The Satisfied Customer: Winners and Losers in the Battle for Buyer Preference

In our service economy, the most important asset is tough to quantify: a company's relationship with its customers. In this must-read examination of customer relations, Claes Fornell draws out a blueprint for understanding this fact of modern business and reveals the unheralded value of customer satisfaction. Drawing on the results of a massive survey of American consumer satisfaction and including examples from companies like Home Depot and UPS, Fornell explains how to quantify and increase the value of a firm's customer relationships--what he calls the Customer Asset. Arguing that exceeding a customer's expectations is risky, and increasing customer complaints can actually be a good thing, his conclusions about outreach strategy are bold and often surprising.

Claes Fornell developed the American Customer Satisfaction Index. The founder and chairman of CFI Group, an international consulting firm with offices in ten countries, he is the Donald C. Cook Professor of Business at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business and the Director of the National Quality Research Center, both at the University of Michigan. He lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.