How To Build Customer Loyalty in an Internet World

IF YOU REALLY want customers to keep coming back, then toss out those glossy brochures from vendors looking to sell you the latest in CRM software. Customer loyalty does not stem from clever stratagems to collect every conceivable piece of data from customers and then cross-sell them something they don’t want.

In fact, the very concept of customer relationship management is misguided. Companies shouldn’t try to manage loyal customers; long-standing relationships arise from trust gained over many transactions, and they are sustained by customers’ belief that the company wishes to keep them around rather than drive them away.