Last week I wrote about how people chose brands that they trusted and shared the same values. When it comes to building customer loyalty, it rings truer than ever. But how can companies maintain the level of trust needed, when customers are more accessible than ever to growing competition, demanding the right balance between value, services and product offering, all on a tight budget.

I came across an insightful article below by Daniel Meere ( Managing Director @ Axis Corporation) where he examined the need for banks to shift away from traditional business methods and establish a new type of relationship with its customers, in order to create sustainable revenue for the future. - ''...for any relationship to be successful, the customer must have trust and feel that the bank will always act in his or her best interests.’' I think this statement is especially prevalent to the wider B2B /B2C industry, and should be the core foundation in building long term customer loyalty.

Monzo demonstrated how to do this quite cleverly, in their recent announcement to implement fees to foreign ATM withdrawal. By providing a transparent dialogue with its customer base, they have managed to retain trust from their customer base to navigate through a pretty tricky change.

For B2B companies - especially those relying on high value sales - one striking way to build up customer loyalty is by delivering value and expertise through creating and sharing information and insights, from one expert to another.