4. Electric vehicles dominate the market in Norway. In spite of its cold weather and many remote areas, electric vehicles have over 90% of the market in Norway.  This has been achieved by steep government subsidies on the price of electric vehicles and an extensive recharging infrastructure.
    
   Ironically, Norway’s EV success has been made possible by the vast fortune accumulated by the Norwegian Government from off-shore oil and gas production. Norway is Europe’s largest producer of oil and gas.  So oil and gas revenues are ‘fueling’ the EV revolution.
    
5. The tragedy of drug overdose deaths. There were about 7,000 deaths from illegal drug overdoses in Canada last year. The number for the USA is 80,400. The leading killer is fentanyl. But, what are the societal problems that lead so many to go down this terrible road?

Now, to this week’s important topic:

The truth about Customer Loyalty…it’s situational:

One of the biggest complaints I get from clients around the world is that ‘there’s no such thing as customer loyalty anymore.’  And they’re dead wrong!

Here’s ‘Cooper’s truth’ about customer loyalty.  “People are loyal to what’s best for them…or what they assume is best for them.”   That’s it!

So, instead of whining that customer loyalty doesn’t exist anymore, you have two important jobs to do:

Job #1:  Do the work to create and consistently deliver the value and experiences that will make you the clear and compelling ‘wise choice’ for your target customers.  Value and experiences that will ‘grab’ your target customers, clearly differentiate you from your competitors, make you ‘famous’ and grow your bottom line.

Job #2:  Clearly communicate that value and experience in everything you do, because there’s no point in being the best, if you’re also the best kept secret.

But, even if you do all that, you still won’t get all their business, because customer loyalty is ‘situational’.  Here’s what I mean, explained in two examples…travel and groceries.  As you read these examples, keep asking yourself,  “What are the marketing and ‘customer loyalty’ insights here for our business?”

Example #1:  In the ‘good old days’ people used to use one Travel Agent for all their business and personal travel needs.  But now there are Travel Agents who are expert specialists on cruises, or Patagonia,  New Zealand or international equestrian adventures.  You get the idea.

So, because we’re all loyal to what’s best for us…or what we assume is best for us, I work with the Patagonia specialist to plan this year’s trip to Patagonia and the New Zealand expert for next year’s trip.  And I can easily find those regional experts on the internet.  One Travel Agent is simply not going to get all my travel business.  The secret is to be ‘the best’ at something that enough people want, so that you can make a living. 

Another example is grocery shopping.  I just realized that I do grocery shopping at 11 different places, and we’re just two people.  So, theoretically, from the grocery store’s perspective, I’m a very un-loyal grocery shopper.  But, I’m always loyal to what I assume is best for me.  Here’s the rundown:

1. Sobeys is my usual ‘go-to’ general purpose grocery store, because of their close proximity.I feel comfortable there because I know where everything is and I have a relationship with some of the staff.
2. Then, there’s a Metro grocery store in a completely different plaza, next to my Pharmacy.  At my age, I’m at the Pharmacy quite often so, if I also need a few grocery items, I’ll get them at Metro to save time. They also have a Dr. Oetker excellent crème caramel mix that Sobey’s doesn’t carry, so I pick up several of those while I’m at it.
3. Next is Costco where I buy a lot of groceries (and gas and tires) because of their quality and price (= value). While I’m there, I usually pick up a bouquet of flowers.  And, because our local Esso gas station closed last year to make room for yet another waterfront condo, we now buy our gas at Costco.  Because we’re there more often, that means we’re also buying more of our groceries at Costco, while were there.
    
   Costco is a very different and very successful business model. Does your business model need rethinking to improve customer loyalty? 
    
4. From time-to-time I travel to my nearest Loblaws (Canada’s largest grocery retailer) for their excellent lobster bisque soup that I can’t find anywhere else. I usually buy 3 large containers to make it worth my time…and I’ll often pick up a few other items while I’m there, to save time.
5. Farm Boy is a great grocery store with the most helpful, genuinely friendly staff anywhere. It’s a fair distance from us, but I go there to get special salads that my wife likes…and I’ll often pick up a few other items while I’m there.  Sometimes I go out of my way to shop there because of how Far Boy ‘feels’…and how it makes me feel.  How does your business ‘feel’?
6. For organic foods and certain wellness products, we drive and hour round-trip to Whole Foods in the lovely town of Oakville. If the weather’s nice, we’ll walk along Oakville’s lakefront parkland and through a nearby colonial neighbourhood with heritage homes and magnificent mature gardens.  These outings have become a ritual that creates joy.
7. Although all the grocery stores mentioned above sell cheese, I go out of my way to buy our cheese at Global Cheese for the great selection, including delicious low-fat, low-salt Cantenaar cheese from Holland, knowledgeable and friendly staff, generous samples and excellent specials.  It’s a cheese adventure and I always learn something new and I come away feeling special. Does that sound like your business? 
8. When I want to enjoy the ‘world’s best gravlax’ (cured salmon) I go out of my way to All-Seas Fish Market.  While I’m there, I’ll often pick up some oysters or black cod, as a special treat. This typically triples the bill.
9. Sometimes I drive 5 miles to a small, specialty Fruit and Vegetable store when I want very high quality, or specialty items. I’m always amazed at how they find the best stuff.
10. Every once-in-a-while I have a hankerin’ for the amazing apple fritter doughnuts at San Remo Bakery, so I make the pilgrimage, even though parking will be a nightmare.  A few times, I also tried their pies, but they were mediocre.  So now I just buy the doughnut and get out.  No add-on sale here.  
11. In season we go out of our way to visit and shop at Farmer’s Markets because who doesn’t love a Farmer’s Market? We get to talk with the people who actually grew it, or baked it, or tapped the maple trees to get it.  Everything tastes better when you have a connection with the people who made it.  

So, what marketing and ‘customer loyalty’ insights have you picked up on from all of this.  What will you offer that no one else does?  What will you be best at, or expert at?  How will you and your business ‘feel’?  How can you be more joyful?  How can you be more ‘convenient’?  How can you make it worthwhile for folks to go out of their way to do business with you?  How will you helpfully make the add-on sale?   

That’s it for this week…

Live brilliantly and be kind to each other!

Donald Cooper 

Donald Cooper speaks and coaches internationally on management, marketing, and profitability.  He can be reached by email at donald@donaldcooper.com in Toronto, Canada.