The question I asked myself was why? Why did I go back to Graham every year, why was I so Loyal to his Butcher shop?
I looked at the things that I felt were important factors when considering where I shopped.
Value, made up of convenience, price and quality as well as overall service.
So is Turners convenient, is it close by or does it offer some kind of superior delivery options?
This is where I live and as you can see Turner’s is about 4km away.
We actually have a butcher half a km away – but I really really don’t like going there. So instead...
We will compare Turner’s to the convenience store half a km away and a large superstore just 3km away..
So it isn’t convenience!
What about price? How does the cost of a turkey from Turner’s stack up against the cost from the other stores...
Well, again, Turner’s doesn’t do so well there. It is almost twice the price of the other two in fact!
Ok, so quality – the last part of the value equation for me.
This is where Turner’s does kick ass. The quality of their product is far superior to the other offerings – so win for Graham!
On to service.
Again, Turner’s offers by far the best service.
Just look at Graham. This is how he and his staff always dress! They call you sir or madam. On Christmas eve they open early in the morning for you to collect your turkey and give you bacon sandwiches as you wait!
They offer great service!
Now to be fair,
Tesco does offer a loyalty card, which is nice and
Does give them a little power up on the service – it almost makes up for the surly check out people you often get!
So taking all of this together, surely Turner’s has done enough to be the obvious winner...
Well, no. In fact Tesco is slightly in the lead. So what else was I not considering?
Trust! Do I trust the retailer. Do I trust their supply chain, their ethics and so on.
Well, in the case of Co-op... Kind of. Turners, 100% yes. They source from local farmers and producers where possible. Unlike many large stores, they don’t try to confuse with clever names – if it says free range, it is. I trust them totally! Tesco...
Well, they tried to build a store in my village, which would have killed the local shops and caused real issues on the roads – the same roads my daughters and friends walk to school on. This may slightly have skewed my view of them and affected how I ranked them on trust.
Just little.... But, this needs to be a fair 3 way comparison, so I have swapped them out with another almost identical store
Asda. They offer similar value and service though interestingly
Don’t offer a loyalty card – something they are rather proud of in fact!
Even though Turner’s is now in the lead, there really is not much in it. What else could there be?
Why is my loyalty still firmly with Graham. Then it struck me!
Me! I am the reason...
You see, it occurred to me that loylaty is not about
money
Club cards
Or even quality and service
It is about all of these things together
Designed around me or more to the point around the potential customers or users. It is a relationship where the customer feels valued and feels they are getting value, where there is mutual trust.
Once you have covered the basics, you can then start using gamification to elevate your services or products to the next level.
You see True loyalty is like true love. It’s irrational, hard to find and needs constant effort to maintain!