Building Customer Loyalty – the old-fashioned way

It is interesting to compare the advice you will find on Building Customer Loyalty.  Here are two current lists:

Eight Key Ingredients to Build Customer Loyalty

1. Be Reliable
2. Be Credible
3. Be Responsive
4. Show Empathy
5. Hire Good Employees
6. Train Employees Constantly
7. Create a Sense of Employee Belonging
8. Make Things Easier for Customers

Ten Tips to Build Customer Loyalty

1. Communicate.
2. Customer Service.
3. Employee Loyalty.
4. Employee Training.
5. Customer Incentives.
6. Product Awareness.
7. Reliability.
8. Be Flexible.
9. People over Technology.
10. Know Their Names

The central issue in both lists is the involvement of all the employees.  If they are treated right, then they will in turn treat the customers right. That is one message that is typified by a  77-year-old Canadian icon.  He is a  customer service dynamo.  If you have not guessed, we are talking about Harry Rosen who has built his menswear empire on personal relationships.

Harry Rosen has forged a name as one of Canada’s most respected and revered men’s fashion brands famous for tailored suits of exceptional quality, with 40 per cent of the market share in Toronto and more than 15 stores across Canada — including stores in Ottawa, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Montreal.

Rosen made it his mission to have as many customers come back to shop with him personally. “I realized that building relationships was crucial in this business. Customers came back to me even though I was a part-timer.”

Harry Rosen always treated every customer as an individual.

While keeping tabs on customers’ buying habits and preferences is considered mandatory business practice nowadays, back in the 1950s Rosen’s diligence in starting individual files for each customer and updating it regularly was innovative and ground-breaking. The importance of nurturing repeat buyers by providing them with unparalleled service is something Rosen encourages directly in his stores — in fact, he pays his staff on retention of customers, not on commission.

It is another most successful example of the valuable asset that is created when you build customer loyalty.