In the communications industry, the typical company loses one-quarter of its customers each year. Only half of car buyers are repeat customers, and that’s just for the industry’s best performers. Airlines routinely lose about 40 percent of their customers; insurance companies know that 30 percent of their clients “won’t be coming back.”
It’s clear from the numbers that for most industries, the traditional approach to managing customer contacts in a way that balances cost and satisfaction is not working.
How can companies simultaneously achieve high levels of customer satisfaction and hold down costs? It’s an elusive goal but a critical one. Accenture’s ongoing research into high-performance businesses has shown that delivering a differentiated, branded customer experience plays a major role in improving customer satisfaction—a key component of customer loyalty. And customer loyalty usually leads to better margins, revenue growth and shareholder value.
