Don't let your customer satisfaction research initiative collect dust on a shelf. Integrate technology with research to optimize the use of customer information.


The typical company spends 80% of customer research time and effort gathering information, and only 20% of that time using it. Companies conduct research to gather information, but it is only useful if it can be turned into positive action.


In the audio book, "Sound Advice on Customer Loyalty," author Steve Walker suggests that integrating technology with research lets companies act on customer feedback intelligently everyday, translating into more loyal customers, and more profit at the bottom line.


Walker outlines three key applications of technology that help make customer research more effective.


"First, there's access. Technology centralizes customer satisfaction survey results, allowing enterprise access to information in real time." He notes that today's technology offers a number of ways to view customer data, such as in aggregate form or at the individual customer level.


The second application is action-ability. Technology can alert account managers of problems with an individual account so that they can take action to resolve the issue before it's too late, according to Walker. "After all, what's the cost of losing a customer, or perhaps more importantly, what's the cost of replacing one?"


Third, Walker identifies accountability as a key application of customer loyalty management technology. "Having access to real time information can be quite a motivator," says Walker, "Especially when account managers know their supervisors can easily view action plans, progress reports, and customer follow up activities."


Steve Walker offers advice on managing customer loyalty each week in the free audio newsletter from What's Working in Biz, http://www.whatsworking.biz/full_story.asp?ArtID=92







Richard Cunningham is a principal of What's Working in Biz, http://www.whatsworking.biz, a publisher of business audiobooks and online audio programs on marketing, sales, and small business strategies.