Deliver Order from Chaos

"Businesses that spend time and effort to serve their customers emerge with a larger wallet share and a willingness on the part of their customers to pay a higher purchase price. For example, 40% of loyal customers said they are willing to pay an additional 10% or more to continue purchasing from companies delivering great experiences, and 52% of dissatisfied consumers expect discounts of 5% or more to continue doing business with a company."

"These are challenging times for creating, developing, and maintaining customer relationships. More than ever, every customer--one who is willing to spend (and pay on time)--is golden. At the same time there are new channels: mobile and social media that customers are choosing and must be opened and maintained. Meanwhile the costs of attracting and keeping each customer must be minimized to maximize net revenues."

"The recession has changed consumers’ shopping habits so much that three quarters of shoppers would leave a store without buying if they received poor levels of customer service."

"Take good care of customers and they will come back and send their friends. The complication comes when you add ever increasing health insurance costs, an over-abundance of competition, and a customer base that has less time and higher expectations. Smart companies are refocusing on customer service because they can see the value. Many have not. The customers will have the last say."

"People are angry, disgusted and even resigned to the fact that we as consumers get the service we settle for. As many of you pointed out, numerous factors have contributed to the current state of affairs. There is no question that customer desire for low prices has driven some of the problems. So has the slow economy, which has forced many companies to cut back on staff. Lots of people also mentioned the way customer service representatives are paid."