FEATURE: DEVELOPING YOUR VOLUNTEERS
Character
Still Counts
By Dr. James Merritt
The Royalty of Loyalty
Cicero, the greatest orator of ancient Rome,
said this two thousand years ago: “What is
the quality to look out for as a warrant for the
stability and permanence of friendship? It is
Loyalty. Nothing that lacks this can be stable.” 8
Cicero was right, but loyalty is not just true of
friendships. It is the cornerstone of stability in
all relationships. 9
The world of business is feeling the loyalty (or
disloyalty) crunch. Companies lose half of their
customers within five years and, on average,
6
half of their employees within four years. 10
That sword cuts both ways. Downsizing has
become the prevalent means of reengineering
corporations and companies. Employees who
have been loyal for years and even decades
are told that their company can no longer be
loyal to them because it is not economically
sensible. 11
Customer loyalty is one of the key indicators of
business success that every CEO knows has a
significant impact on the bottom line. As Chip
Bell put it, “Loyal customers, they don’t just
come back, they don’t simply recommend you,
they insist that their friends do business with
you.” 12 Researchers estimate that today it costs
five times as much to acquire a new customer
as it does to retain a current one. Loyalty really
does matter! 13
In a significant research study titled “The
Economics of Loyalty,” researchers found
that for all customers, “Increasing customer
retention rates by 5% increases profits by 25%