LOYAL: A Leader's Guide to Winning Customer and Employee Loyalty

by Aaron Painter

Loyal employees attract loyal customers.
Companies must adapt to evolving expectations and engage their employees in the same way that they engage their customers. Successful business leaders create a culture of listening across their organizations to inspire loyalty and build a competitive advantage.
In LOYAL, Microsoft executive Aaron Painter explains how accomplished leaders use the time-tested secret of listening to turn the concept of loyalty into a powerful reality. While working in China, Painter experienced firsthand how customer and employee retention is key to building a successful company.
LOYAL teaches you how to develop opportunities in a global, ever-changing business environment. The book provides insightful suggestions about how companies can create a culture of active listening to engage their most valuable people, whether they are customers or employees. By building respectful relationships and strengthening those connections through the techniques Painter describes, any organization can position itself for sustained growth.

Genres: Business, Leadership

290 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 30, 2017

About the author

Aaron Painter is an author and global executive who is passionate about how listening empowers people and organizational growth. As Vice President and General Manager at Microsoft in China, he leads a broad team of sales, marketing, product, and partner management professionals. He is also an executive sponsor for Microsoft’s rising millennial workforce of recent hires from top undergraduate and MBA programs. Painter has lived and worked in six countries across four continents, and exemplifies a new generation of global leaders. He is a highly sought-after speaker and advisor to companies that are seeking business transformation.

Reviews

[Amanda P · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book provides a nice quick read with very useful information for anyone working in the business world, especially business owners and leaders.

The author, Aaron, provides an easy to read explanation on how loyalty can really impact a persons business by discussing everything from active listening, to body language, to employee and employer trust, etc…I can’t list everything, as you will have to read the book to find out more. He shares many of his experiences from working at Microsoft in countries around the world and how he and his teams were able to work together to create a great work environment as well as great products that will keep consumers coming back for more. Not only does Aaron give insight into his experiences, but he also provides quotations and anecdotes from many other authors and business leaders, such as Facebook, Google, IBM, and Southwest, to help the reader visualize his points in a relatable way.

If you are looking to become a better business owner, manager, supervisor, or even an employee looking to see how you should be treated in the workplace, this is a great book to read. It gives a lot of useful insights and Aaron writes it in a way that just flows amazingly well and is easy to read.

[Scott Z. Bressler · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a manager in a large tech company where my focus is not only on customers but also on hearing from my team members, I was able to relate deeply to many of the poignant concepts in this book about running a successful team, organization, or entire business. In this book, Painter lays out the importance of listening in the modern workplace. With the rise of choice in today's Internet-connected world, a key way to stand out as a brand and as an employer is to instill loyalty in your customers and work force. Painter understands this and illustrates just how important it is. Through Painter's experience at Microsoft it is clear that he has learned, and now teaches, these lessons and their global relevance in each of the four continents he has worked in. The historical and global context the book puts loyalty in drives the point home about what's necessary in today's workplace to succeed.

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Painter's book is a reminder that listening to employees continues to be a best practice for all businesses of the future. He cites example upon example where employees are listened to and in turn "buy-in" to the products that their company offers, which in turn transfers over to customers. Loyal also provides a birds-eye view of business in China and provides invaluable insights about the role that the Chinese government plays in establishing a culture that supports business growth and entrepreneurship. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in creating a positive synergistic business climate within their organization.

[Charles Mamane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loyal takes an old-fashioned value like treating people with respect and turns it into a framework for growing your business! A reminder that 20th century values are even more important in this digital age than they were back then. Aaron is a fresh new voice for our time!

[Lee Bressler · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the owner of a small business that I started myself, I really enjoyed reading this book and thinking about how I could integrate these ideas into my daily practices and interactions with customers. Listening to customers, and teaching my team members to do the same, is essential. Think of all the products that are great, but were discontinued by companies. Escada cologne; Haagen Daas Cookies & Cream Ice Cream, Neutrogena Night time Essentials moisturizer. If it’s good, they seem to stop making it all the time. If only these companies would listen to customers, they might avoid making mistakes that destroy brand value.