Everyone has them and loves them. And why not? These are the customers who never complain, who keep coming back, who pay promptly and who appear satisfied. When we raise prices, they dont ask why. Nothing seems to bother them, even when we make a mistake. They never show up on our radar screen. Some have been around so long, theyre virtually invisible. Admit it. We take them for granted.
If we want to put a label on this type of behavior, we call it passive customer loyalty.
If there ever were a case for letting sleeping dogs lie, it seems as if this is it. Unfortunately, that can be and often is a dangerous and costly mistake. And heres why. Much to our surprise, these are customers who quietly disappear. We dont miss them until theyre gone, and then were confused as to why they left us. I cant understand it; they didnt seem to have a problem, we say. What in the world ever happened?
Active customer loyalty is quite different. It comes about from constant attention and cultivation. Its the direct result of reinforcing how much we appreciate all our customers, including the silent ones. It means were always looking for new ways to refresh customer interest, feedback and loyalty. All this is very much worth the effort. Once customers are gone, theyre lost forever. And that gets really expensive.
Graham, of GrahamComm, is a marketing and sales consultant and business writer. He publishes a free monthly eBulletin, No Nonsense Marketing & Sales. Reach him at
