Customer Service

US Airways and United Airlines are already under bankruptcy protection, and Delta Air Lines is skating dangerously close. Consumer members of frequent-flier programs are not considered creditors, but to many, they might as well be. "Consumers are absolutely, unquestionably concerned, and anyone who ...

Consumer and business product manufacturers are challenged to form and maintain relationships with their end users. One-off promotions like contests or sweepstakes can help to supply manufacturers with some contact information for their customers, but most times, not much else. Unless there is a poi...

A new report on the loyalty of companies to their IT suppliers might change what goes on inside some of the world's IT innovators. From its survey of 51 brands, Walker Information of Indianapolis, Indiana, concluded that customer satisfaction does not equal customer loyalty. Suppliers' interactions ...

Customer retention has always been an important issue for wireless operators, and they acquired a new problem earlier this year when users gained the right to take their mobile phone numbers with them to a new carrier. In their efforts to retain customers, most focus on services and products. Some s...

First Chicago (now Bank One) initiated the trend of charging for face time with a teller in order to encourage the more cost-efficient use of ATMs. Competitors hastily followed suit. In December 2002, however, the bank dropped this controversial practice, concerned that self-service banking channels...

Galyan's, the sporting goods retailer that features climbing walls, kayak demonstrations and archery ranges in its stores, offers an innovative CRM strategy, too. For four years, Galyan's has offered a stand-alone loyalty card that offers points for purchases, gift certificates for points and specia...

With Hurricanes Charley and Frances inflicting an estimated $40 billion worth of damage to the state of Florida in just three weeks, insurance companies have been forced onto high alert. "Natural disasters are our business," Jeanne Salvatore, spokeswoman for the Insurance Information Institute, told...

General Motors and Ford suffered declining U.S. sales in August. Each announced Wednesday that it will cut production in the fourth quarter, risking profitability for the calendar year. Chrysler, on the other hand, beat the bum month experienced by its competitors with its fifth straight month of sa...

The customer is king again. After decades of mass-market driven customer outreach, which typically lumped customers in large, homogenous segments, a complex mix of socioeconomic factors coupled with a proliferation of new media and technologies have put the customer back in the driver's seat. Today'...

Micro marketing, one-to-one marketing, niche marketing. Whatever buzzwords are used to define it, the trend driving businesses today and tomorrow is the need to profitably serve smaller and smaller audiences. This focus on knowing thy customer on a one-to-one basis is fueled by advances in technolog...

Internet automotive marketing services company Autobytel today announced that it has signed an agreement to provide a national online customer referral program for the Asbury Automotive Group, the fourth-largest auto retailer in the nation. The agreement, which encompasses all 139 of Asbury's franch...

Let's face it. For many companies, the level of service to customers is lacking across the entire spectrum of their customer base, and service to internal customers is even worse. The cruel irony of all the maneuvering inside companies to protect departments is that the only goal that matters -- ser...

Much analysis has gone into the debate about which type of loyalty instrument is most effective in helping businesses dynamically interact with customers in order to build and maintain more profitable relationships. The debate, focused on smart cards versus magnetic stripe cards, is irrelevant. The ...

American businesses are struggling with retaining experienced customer service agents as demands and contacts increase along with higher expectations in the customer-driven economy. At the same time, the marching orders to the contact centers are to keep costs down, reduce call time, increase satisf...

Look long enough at any company's Web site, C-level presentations, earnings conference calls or marketing efforts, and you'll find the phrases like, "customer-centered," "The customer comes first always," and "The customer is the center of the business." They are all noble thoughts to be sure, but t...