Who's on your side? Loyalty is something we feel, not something we count.

At the GEL Conference in 2007, I heard restaurateur Danny Meyer give a presentation about hospitality. He said good service doesn't have to be 'flawless.' Good service occurs when you feel the waiter or host is 'on your side.' 

We don't expect our friends, family and service providers to give up their livelihoods for us, but we do expect them to recognize and respect our needs. We need to feel it. And when we feel it, we can tolerate mistakes, misfortune, and deprivation. 

FutureLab: Customer loyalty and advocacy, 2012-May-28, by Maz Iqbal

Human existence, being-in-the-world, is characterised by CARE. We care about how our lives turn out – we are designed to survive and we strive to flourish. Care gives rise to and is tied up with CONCERN – we have concerns that we have to address if we are to survive and flourish. John Bowlby pointed out that we need ‘SECURE BASES’ – people, places, organisations, communities where we matter, where we feel cared for, where we can count on others to care for us and what matters to us.