Customer Satisfaction and Customer Value Are Complimentary Concepts, Not Adversarial

A press release regarding a survey among cellular phone customers in the UK, France, and Germany states that “Telecoms Consumers Want Love, Not Discounts” (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/pan-european-survey-reveals-telecoms-consumers-want-love-not-discounts-2010-03-03?reflink=MW_news_stmp)  Should anyone be surprised? I’m not. For years, it has been shown that when it comes to satisfying and retaining customers, you’re better off delivering what you promised as opposed [...]

Be Realistic When Setting A Target For Your Customer Satisfaction Score

I came across an article this week that talked about the “relevance” of Customer Satisfaction for some industries or businesses (“When Customer Satisfaction Might Not Matter, And When it Does” – http://callcenterinfo.tmcnet.com/analysis/articles/72074-when-customer-satisfaction-might-not-matter-when-it.htm). While I didn’t find the article particularly informative (basically, Customer Satisfaction is relevant in competitive markets, not so much in monopolistic conditions – [...]

“Satisfaction Guaranteed”? A Powerful and Low-Cost Proposition – But How Many Times Can You Use It?

A couple of years ago, my family went for an Easter vacation in Southern California. One of the things we did was take a two-hour boat ride on the ocean, with the promise that we’d see whales – SATISFACTION GUARANTEED! And if we didn’t, guess what? We could take another two-hour boat ride for free. [...]

Exceeding Expectations Could Prove Costly Mistake

Now and then, I come across articles, books or… blogs that tout the merits of “exceeding customer expectations”. Essentially, the concept goes as follows: Simply delivering a product or service at a level that meets customer expectations is not enough; instead, you need to “surprise” or “delight” your customers by providing an experience they did [...]

Benchmarking Can Deliver Valuable Information – But Only If It Is Designed To Be Relevant And Meaningful

Comparing your performance to that of others’ is human nature. Knowing “how good you are” simply isn’t good enough; our ego needs that comforting and confirming reassurance that we are indeed better. Better than what? Better than whom? Better how? Doesn’t matter, as long as we’re “better”. Just ask those who grew up in the [...]

AT&T U-verse TV Marks 2-Million Customer Milestone; So Why Are They About To Lose My Business?

AT&T U-verse just celebrated its two-millionth customer. That’s great news overall, because it means that more consumers now have at least one alternative to cable TV – particularly if, like me, they are married to someone who refuses to install a dish on their roof! Unfortunately great news doesn’t always translate into great experience. Since [...]