Leaders who want to build loyalty and generate the loyalty effect must exercise extreme discipline to protect their partners’ interests. They know that the key to winning is not to make sure their competitors lose, but to make sure their partners win. Play where you can win If you want to win/win, you must have the discipline and focus to play only where you can win. CEOs of top loyalty companies know precisely where they have the wherewithal to win and where they don’t. They don’t compete for every new business that seems profitable for the moment; they invest only where they see the potential for building sustainable assets and relationships. Protect your partners’ interests Only by helping partners reach for the stars - by targeting customer value that is even better than the best - can a leader ensure that the organization will stay on the high road to success. Too many leaders shrink from the demands of this goal and don’t insist that their organizations target the very best value. It is much easier, and seems less risky, to shoot for fair or reasonable value. To ensure that your organization can continue to set the standards of excellence, you must focus on the basics of cost, quality, and timeliness as well as on discovering new levels of excellence for your customers’ lifetime experience. Play to win/win to achieve sustainable growth.  Loyalty leaders' growth rates surpass industry averages across the board. Examples of Bain's work For businesses to be successful, growth is an imperative, not an option. However, for all its positive implications, achieving growth is a complex and difficult equation. Only a small minority of companies succeed. Profit from the Core , by Chris Zook and James Allen. This book identifies enduring and often counterintuitive lessons on achieving profitable growth over the long haul. Visit the site to put the ideas to work. The Facts About Growth: Most growth strategies fail, even when they succeed.
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