🤟 Why You Should Aim for Zero Distance to Customers

Hi Reader,

Understanding why customers stop doing business with your company is crucial. Here are the six primary reasons:

1% die
3% move away
5% develop other relationships
9% leave for competitive reasons
14% are dissatisfied with the product
68% feel poorly treated by employees

Yes, you read that correctly. A staggering 68% of customers leave because they feel poorly treated by a company’s employees.

This insight comes from Kirk Kazanjian’s book Exceeding Customer Expectations, which explores the success of America’s car rental company, Enterprise.

The Importance of Repeat Customers

Why is this so important? Because, as Enterprise’s founder Jack Taylor often reminded, “repeat customers are the quickest way to build a solid business.”

Kazanjian highlights studies showing it costs approximately 5 to 6 times more to attract a new customer than to retain a current one.

Creating Lifetime Customers

The million-dollar question—and the book’s subtitle—is: what can Enterprise teach us about creating lifetime customers?

The answer is simple: make work more fun. This principle aligns with the success formula we’ve observed in many progressive companies we’ve visited.

It’s not about becoming a big company through complex strategies. It’s about a commonsense, two-step business approach:

Take good care of your customers. Prioritize customer service over profits to earn loyalty, resulting in repeat business.
Treat your employees like owners. Give employees autonomy and incentives to keep customers happy, driving business growth.

The Simple Business Recipe

Progressive companies that adhere to this simple recipe see natural financial success, with profits and growth following suit.

This approach proves that customer satisfaction isn’t just a soft management issue—it’s crucial for business and directly impacts the bottom line. Always aim for zero distance to customers.

Zero Distance Awards

Speaking of zero distance to customers, we are still seeking the world’s most progressive organizations for this year’s Zero Distance Awards.

We’re looking for “self-managing organizations” characterized by:

A highly decentralized structure with minimal formal hierarchy.
Self-managing teams with the autonomy and authority to make decisions, directly interacting with customers.
Teams accountable for their results, with all employees sharing in the organization’s success.

If you work for such an organization and want to join a global gathering of workplace mavericks, drop me a line by replying to this email to get involved.

Updates from Corporate Rebels HQ

Here's a quick overview of everything happening at Corporate Rebels:

Last week we hosted our first Member Success Story on our Academy platform. Kuljit Chauhan from Rebel Energy - a British self-managing organization - rocked the stage by sharing their inspiring story. Become a member to watch the recording.

New Corporate Rebels articles

A new article was published on our blog earlier this week:

Budgetless Companies: The Case of Mainfreight
Discover how Mainfreight thrives without traditional budgeting by focusing on decentralization, transparency, and shared rewards. This New Zealand logistics company’s unique management style, emphasizing autonomy and performance, demonstrates that working without budgets can drive remarkable business success. Read the full article here.

What inspired us

Here's something noteworthy we discovered this past week that you’re going to love:

Show Me The Money
Irene Shiang Li of Mei Mei in Boston transformed her restaurant by implementing open book management, a system where all employees are educated on the business’s financials and take responsibility for its financial health. This inspiring story also features one of my favorite Bucket List heroes, Ari Weinzweig of Zingerman’s. Read the full article here.

Your weekly challenge

At Corporate Rebels, we believe that small changes lead to big results. That's why we challenge you each week to make a small but significant change. This week....

Staying on the theme of customer satisfaction, ask each team member to share one innovative idea for improving a process or product to enhance customer satisfaction. Keep it to a brief, 5-minute presentation.

Additionally, encourage every team member to share one innovative idea to improve the workplace. This way, you’re not only enhancing the customer experience but also improving the work environment for your colleagues.

Cheers,

As soon as you're ready, here are 3 ways we can help:

Membership: Become a Corporate Rebels member and benefit from monthly online events, in-depth case studies, practical courses, and a global community of pioneers.
Masterclass: We've sold out all available seats for the first September cohort of "Running and Scaling Self-Managing Organizations," so we're opening a second one focused on the Asian/Australian-friendly time zones; this extra cohort kicks off on September 24. Enroll here.
Rebel Cells: Join a global network of pioneering organizations. Rebel Cells are local groups of progressive firms coming together to learn, share, and connect. Currently live in 13 countries.

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