The Reign of the Customer (eBook)

Preface 6
Contents 8
List of Figures 9
List of Tables 11
1: Defining Customer Satisfaction: A Strategic Company Asset? 12
1.1 A Brief History of the American Customer Satisfaction Index 13
1.2 An Interview with Professor Claes Fornell, Founder and CEO of the ACSI (Image 1.1) 17
1.3 The ACSI Model and Methodology 20
1.4 Customer-Centricity, Customer Satisfaction, and the Information Age 27
1.5 Book Overview 29
References and Further Reading 33
2: Customer Expectations: What Do Your Customers Demand? 36
2.1 Are Customer Expectations Really Sky-Rocketing? 37
2.2 Who Expects the Most, and Why? 40
2.3 It’s a Trap! Avoid the “We Always Exceed Expectations” Promise 46
2.4 What Can We Expect from Expectations? 48
References and Further Reading 50
3: Perceived Quality: Does Performance Matter? 51
3.1 Has Quality Improved? 52
3.2 Quality Leaders and Losers 56
3.3 What Matters Most? It’s Quality, Stupid 60
3.4 Customization Trumps Reliability 62
References and Further Reading 64
4: Perceived Value: Is It Really All About Price? 66
4.1 Are Consumers Seeing Better Value? 67
4.2 Who Are the Value Leaders? 70
4.3 Toward a Post-Quality Economy? 76
References and Further Reading 77
5: ACSI: Is Satisfaction Guaranteed? 79
5.1 Are Consumers More Satisfied? 80
5.2 Satisfaction Gainers and Leaders, Losers and Laggards 84
5.3 Customer Satisfaction as a Macroeconomic Indicator 88
5.4 Mergers and Acquisitions and Satisfaction 94
5.5 Customer Satisfaction “Death Rattle” and Other Interpretational Challenges 96
5.6 Perfect Satisfaction: Future Fact or Science Fiction? 98
References and Further Reading 102
6: Customer Complaints: Learning to Love Your Angry Customers 105
6.1 Are Customers Complaining More? 106
6.2 Which Customers Complain Most, and Why? 109
6.3 Do All Dissatisfied Customers Complain? 115
6.4 Complaint Management Is Critical. Is It Improving? 119
References and Further Reading 123
7: Customer Loyalty: Hey, Stick Around for a While! 125
7.1 Is Customer Loyalty Dying? Or Dead Already? 126
7.2 Which Customers Are Most Loyal? 130
7.3 The Service Recovery Paradox Is Real! 134
7.4 Satisfaction, Loyalty, and Recommendation Are Different! 137
References and Further Reading 144
8: Satisfied Customers: An Asset Driving Financial Performance 147
8.1 Foundations of the Customer Satisfaction-Financial Performance Relationship 148
8.2 Evidence of the Customer Satisfaction-Financial Performance Relationship 151
8.3 Customer Satisfaction and Stock Returns 156
References and Further Reading 161
9: Your Future: Opportunities for Customer Centricity and Satisfaction 163
9.1 Economic Globalization 164
9.2 Globalization and the “Marketing Metrics Problem” 168
9.3 Global Indices of Customer Satisfaction and Global Competitiveness 175
References and Further Reading 180
Appendix A: The Science of Customer Satisfaction (ACSI) 182
Customer Expectations 183
Perceived Quality 183
Perceived Value 184
Customer Satisfaction (ACSI) 184
Customer Complaints 184
Customer Loyalty 185
Appendix B: All-Time Top-100 Research Publications on Customer Satisfaction 186
Index 207