Net Promoter Conference Europe 2008

Putting the Customer at the Helm - Deborah Eastman

Satmetrix CEO Richard Owen discussed how companies respond in tough economic times. As we face a potential recession, how much money should companies spend on improving the customer experience?

Public company accounting standards make it difficult to optimize for growth as they reward profits. Short term profits may not be good for long term success. To illustrate this point he describes two examples from the financial services area, the subprime mortgage crisis and credit card introductory rate offers. In both cases, the customer is happy during the initial period when the “special offer” is in effect. However, when the introductory rate expires, customers become disappointed and promoters become detractors impacting the long term sustainable value of acquiring that customer. 

Putting the Customer at the Helm - Alison Davidge

For many practitioners of the Net Promoter discipline, the current climate of worsening recession usually heralds a period of budget cuts or constraints that directly impact the possibilities of getting full value from their customer loyalty programs. It's often an area that people don't want to face, so it was refreshing that the opening presentation at the 2008 London Net Promoter Conference from Satmetrix CEO, Richard Owen, attacked this subject head on.