Pretty much everyone has some retailing customer service horror story to tell but, on balance, the situation may not be all that bad at the moment.
The University of Michigan's annual American Customer Satisfaction Index was released this week and the news was encouraging for retailers and the economy.
First off, consumers gave higher marks to supermarkets, gas stations, specialty retailers, health and personal care stores and e-tailers.
Overall, according to the report, "customer satisfaction with the goods and services that Americans buy reached an all-time high in the fourth quarter of 2006."
The expectation that consumers will continue to remain happy with their retail experiences (for the most part) should continue "driving consumer spending growth of between 3.5 percent and 4.1 percent for the first quarter of 2007," according to the study.
As has been the case in the past, those chains that have received high markets did so once again. Companies including Publix, Costco and Best Buy with its "geek squad" continue to meet and, in many cases, exceed the expectations of shoppers.
A study by University of Iowa marketing professor Thomas Gruca posits consumer satisfaction index improvements translate into dollar improvements for retailers beyond the short term. Prof. Gruca maintains that for each point improvement, a company's cash flow increases by $55 million a year later. The number is actually higher for retailers, according to the professor, because of the frequency in which stores are shopped.
"When a business says they want customers satisfied, it means two things. It means it wants them satisfied now, but it also means it wants them to come back," he said.
Discussion Questions: What is your takeaway from the results of the University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index? What are the implications for the economy and retailers?