Duct Tape Marketing

Startling Numbers!

I have recently returned home from a conference on customer service. It was a great experience! I met some fascinating people and learned some interesting facts - quite startling actually!

For example, a recent survey (which I cannot find at the moment for some reason) of the US revealed that 75% of senior managers and above NEVER have any contact with customers! What do you think of that? It scares me!

In another study, 85% of the executives surveyed believe their company is doing a better job with customer service, while only 55% of their customers agree! In the same study it was found that 56% of the executives felt that their company was customer-centric, while only 12% of their customers agree! Why is there such a huge disconnect? What should we do about this, if anything?

Do you believe the executives are out of touch? What other conclusion can you draw from these survey results?

I hope that my clients stay customer-centric, and stay in touch with their customers. I would love to hear your thoughts on this idea that the executives in these surveys are somehow living in an imaginary world. Is this the year of the customer? How can the leaders of these companies be so disconnected from what their customers think?