Steve Cuntz, the CEO of BlueStar, one of our largest distribution partners says often that there is no single action or event that contributes to their success. It’s the continual actions and efforts of their employees every day that creates loyalty among their customers. Those activities enable their customers to utilize and understand the value that BlueStar brings, and they come back to buy from them again and again. Here at APG, we agree with that philosophy too.

Jim Collins (author of Good to Great) refers to it as the Flywheel Effect. Businesses are like mechanical flywheels. Every day, if you do something to help continue to make the flywheel mass a little larger, and spin just a little bit faster, you will be giving it more inertia. Or you can do something that causes it to get lighter, slow down and have less inertia. If what you do has value for the customer base, and you execute well on that (we create and deliver superior cash drawer solutions), then you are likely to be creating more positive business inertia. After a period of time the customer’s confidence in you grows, and if you continue to meet their expectations and requirements, they will likely start to rely even more on you. You become their best choice, as well as their preferred choice, in your particular field of expertise. It may become more difficult for any competitor to match the business “inertia” that has been created around any particular company or brand – if you continue to increase that business inertia.

Fred Reichheld (author of Loyalty Rules and the Ultimate Question) has done extensive work on analyzing loyalty, and what drives customer loyalty. What business behaviors do you have that drive your customers to become like “barnacles”? Barnacles see and appreciate the value you bring to them, and are more likely to stick with you through the bumps in the road that occur with everybody. Do you consistently treat them well, solve their problems, solve YOUR problems, meet your promises, and help them become more successful? Or do you invest heavily instead in marketing programs with huge price promotions and special deals, to attract new customers – who really behave more like butterflies? Butterflies just float around, and only come to you because you’re a penny cheaper than their current provider. Butterflies also leave you more easily because someone else is now a penny less than you. They don’t see any particular reason or differentiated value in what you do – and could care less who services their business needs. Which would you prefer to be: the barnacle or butterfly provider?