Price versus service

Am I a happy customer?

I was dumbfounded by this report in Business Week. The title of the article is "Keeping Customers in a Crummy Economy.

"Even before the U.S. economic outlook darkened as the gravity of the financial crisis came into focus, companies started to get more aggressive in their attempts to hold on to old customers and attract new ones."

The above quote did not initially concern me until I read the entire piece. I see no mention of measuring customer opinion nor making certain that valued and talented personnel are not lured away to the competition.

I understand the value of reducing prices and creating better value during the current downturn, but we all need to remember the reality that if you sell on price alone, someone will always be cheaper.

Let me cite a real-world example. Though I won't mention the specific company name, I can tell you that I loathe my cable provider. Their customer service is awful, half of the people I speak to can't seem to speak English, the employee turnover is dramatic, and the cable modem service is unreliable. In case you did not notice, I did not utter a peep about their pricing!

There is another provider in my neighborhood, but my house falls one block short of being able to receive their service, otherwise, I would switch in a New York minute!

If your company is not bolstering its market research efforts both internally and externally right now, you are making a huge mistake my friend. Measuring consumer and employee feedback, and addressing it in a meaningful ways is even more crucial right now.