A small third-quarter deterioration (0.1%) in aggregate customer satisfaction continues a decline that began in 2007, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI)
The ACSI is a national economic indicator of customer evaluations of the quality of products and services available to household consumers in the United States, which is updated quarterly.
The recently-reported decline in buyer satisfaction has precipitated a softening of consumer demand, with household spending actually falling in the third quarter for the first time in 17 years. Yet in spite of the overall fall, a lot of companies have actually been working hard to improve their customer relationships.
Professor Claes Fornell, who is the founder of the ACSI and author of The Satisfied Customer notes:
For individual companies, customer satisfaction actually matters even more in a recession. Now is the time to make sure customers don’t leave and that margins don’t evaporate. Firms without strongly satisfied customers will face a very difficult challenge.
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