Susan Scott, CEO & Founder of Fierce, Inc.

Rumors, criticisms, anonymous blasts in public forums. You made a well-regarded employee available to industry – but there is a backlash. Why didn’t we throw a going away party?  You know what was going on behind the curtain and it was a disaster but what do you disclose to those clamoring for an explanation?  Or there is a false rumor about your company – The company is being sold, or the CEO is being lambasted by the press.  You have no idea who started the rumors or why and they aren’t true.  Should you address them? If so, how?  And what about inaccurate, anonymous posts in public forums by disgruntled former or current employees. The executives receive huge bonuses.  Everyone is leaving the company. Not true. 

Noah Fleming, Author, Evergreen: Cultivate the Enduring Customer Loyalty that Keeps Your Business Thriving

Customer loyalty is a crutch that lazy businesses have used to bludgeon the public for decades instead of actually providing value.

The corporate world (and even more often, small businesses) relied on the twin forces of this nebulous concept of "loyalty" and the sheer habitual inertia to keep people coming back.

But just as all that goes up must come down, all vehicles powered solely by inertia must also come to a stop, and that's exactly what happened with the idea of doing business solely based on loyalty.

Here are three reasons why customer loyalty is dead.