If you take note of only one business article this week, make sure it is this one by Simon Caulkin in the Observer.
Despite what they say - and often even think - many, perhaps most, companies are surreptitiously at war with their customers. Through nuisance games, dirty tricks and small print they take every opportunity to extract more from your wallet for no extra service.
.… Despite huge amounts spent on aids like customer relations management software, customer satisfaction levels are low and falling, and so is the esteem in which business is held.
And as Caulkin quite rightly points out, the reason that organisations continue to treat their customers with contempt is largely because customer value is a wasting asset.
Financial measures make no distinction between how profits are earned. Are they the result of creating new value from customer relationships ('good profits' from increasing loyalty), or were they earned by appropriating value from them ('bad profits')?
Customer service or just management babble?
Are you building customer frequency, or loyalty?