Is your customer’s loyalty with the brand? If so, you need to keep that loyalty carefully groomed, make sure they have knowledge and access to the gems within the brand, and make sure the brand reaches out to your customer on a regular basis.

Is your customer’s loyalty to the importer or distributor? If so, you need to keep that loyalty carefully groomed, make sure they have knowledge and access to the gems within the portfolios, and make sure the importer or distributor higher-ups reach out to your customer on a regular basis.

Is your customer’s loyalty to you? If so, you need to keep that loyalty carefully groomed, make sure they have an inside track to you and your ideas, and you have to make damn sure to reach out to the customer on a regular basis.

When brands change distributors, or importers change their portfolios, or a small distributor is gobbled up by a big distributor, or a new channel of distribution suddenly opens, or a sales rep leaves their job to work for another distributor … it’s always interesting to find out if the loyalty factor was what you thought it was.

No matter what, it’s always good to keep loyalty groomed, take the high road, and think carefully about where loyalty energy is directed.

But your goal is simple: aim for the loyalty to be toward you. That’s called job security.