... proportion of their customers every year, and in many cases customers are lost because they have defected to the competition. In some markets, the average attrition rate is between 10 and 30%. Here is a simple fact: the cost of acquiring new customers is higher than the cost of retaining existing customers (Benchmark Research Ltd, 2001). So, there is a fundamental reason for customer satisfaction management: understanding customer needs and delivering high levels of customer satisfaction ensures high levels of customer loyalty, and this in turn enhances profitability. Successful organisations have shifted from being product-based organisations to customer-based organisations, and customer satisfaction management (CSM) is an integral aspect of this new way of thinking. Piercy (Piercy, 2002) pointed out that "the enormous differences between lip-service to the customer and the reality in major British companies" is still the truth in many businesses. "Some companies have established new and better levels of ...

See this essay or coursework document in full right now