When people at your company think about “customer loyalty,” are they thinking about your customers’ likelihood to recommend, likelihood to repurchase, or likelihood to purchase additional products? How does your company define customer loyalty?

Recently I experienced a situation that caused me to call on a provider to whom I’ve paid thousands and thousands of dollars via monthly premiums for more than 20 years. I had never filed a claim until six weeks ago. It’s not been a good customer experience since that day.

In conversations I’ve had with family and friends about this incident, they’ve questioned customer loyalty. What does it mean? What does it really get you? Is that loyalty about being a long-term customer and receiving an experience that befits a 20-year relationship, or is that loyalty about them wanting you to be customer forever, at any or all costs?

In other words, which side defines customer loyalty?

Why do I ask? Because typically after incidents like the one I had, companies drop their customers, regardless of said loyalty. Where’s the loyalty in that, for either one of us? (Because, hey, maybe I’ll drop them first!)

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