To lead IN loyalty, lead WITH it.

I am having so much fun these days. I have the privilege and opportunity to serve Ohio State and The Fisher College of Business by teaching one of the MBA-level courses there this Winter Quarter. The class I am teaching–Services Marketing–makes great use of my former corporate expertise in Managing Services Brands and Loyalty Marketing AND my new career in leadership development.

Did I mention I also love my students?

Services, which are intangible and delivered by real human beings interacting with real, live customers,  have many different marketing and managerial challenges than products. Products are manufactured to tight specifications and shipped from manufacturing facilities which are chock-full of engineers and six-sigma specialists. Quality can be totally controlled before a customer ever lays hands on the package, without them involved in anything other than opening the package and using the product. And all that isn’t a cinch; it’s real, hard work to get right.

In the people-oriented world of services marketing, it’s even more complicated. If you’re going to lead you’d better be prepared to handle lots of inconsistency, variability, and involvement from your customers. Your service really can’t be delivered unless the customer is involved. So you’ve got to hope that everyone–your customers and employees–are all in good moods, all having a happy day, and all are at the top of their game…

…which never happens. Ouch.

This may be the reason why so many of us are so disappointed with customer service today. Annual surveys bemoan the sorry state of “service” in America. Rude clerks, pushy salespeople, apathetic front-line workers, poorly trained support people, unclear and never-ending call center menus when all you want to do is talk to somebody–this is the best we can do?

Who’s to blame for all this? Well, I don’t like to “pile on,” but you know who…

Rude, pushy, apathetic, poorly developed, unclear “leaders.”

Ultimately, every leader gets exactly the team he or she deserves. If you want the team to change, go first. That’s what leaders do. They go first. They just do. That’s why they’re called leaders. They lead. You get it.

Actually, those who decide to “go first” will be the ones who reap huge rewards. In most service categories the average standard of service is pretty low. And there’s a proven link between the quality of a company’s sales and profit growth and the degree of customer loyalty to that firm. So, if you concentrate on building loyalty, you’ll build tangible hard-dollar business results. People will buy more. That’s more revenue. They’ll make more repeat purchases. Still more revenue. They’ll refer others to you. STILL more revenue. And they’ll be easier to serve. Ca-CHING!

Okay. So how do you build customer loyalty in a services company? I’ll tell you if you pay attention. This could be important…maybe even HUGE:

You invest in your people, and the processes that support them, and training and development, and your company’s culture. You serve them with everything you’ve got. They’re your BRAND. The Living Brand. That’s where most of the value is in your firm–in the degree to which your employees are committed to YOU and your mission, leading to the degree to which your customers are committed to your PEOPLE.

Your service company has little worth outside your core processes that support your people’s commitment.  And to build those things requires smart, trustworthy, authentic leaders.

People today simply will not commit to clueless, shady, inauthentic leaders. They may comply, but they will not commit. That’s why service in America is in the shape it’s in…

So, Leadership Development, for all its inherent worth in building lives of meaning, purpose, and passion for the leaders is a DEAD END unless it’s also the means to the ultimate end of building an environment that elicits the committed best from your employees and customers.

You want profitable growth? Build customer loyalty.

You want customer loyalty? Build a living brand of commitment and distinction.

You want that?

Build yourself.

Let’s go. Or else a competitor will wake up first and beat you to the punch.