Attending conferences energizes me. The recent LMASE Conference was no exception.
The speakers presented relevant, affirming and useful information. One that stood out to me was Sarah Robinson, author of Fierce Loyalty. She talked about how to build not just client loyalty, but fierce client loyalty.
Simple loyalty builds on a feeling of belonging, recognition and safety — but fierce loyalty develops when pride, trust and passion exist. Building fierce loyalty among our clients takes several key components:
- Making clients feel valued and important
- Creating something together
- Fighting a common enemy
- Creating a culture of “we”
- Building in exclusivity
- Creating barriers to entry
- Standing for something bold
- Building a structure with an eye toward pride, trust and passion
- Initiating opportunities for shared experiences
- Loving the community you build together
Building systems at our firms that support developing fierce loyalty, whether within the firm or between the firm and its clients, takes first and foremost leadership to make it happen.
How can we accomplish fierce loyalty with our clients unless a firm first builds a culture to support the components identified above? Firm leadership needs to make these a priority, communicate this priority throughout the firm, and build a structure within the firm that will support making it happen. Easier said than done!