Customer Satisfaction Does Not Guarantee Loyalty According to Miller-Williams Inc. Research...

Business Editors

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 14, 2002

Industries Analyzed:

Automotive, E-Commerce, Media, PC, Software, and Telecom

Many companies assume increasing customer satisfaction improves customer loyalty. But according to the latest research

To help clear the hazy relationship between satisfaction and loyalty, Miller-Williams analyzed data from its Value Scoreboard(TM), examining 33 market-leading companies across six industries. The research was based on interviews with 12,277 active customers from the PC, software, e-Commerce, telecom, media and automotive industries between November 2001 and October 2002.

The research shows that the relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty varies tremendously between industries. To accurately measure the relationship, companies must determine the unique value drivers responsible for customer satisfaction and loyalty in their industry. Most interestingly, in some industries as satisfaction increases, so does loyalty, while in others the opposite is true.

The report also identifies the leaders in each industry who understand customer value the best and are perceived by their customers to be leaders in satisfaction and loyalty. Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) ranked the highest in the PC industry, Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO) and Ebay (NASDAQ:EBAY) for e-Commerce, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Siebel Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:SEBL) for software, Toyota (NYSE:TM) and Volkswagen for automotive, HBO (NYSE:AOL) and Cingular (NYSE:SBC) (NYSE:BLS) for the telecom industry.

The seven-page research brief contains details on the research including charts illustrating the satisfaction and loyalty relationship for each industry, including examples that explain why the leaders are successful. To receive the complimentary research brief, join our business member community at www.millwill.com/member-bus.htm.

About the Research

The analysis in this brief is a subset of data from the M-W Value Scoreboard.(TM) The data covers the responses of 12,277 customers from November 2001 to October 2002. Within each interview, the respondents were asked to rate the importance of thirty company attributes when making a purchasing decision. The attributes cover a wide range of topics such as financial stability, customer satisfaction, industry alliances and senior management credibility. A correlation analysis measures how closely one attribute movement predicts the movement of another attribute. A correlation of 1.0 means the attributes move together perfectly; a correlation of -1.0 means that as one attribute increases, the other decreases.

Respondents then described how closely each market-leading company met their ideal. More successful companies had the smallest gap between the customer ideal and their company's performance in that industry.

About Miller-Williams Inc.

Miller-Williams Inc. provides customer value research to senior executives at many of today's most influential corporations. Executives obtain a fresh, unbiased and decisive analysis of where customer and revenue growth opportunities exist for their company. Miller-Williams delivers results to the executive through its research and seminar programs tailored to the company's needs. The measurable outcomes from Miller-Williams research show executives how to improve their business results.

Miller-Williams is the collective effort of Robert B. Miller, co-author of Strategic Selling(R), and Gary A. Williams, co-author of "Change The Way You Persuade" in Harvard Business Review, May-2002. For more information, visit www.millwill.com or call 800/790-6070.

Strategic Selling is a registered trademark of Miller-Heiman Inc. and MHI is in no way affiliated with Miller-Williams.