The Customer Re-emerges as a Priority for the C-Suite
A recent study of 101 C-level executives by Businessweek Research found that even in this down economy, long-term customer-based programs are overtaking short-term cost cutting measures as priorities for senior management.
The data appears in the white paper, Information Is King: Business Analytics in the Age of the Downturn and the (Re)Emergence of the Customer, commissioned by SAS. Jim Davis, senior vice president and CMO of SAS, presented the findings at last week's Premier Business Leadership Series conference. "There is a strong resurgence in the customer," he told the audience.
According to the research, 70 percent of those surveyed are increasing their focus on customer loyalty and retention programs, 66 percent are working to expand the customer base, and 51 percent are focusing both on new customer acquisition and customer service improvements. Meanwhile, channel expansion, new product development, workforce management, product enhancements and supply chain management are considered lower priorities.
What's more, 83 percent agree that the importance of using information effectively to run their businesses has never been greater. However, two in five executives indicate that their organization isn't deriving enough value from the information they've collected.
There is still much work to do for companies to execute on strong customer strategies. But this research shows that business leaders understand how important the customer relationship is to their company's success. And that can only be good news for customers and companies.
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