Loyalty—it’s something I’ve been thinking a lot about
lately. What drives loyalty these days? With such a huge amount of choices, opportunities and changing social mores in our society today does the concept
still exist?
Our neighborhood is literally across the street from
Jewel-Osco, a food/pharma chain owned by Albertson’s with a couple hundred
stores across the I-states (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa). I know I should be more
cost and health-conscious and shop at different stores for different deals and products
(i.e. organic produce, produce that doesn’t suck, k-cups for my beloved Keurig,
mass quantities of cereal, toilet paper & syrup) but time has a way of getting
away from me and I end up at Jewel often, good intentions be damned.
Considering
my husband or I are in the place a lot,
I was taken aback recently when I was cheerfully told by my cashier they have permanently
done away with their Loyalty Card program (Preferred Card) and I could go drop
mine off in a basket at the customer service desk for a chance to win $100.
According
to Phil Rosenthal’s article in the Tribune (which is the best one I’ve read
on this topic), Jewel couldn’t figure out how to really use the data they were
gleaning from us beyond offering a discount on a type of product we were
already buying. They’re now offering the “same low price to everyone.” Sounds fishy to me… I’m quite sure there’s
more to the story than that.
Jewel's card program may have started
out with a goal of building loyalty, but it evolved into a price-reduction program
after they started letting cashiers swipe a generic card if you’d forgotten
yours or if you never signed-up in the first place.
It seems short-sighted to me that they caved that way a few
years ago. Because even with the tough economy and the proliferation of choices
when it comes to everything, I do actually
believe the idea of loyalty still has appeal. Inherently people want to belong
to a club, a group, a faction where they feel they are getting a better deal
and are valued.
Loyalty is something that’s not talked a lot about anymore because
I think it seems like an old-fashioned quality. Only boring people or suckers
are loyal, right? Savvy people are
risk-takers…experimenters…situation-hoppers.
I don’t believe I’ve ever talked to my children about the
concept. I also can’t remember a recent time when a boss or client has
mentioned or insisted on it. But in thinking about it more lately, I believe
loyalty is getting a raw deal.
"Loyalty cannot be blueprinted. It cannot be produced on an assembly line. In fact, it cannot be manufactured at all, for its origin is the human heart-the center of self-respect and human dignity. It is a force which leaps into being only when conditions are exactly right for it-and it is a force very sensitive to betrayal."
— Maurice R. Franks
Loyalty needs to be earned, appreciated and nurtured but
perhaps our world would be a little bit better if people went back to focusing
on this concept a little more. It certainly isn’t everything but loyalty is one of the most important assets a
company, club, marriage, team, friendship, or family can have. Does your
organization focus in on loyalty as a priority? Do you as a person? What do you
think?
