In episode 438, Sandy Rogers shares how to win you the loyalty of your customers and colleagues.
Gaining loyalty from others requires living three fundamental principles: empathy, responsibility, and generosity.
Enact these loyalty principles in each conversation by following three key steps:
- 1) Adopt a loyalty leader mindset. Even if you’re not the boss, you can still make people feel loyalty to you.
- 2) Make a genuine human connection. Simply making eye contact can make people feel seen.
- 3) Listen to the story. Listen with your eyes, ears, and heart. Look for the hidden story.
Build empathy by asking (and genuinely caring about) the answers to essential questions:
- “What brings you in today?”
- “What’s going on?”
- “What, if anything, could we have done to serve you better today?”
Take responsibility for what a person is trying to accomplish–instead of just giving them what they ask for. For example, if someone enters a hardware store looking for a wrench, don’t just point them to the wrenches. Ask what they are trying to accomplish with the wrench. In this way, you can provide even better solutions they appreciate more than a wrench itself.
Employ the five A’s to masterfully take responsibility for a customer’s problem:
- Assume the person has good intent.
- Align with their emotions.
- Apologize with no defensiveness.
- Ask, “What can I do to make this right for you?”
- Assure them of what you’re going to do and do it.
Deliver generosity by openly sharing your insights and surprising in unexpected ways. Give your knowledge and a little something extra to lock in loyalty. Running experiments with stakeholders can show you what they value most.
Reinforce behaviors by taking time to engage in team huddles. Many of Sandy’s clients have called the team huddle the best part of their workday. Here, a group spends 15 minutes each week to share stories. Teammates praise each member who lived out the value discussed the prior week. Such a practice develops camaraderie and actionable recommendations that make the principles all the more real.
Listen to/read the whole conversation HERE.
