"Have you reached a verdict?"  "We have your Honor.  We find the defendant, Retention, guilty of killing Loyalty!"

The courtroom erupts.  Shouts of lies, deception, threats and finger pointing fuel the denial! 

The sentence is announced and retention gets life without parole!

Outside the courtroom throngs of people who couldn’t get into the courtroom are dancing in the streets overjoyed.  The people’s voice was heard! 

A PLEA

But, wait.  A plea for mercy is made to the Judge by a team willing to prove that loyalty will be resurrected if all those charged with killing loyalty accept a lesser sentence and never, ever displace loyalty as the only cause of loyalty results again.  The Judge accepts this plea deal only to review the matter again in 6 months, under the terms all must relinquish retention to loyalty first, and always.  Every single business and every single business person of every business is ordered to come and stand before the Judge and swear an oath on the Bible to convert and conform to loyalty first, or jail.   What are you going to do?

WHAT HAPPENED?

Didn’t this come out of left field somewhere?  I mean, retention was both king and queen, ruling everything from slick lead generation retention tactics to get them in, experience tactics to be as nice as possible to sell them as much as possible, even perhaps retention tactics masked as ‘loyalty programs’ to keep price-perks maybe bringing them back, or maybe not, all with the confidence more retention marketing price-perks will bring them back to the business sometime down the road.  Business websites are gussied up with “customer first” words, but everything is pointed to deals retention aims at; even those customer testimonials that speak of an experience, or ‘great deal.’   

COMPELLING EVIDENCE

The court found that it wasn’t so much that retention could be evil, but found compelling evidence that proved: 1) Retention purposely deceived innocent people into believing retention and loyalty , if not one and the same, are very similar.  The court proved they are near polar opposites; and 2) All, not a few, but all retention statistics proved without a doubt to push loyalty down and out until retention had loyalty under its feet either purposefully or ignorantly crushing loyalty to death.

PRESS QUESTIONS

Outside the courtroom the press surrounded the loyalty team asking questions.

[Press] “Retention is guilty.  Why would you help them?” 

[Team] “Retention is the result of selfish WIIFM results first and foremost, and that starts at the top.  Now, with the Judge ordering that businesses must put the cause of earning 'true' customer loyalty first within a selfless servant leadership WIIFT(Them) culture, loyalty with and between the people within the business and every customer is the lifeline to resurrecting loyalty.  Retention may prove to work with loyalty at that point, but never, ever again putting WIIFM retention practices first.” 

[Press] “What did the Judge mean when she stated all businesses must cede power to the earning of loyalty with and between all business persons of the business and customers?”

[Team] “It is about shifting strengths to allow true, meaningful and trusting loyal relationships to be earned and kept the only possible way, between people, keeping business people of business and customers loyal with each other.  She, the Judge, was also referring to shifting strengths from one on one and singular department sell, sell, sell focus to the complete tearing down of those demarcation walls separating departments now requiring all customers the same equal opportunity to earn loyalty with others in the entire business every visit.”

[Press] “Who actually wins here in this plea deal?” 

[Team] “Everyone, but the order is now different.  The earning of customers loyal will not happen one or one.  Only very few have ever proven minor value to this, simply because the loyalty involves whatever that one on one loyalty matured from, say a sales person selling a car.  The customer may tell the sales person he or she will buy their next vehicle from this person, yet as years pass, so does loyalty, especially today when people keep their vehicles years longer.    Customer loyalty can only become reality within teamwork of two or more within two or more departments of business building a purposeful, trusting relationship together with one customer at a time  today, and ongoing.  Loyalty is 100% people to people relationship driven requiring trust.  Trust is earned and kept within complete validation and total transparency.”

[Press] “Will the business win?” 

[Team] “Yes, more than they imagine, and perhaps even more than they deserve when everyone focuses on the cause of earning "Customer Loyalty-For-Life" with every customer all the time!  It is a total culture shift from WIIFM to a complete WIIFT.  The great news is that the shift can be quite seamless and take hold within just weeks.”

The Team needed to excuse itself but promised to answer more Press questions another day. 

WOW!  What a great save by this loyalty team!  What a great win for customers!  What a great win for potentially saving a business!  What a great win for business persons one and all reaching the top equally with customers!  What a great win for saving an industry!    The judge got it right!  The plea deal absolutely can work. WOW!  We gotta get the presses running and spread this good news!