Companies continue to take customers for granted, and the relationship between company and customer is worsening, according to the 2004 annual survey and customer experience management report from Strativity Group Inc., Parsippany, NJ, in cooperation with CustomerSat Inc., Mountain View, CA.
The survey of 212 senior executives worldwide found:
· 59 percent claim they do not deserve customer loyalty, up from 45 percent in 2003.
· 83 percent do not know the average annual customer value.
· 89 percent do not know the cost of a customer complaint.
· 90 percent did not know the cost of total resolution while 62 percent did not know the annual customer retention rate.
· 65 percent agree that their executives do not meet frequently with customers, up from 54 percent in 2003.
· 31 percent affirm that they have the tools and authority to serve customers, down from 37 percent in 2003.
· 57 percent agree that their company does not conduct a true dialogue with customers, up from 55 percent in 2003.
· 54 percent agree that the role of the customer is not well defined, down from 60 percent in 2003.
“These results indicate a major vote of no confidence by executives, an inability to move from intention to execution and an overall failure to deliver successful customer strategies,” said Lior Arussy, Strativity Group founder.
Despite attention from academia and the media on the value of existing customers and the cost inherent in obtaining new customers, Arussy said, companies are ignorant to the costs and revenues associated with their customer relationships.
“Companies continue to pay a great deal of lip service to their customers and customer strategies, yet very few of them can demonstrate long-term success in forming strong, sustainable and profitable relationships with customers,” he said.
Executives from the United States, Europe, Asia and Africa submitted surveys. Participating companies represented a wide range of sizes.
