Win/Win Proposition: author and consultant Frederick Reichheld says that building bonds of loyalty with customers and employees is the surest path to success. (Profiles in Success).(Brief Article)

Research, September, 2002 by Rusoff, Jane Wollman

Nope, those four eager pooches on the cover of "Loyalty Rules!"

(Harvard Business School Press, 2001) aren't there to symbolize the crux of Frederick F. Reichheld's book. Just the opposite!

"Loyalty isn't founded on blind commitment, like dogs. Most people have no idea what loyalty really means. It's being committed to mutually beneficial relationships founded on a core set of principles that are put ahead of self- or short-term interest. These come to define your life and relationships. That kind of loyalty isn't the kind dogs have. It's the kind outstanding companies have," says Reichheld.

The Economist has dubbed him "the high priest" of loyalty. Officially, he's a Director Emeritus of international consultants at Bain & Company; and...

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