You weren’t surprised when Ticketmaster imploded during the Taylor Swift ticket sales debacle, were you?
Sure, they blamed the problems on bots, but the implication is the system was treating everyone as scalpers, but the whole mess made one thing clear: businesses don’t trust their customers.
And it’s not just Ticketmaster. Look at Netflix’s heavy-handed password-sharing crackdown or airlines squeezing more seats into planes while shrinking your legroom. Everywhere you turn, businesses seem more interested in controlling their customers than engaging with them.
It’s a strange relationship. Businesses love your money, but they don’t seem to love you. In fact, the minute they think you’re not playing by their rules, they flip. I’ve seen it time and time again—loyalty programs that punish the loyal, customer service lines designed to frustrate you into giving up, companies acting like they’re doing you a favor by simply existing. And then they wonder why loyalty is on the decline.
The Loyalty Free Fall: A System Based on Mistrust
Let’s face it—customer loyalty is tanking. According to McKinsey, nearly 75% of consumers tried a new shopping behavior during the pandemic, and over 39% of them plan to keep exploring other brands. People aren’t staying loyal anymore because, frankly, why should they? Businesses have turned customer relationships into little more than a numbers game, and customers are picking up on it.
Take Sephora, for instance. Once the gold standard in loyalty programs, offering rewards that made customers feel valued, they’ve been slowly eroding the benefits. Points expire faster, decent samples are few and far between, and getting to those top tiers of rewards has become a marathon.
Customers are starting to ask: "Why am I being loyal to a brand that seems to be giving me less?" And don’t even get me started on the hot mess that is Starbuck’s loyalty program.
Across industries, we’re seeing businesses opt for short-term gains over long-term loyalty. They’d rather extract every last penny today and worry about keeping you tomorrow. But here’s the kicker—if you treat customers like they’re expendable, don’t be surprised when they start acting like it.
Simplicity or Neglect?
Simplicity used to mean making things easier for the customer. But now it’s a euphemism for how little businesses can do while still cashing in. Broadcast ads, full-page spreads, algorithmic content—they all scream for attention, but what’s missing is actual engagement.
If your strategy for building relationships is to shout louder than everyone else, don’t be shocked when your customers walk away. It’s like trying to make a friend by barging into a room, yelling everything great about yourself, and expecting people to stick around.
Spoiler alert: they don’t.
The perfect example? Delta Airlines. Recently, they overhauled their SkyMiles program, making it harder for frequent fliers to earn rewards and achieve elite status. Longtime loyal customers—those who stuck with Delta even when flights were canceled or rescheduled—feel betrayed. Delta wasn’t rewarding loyalty; they were testing how far they could push people before they walked away. And many are.
The Loyalty Crisis: Shouting Louder Isn’t the Answer
Here’s the reality: customer loyalty isn’t just declining—it’s in free fall. Look at *Netflix*. Their crackdown on password sharing was a message to customers: “We don’t trust you.” They acted as if everyone was gaming the system, forgetting that many users had no problem paying—until they were treated like criminals.
What happened next? Users canceled in droves, flooding social media with complaints about feeling alienated and undervalued.
Netflix, like so many others, seems to have forgotten that loyalty is a two-way street. You can’t treat customers like they’re out to cheat you and expect them to stick around. And yet, after burning that bridge, what do companies do? They double down.
They bombard us with retargeting ads, relentless email campaigns, desperate for us to come back. It’s the equivalent of a bad breakup where one side just can’t stop texting, trying to “fix things.”
Businesses and Customers: A Broken Trust
So why don’t businesses trust their customers? Because they stopped earning that trust a long time ago. When you treat people as walking wallets rather than individuals, you break the bond that once made them loyal.
And here’s the kicker: once that trust is broken, it’s almost impossible to win it back.
Want an example of who’s doing it right?
Consider Patagonia. They’ve built a brand around sustainability and transparency. Their "Don’t Buy This Jacket" campaign literally told customers to reconsider buying new products, encouraging them to think about the environmental impact instead.
The result? Customers became even more loyal. Patagonia earned their trust by doing the exact opposite of what most businesses do—listening and respecting their customers.
Meanwhile, other companies are losing customers left and right. Brands that once dominated the market are now scrambling to understand why their loyal base is fleeing, and spoiler—it’s because you can’t scream people into loyalty.
Rebuilding Trust and Loyalty
Here’s the harsh truth: businesses can’t keep treating customers like potential thieves and expect loyalty in return. You can shout all you want, but loyalty isn’t built on noise—it’s built on trust and respect.
If companies want to reverse the loyalty crisis, they need to rethink how they engage. Stop treating customers like the enemy and start treating them like people. The businesses that succeed won’t be the ones that scream the loudest—they’ll be the ones that actually listen.
Loyalty isn’t dead, but it’s on life support. And if businesses don’t wake up soon, they’ll keep losing the one thing they can’t afford to lose: their customers.
We can help. Give us a call.
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