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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You both make great points. Ajay, these stats really reinforce the point that companies need to drive business decisions from the customer perspective. Customer centricity is always talked about at the C-level, but action tends to driven by stock price impact and other financial considerations. I hope these studies provide enough ammunition for more CEOs to change their thinking.
C-level executives have good reason to renew their focus on the customer. A Convergys proprietary research study of 1,000 customers shows:
· Customer Service is the New Differentiator: Consumers now value quality of service (27 percent) over price (24 percent) and brand name (9 percent).
· Superior Service Remains Elusive for Many: 57 percent of customers rate service from average to “not meeting expectations.”
· Attrition is the New “Feedback”: Nearly half of customers say they have had a bad experience; 40 percent said they would leave a company solely based on a single bad customer experience without ever telling the company why; and 87 percent of those who would leave would tell friends and colleagues why. In an age when five hundred followers are as easily contactable via Twitter, as a single friend by phone, the implications of this can be devastating for an organization.
· What Customers Want Most: 65 percent place the highest value on knowledgeable customer service that meets their needs.
When it comes to how customers feel about a company, forget brand and price. Relationship management is the thing. You can find out more about the Convergys study and its findings by going to http://www.convergys.com/vision/rm-insights/research/downloads.php
Ajay Murphy
Vice President Corporate Marketing
Convergys
Interesting title to your post. Actually its another headline that has left me shaking my head. "The customer re-emerges as a priority". I'm looking forward to reading the entire report. I'm hoping I read some concrete examples of what this means to re-focus on the customer.
The reality two fold:
1. If you have put your customers on the back burner, they've put you on the back burner. "Retention" efforts are going to more resemble fire fighting exercises and a scramble to address simmering issues customers have been harboring while C's were focusing on other things. For other customers, they're long gone.
2. Consistency is the key. Like my father use to drill into me, consistent practice drives results in any pursuit. You can't just 'turn it on and off'. The most successful customer-centric organizations (Zappos, Southwest, Ritz Carlton) don't turn it on and off. They consistently pursue a relentless passion for customer centricity, regardless of short term economic conditions. And their profit lines validate this strategy.