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Customer loyalty – Lesson 10 of 10: The basis of my success

Over the past 8 months or so I’ve shared 10 lessons I’ve learned in 10 years of owning Aptus. It’s been a great journey sharing these videos and I sincerely hope you have enjoyed watching as much as I’ve enjoyed sharing. This video is the last of 10, and it shares my philosophy in business and the basis of my success in business.

Watch the video here.

Throughout my time in recruitment, I’ve always wanted to be in it for a long time, as long as possible. In doing this I’ve taken the long game approach, appreciating ‘give and take’ mentality is key to long term relationships. I’ve often walked away from conflict by taking the higher ground, not biting off the hand that feeds me, in the hope this will bring good karma. Over time this has certainly been the case.

Whether we work in B2B or B2C we are dealing with people so we must listen more than we speak and take the time to understand a person we wish to do business with. All too often we hear people and businesses state they are long term relationship focused or people focussed however their behaviour doesn’t reflect this, they typically take a hard-nosed approach with a short term focus. I’ve never taken a short term gain to the detriment to a long term relationship.

Business moto’s and mission statements can often be untrue, similar to the values of a company. If these mission statements and values are not lived, demonstrated via consistent behaviour the business will not be genuine. People are not stupid, they will see straight through the bullshit.

My aim in business has always been to gain loyalty from customers. There is a big difference between repeat business and loyalty. Repeat business is when customers like to use you and repeatedly use you as one of several preferred suppliers. Loyalty is when a customer says no to your competitors, they don’t feel they need to deal with anyone whilst you are satisfying their needs. Loyalty requires trust and trust comes from consistent behaviours over a period of time.

I do believe my consistency in being genuine and authentic with everything I do has proven to be the basis of my success in business. If we want to be in business for a long time, this approach will bring success. It’s quite simple however it has certainly worked very well for me.

Thank you to everyone who has been part of our 10-year journey. I’m so proud to be celebrating 10 years in business and I’m looking forward to setting the path for our next 10 years. To our staff, clients, associates, friends, and family, thank you so much for your continued support.

If you would like to recap on lessons 1, 2, 3 & 4 please click on the links below:

Customer loyalty – Lesson 10 of 10: The basis of my success by Tom Murphy