The Odd Case of Customer Overloyalty
Can you name a physician or a lawyer or a teacher you never quite liked but you kept consulting them or taking their classes?
Or, there may be a retail store where the personnel aren't agreeable or especially helpful, but you keep on shopping there, anyway. Do any such places of business pop into mind?
If they do, then you've shown signs of what I call, Over-Loyalty. The above-mentioned professionals and businesses have been shuttling you along a one-way street, leading to their profits but away from your satisfaction.
I've been over-loyal, and frankly it perplexes me enough to want to delve into the whys and wherefores much more deeply.
For example, I kept using an accounting firm that had a very spotty record of producing favorable results for me. Indeed, one year I was given a bum steer that cost me an extra $25,000 in state taxes, alone.
I suffered through two audits, one of which was caused by the negligent failure on the firm's part to file an appropriate form, yet I was willing to keep using this outfit, until finally, the spell was broken and I broke off our ties.
I actually took some pride in the fact that we kept doing business as long as we did, feeling that there was virtue in it, especially in a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately society.
But my commitment to them was disproportionate to what they had earned.
We're used to lopsided romances and friendships, where some parties contribute far more than others, but what excuse is there for tolerating such an imbalance in business relations?
One of the first explanations for over-loyalty seems to be the simple fact that we develop certain habits. You might drive a little out of your way to a certain coffee shop in the morning. You could get the identical serving at a closer venue, but you expend gas and time because, well, you've just ALWAYS visited that particular coffee shop.
A memory groove is chiseled in our brains, and our cars seem to drive themselves to these same-old, same-old places, to see the same-old faces.
My auto insurance broker sold his agency to someone I didn't know at all, yet I kept my business there for no apparent reason. I was on automatic billing, and I suppose the idea of changing insurance sources seemed like a lot of effort without an assured benefit.
But the new agent hadn't earned my trade. He bought it, but I was under no obligation to stay in the tent, yet I did, and I'm still there!
While I'm as eager as the next person for the economic ship to right itself, this recession is a chance to check our loyalty settings, to scrutinize whether we are letting habit hold sway over more suitable criteria for selecting, preferring, and above all, for staying with certain providers.
Ask not, what can I keep doing for them, but what should they be doing for me?
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