It
was a friend of mine’s Golden Wedding Anniversary this year. 50 years married. We
had a wonderful time celebrating the occasion, but amongst the festivities
emerged an unlikely ‘hero’. Let me explain…
Our
friends have been with the same bank (Lloyds) for ages — well, at least as long
as they’ve been married. That’s customer loyalty for you.
That’s
how they are with any of their suppliers. As long as they are looked after,
they stay put. Most of us are like this. The problem we have is most businesses
don’t treat their customers well enough to hold on to them for long.
I
would argue that the reason they haven’t changed banks is not necessarily
because they have had an amazing service for a full 50 years, but more because
‘better the devil you know’!
Nonetheless,
on the day of their actual wedding anniversary, there was a knock at the door.
To
their shock and surprise there was a flower delivery. The card accompanying the
flowers read…
‘Happy
Golden Wedding Anniversary’
The
card was from Lloyds, their bank!
They
were the only business who wished them a happy Golden Wedding Anniversary.
That
says a lot about how most businesses operate, but says more about Lloyds bank.
That’s a very surprising approach, and very impressive.
It’s
these thoughtful acts with customers that will multiply your profits.
You
could argue that they were never going to leave the bank especially after 50
years as customers already, but they aren’t leaving now!
What’s
more, they have told everyone about those flowers from the bank. The positive
PR created by this one act of thoughtfulness is incalculable - and it’s
something you can implement in your own business, with a bit of strategic
thought.
You
don’t have to wait 50 years to send a gift. Do it on each anniversary of the
customer, client or patient buying from you the first time. It’s one of the
easy ‘wins’ but you can think of many more!
Michael Carthy
Director
