In the golden age of marketing, consumers were loyal to one company. The built a relationship with that company and they continued to purchase a brand time and time again. Once you signed a new client or brought in a new customer, they’d likely stick with you.

Not anymore! Today, consumers are much more fickle…and for good reason. All we hear about in the media is how large corporations pollute the earth, bankrupt their pension funds, sell unsafe products, pay out huge sums of money to executives, and generally rip off the public.

As consumers, we feel that companies no longer deserve our loyalty. So we will shop around on price and go with the best value we can find, each time we’re ready to buy.

So how can you change the pattern for your company?

• Make promises you can keep
• Over deliver on service
• Make your employees happy
• Offer loyalty programs that actually benefit customers
• Ask for customer input, and respond to it
• Be more transparent
• Apologize sincerely when something goes wrong