to 95%,” and web-based customers “spend
more than twice as much in months 24-30 of
their relationships than they do in the first 6
months.” 14
If you are in the sales or retail business, pay
attention.
• Your probability of selling to an existing
customer: 60-70%.
• Your probability of selling to a prospect: 5-20%
• 20% of current customers will drive 80% of
your future profits.
• Current customers account for 65% of a
company’s business
• If you boost your customer loyalty byt just
10%, you boost the value of your enterprise by
30%. 15viii
The value of loyalty is true for business,
marriage, international relations, interstate
commerce, and personal peace. Ultimately,
only being loyal to your vows will ensure that
your marriage stays together. Only being loyal
to your word makes contracts viable. Only being
loyal to your convictions will help you sleep
well at night if you have a healthy conscience.
Treaties signed between nations are only as
good as the loyalty those nations give to the
treaties they just signed. Every area of life
that deals with interpersonal or international
relationships depends a great deal on loyalty.
What do we mean by loyalty? Character is
built on strong loyalty, but not blind loyalty.
We should never incur the expense of
compromising a conviction when discovering a
wrongdoing or continuing a bad relationship.
Loyalty does have its limits, and it always should
have integrity and honesty as its bookends.
When you have your eyes open and your
character leading, loyalty is being faithful to
the people you love, the principles you believe
in, and priorities that are most important. It is
sticking with and standing by people who need
it the most. Carroll Bryant, the author and
commentator, said it well: “I don’t like to give
up on people when they need someone not to
give up on them.” 16 That sounds about right.
A Lady of Loyalty
For technology, it is Apple. For search engines, it
is Google. For social networking, it is Facebook.
For airlines, it is Delta. For online retailers, it
is Amazon. For quick-serve restaurants, it is
Chick-fil-A. What am I talking about? I’m talking
about the brands we feel most loyalty toward.
These companies are just some of the recent
winners of the Brand Keys Customer Loyalty
Engagement Index, which means they have
the highest customer retention rates in their
respective industries. It is a crucial metric that
business executives watch religiously, because
they know nothing tops customer loyalty for
retaining and building a business. 17
Loyalty is the key driver of the best business
brands in the twenty-first century. But just as it
is crucial for businesses, it is central to healthy
friendships, marriages, militaries, and nations.
You’ll be hard pressed to think of a single facet
of life that does not have loyalty as a core part
of its foundation.
Ruth is both a book in the Bible and the name
of its main character, but we would have heard
of neither except for her incredible loyalty. Ruth
7