Over a third of companies - 39% - are not trusted by consumers to be fair and honest. Of the 25 research participants, 41% of their budget was spent on customer acquisition, while only 23% of the budget was spent on customer retention. So we are moving to a world where experience is as important as the product. In fact, large organisations lose 10-15% of their customers each year. A poorly handled service failure usually cuts repurchase intentions by half. What's more, 60-80% of customers who defect are actually satisfied with their previous supplier.
To provide good customer service - to keep the customer satisfied - we need to understand customer preferences for interactions and experiences. This helps identify unspoken needs and create different, sometimes unexpected beneficial experiences. Some customers prefer to manage their own relationships with us - don't call me, I'll call you. They're likely to be cynical of our attempt to build relationships with them. And if they perceive our relationship-building to be false, they'll reject them, and us, and the products and organisations we market.