Key Takeaways
- Customer loyalty is often built through attentiveness, not expensive technology.
- Customers are more likely to stay when they feel heard, remembered, and understood.
- Small, consistent actions often create more value than grand marketing initiatives.
For more than five years now, I’ve bought meats from a butcher named Mr. Akeem. Like clockwork, I would send Mr. Akeem an SMS detailing what meat parts I wanted, and he delivered them to my doorstep within a few hours or, at most, the next day.
Yesterday morning, he sent me an SMS checking that the new year was going great (he already wished me a happy new year on January 1st). Nothing elaborate or fancy, no grand terms, just a short, simple message wishing me well for the year ahead and extending regards to my family. But the moment I saw it, I immediately understood the true message behind it – I hadn’t placed an order in nearly a month and this was Mr. Akeem’s way of reminding me that it was time to do so.
Read More: 5 Big Threats To Your Business Success — And None Is External
This is one of the things that actually struck me early on about Mr. Akeem – he always noticed when there was any sort of gap, and always took proactive action by reaching out. In nearly five years, that hasn’t changed.
Here are the 3 important customer value lessons to learn from this butcher.
- Pay Attention to Customers: That’s How You Keep Them
Over the years, I’ve realized Mr. Akeem has his own unique system for keeping track of his customers. He is semi-literate and doesn’t know how to use any software, spreadsheets or CRM, but through attentiveness, he has mapped a cadence for every customer.
In my case, he knows I place an order every 2-3 weeks, except I’m out of the country. And every single time I skip that pattern, he checks in. It’s usually a short message, never aggressive or pushy, but just enough to remind you that the relationship still exists.
What makes this even more interesting is that Mr. Akeem has no formal education, much less any marketing training or knowledge of fancy customer retention framework. Yet, in many ways, he understands customer value more deeply than some businesses with entire marketing departments. He pays close attention and monitors patterns of his existing customers in the way that businesses must do to drive long-term customer value, and reduce churn.
- Customers Remember Effort More Than Perfection
One of the things that has kept me returning to Mr. Akeem has been how he listens to feedback and acts on it. If you ever complain about something, he apologises with so much sincerity and the issue is corrected by the next delivery.
It was clear from the start that he was listening properly. Not the kind of listening where someone is already preparing excuses in their head while you speak, but one with genuine interest in making improvement.
If the cuts were too small the last time, he remembers.
If you prefer leaner pieces, he adjusts.
If you mention wanting softer meat for a particular meal, he takes note.
The interesting part is that he never announces any of this as “great customer service.” He simply behaves that way consistently. And I think many businesses underestimate how powerful consistency is. Customers don’t always remember the fanciest brand or the most sophisticated campaign. Most times, they remember how easy you are to deal with and how many times they had to repeat something before you got it right.
- Loyalty Is Built from Many Small Acts
Over time, I’ve realized that customer value is usually built through small moments repeated consistently over time.
A follow-up message.
A remembered preference.
A corrected mistake.
A sense that somebody is paying attention.
The funny thing is that many businesses today are chasing customer loyalty through technology while overlooking the human behaviours that create loyalty in the first place.
Tools help, absolutely. Automation helps, no doubt. But neither replaces attentiveness. The technology you adopt should help you know your customer better, and personalize the service you render to them.
Conclusion: Never Lose Sight of the Fundamentals
Sometimes we overcomplicate business growth so much that we forget the fundamentals. We chase new customers aggressively while neglecting existing ones who are gradually slipping away. We obsess over marketing campaigns while ignoring consistency in service.
Mr. Akeem may be a semi-literate butcher who never uses terms like “customer retention,” “lifetime value,” or “relationship management,” but he practices all three naturally. That’s not because he has read any fancy business books, but because he understands something simple – when customers feel seen and heard, they stay.
If your company has a customer churn problem to tackle or simply wants to see if there’s room to improve customer lifetime value, do let’s have a conversation on how I might be able to help.