The natural customer-supplier linkages among individuals, departments, and functions build up the “chain of customers” throughout an organization that connect every individual and function to the external customers and consumers, thus characterizing the organization’s value chain | Chapter 4 Focusing on Customers Key Idea To create satisfied customers, the organization needs to identify customers’ needs, design the production and service systems to meet those needs, and measure the results as the basis for improvement. Importance of Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty “Satisfaction is an attitude; loyalty is a behavior” Loyal customers spend more, are willing to pay higher prices, refer new clients, and are less costly to do business with. It costs five times more to find a new customer than to keep an existing one happy. A firm cannot create loyal customers without first creating satisfied customers. Key Idea Customer wants and needs drive competitive advantage, and statistics show that growth in market share is strongly correlated with customer satisfaction. American Customer Satisfaction Index Measures customer satisfaction at national level Introduced in 1994 by University of Michigan and American Society for Quality Continual decline in index from 1994 . | Chapter 4 Focusing on Customers Key Idea To create satisfied customers, the organization needs to identify customers’ needs, design the production and service systems to meet those needs, and measure the results as the basis for improvement. Importance of Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty “Satisfaction is an attitude; loyalty is a behavior” Loyal customers spend more, are willing to pay higher prices, refer new clients, and are less costly to do business with. It costs five times more to find a new customer than to keep an existing one happy. A firm cannot create loyal customers without first creating satisfied customers. Key Idea Customer wants and needs drive competitive advantage, and statistics show that growth in market share is strongly correlated with customer satisfaction. American Customer Satisfaction Index Measures customer satisfaction at national level Introduced in 1994 by University of Michigan and American Society for Quality Continual decline in index from 1994 through 1998 with a small improvement into 2000 suggests that quality improvements have not kept pace with consumer expectations ACSI Model of Customer Satisfaction Perceived quality Customer complaints Perceived value Customer satisfaction Customer expectations Customer loyalty Key Idea The econometric model used to produce ACSI links customer satisfaction to its determinants: customer expectations, perceived quality, and perceived value. Customer satisfaction, in turn, is linked to customer loyalty, which has an impact on profitability. Customer-Driven Quality Cycle measurement and feedback Customer needs and expectations (expected quality) Identification of customer needs Translation into product/service specifications (design quality) Output (actual quality) Customer perceptions (perceived quality) PERCEIVED QUALITY is a comparison of ACTUAL QUALITY to EXPECTED QUALITY Key Idea Many organizations still focus more on processes and products from an internal perspective, rather than taking
