Podcast: Customers Are People Too!

A few years ago, Bob Chapman said this in a blog post:

We are responsible to be good stewards of the lives under our care and, to do that, we have to have a thriving business.

As I’ve written about many times on this blog, business is a virtuous cycle. Business growth is essential for the growth of our people. It enables us to help provide a stable living for them, which is the bedrock for their fulfillment at work and in life. Then, the investments we make in growing our people ultimately helps to grow the business; when we grow the business, it provides greater opportunities for our people to flourish.

But our customers are very important stakeholders in that cycle. They’re the ones who buy our products! For this entire relationship to work, however, we have to have our customers’ trust. And that does not come from doing whatever we can to make a quick buck off them, it comes from truly caring about their needs and treating them like our friends and family. Their business potentially has their own virtuous cycle and we’re part of that.

As leaders, we are responsible to be good stewards of the lives of those within our span of care. But that span of care includes our customers as well as our team members. So, how do we do that? How do we help to drive a sense of customer loyalty that helps engender trust and fulfill the cycle that Bob talks about, the cycle that is essential to taking care of the people inside our business?

In this episode of the Everybody Matters Podcast, Matt Whiat and Barry Kirk, of Chapman & Co. Leadership Institute, Barry-Wehmiller’s leadership and culture consulting firm, had an in-depth discussion on trends in customer loyalty. Barry recently joined Chapman & Co and is a recognized expert and thought leader in the loyalty marketing space with more than 15 years of experience advising companies on strategies for customer retention.

Brent Stewart is the host of the Everybody Matters Podcast and Barry-Wehmiller’s Digital Strategy and Content Leader.