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Key To Satisfaction Is Customer Before Company

The difference between having satisfied and unsatisfied customers could be as simple as putting their needs ahead of the company’s. 

In a recent survey of 2,400 U.S. adults, MarketingSherpa found that 35% of unsatisfied consumers felt the company put its business goals above customers’ needs. Conversely, satisfied customers were three times more likely to feel the company put customers’ needs above business goals. 

Along those same lines, satisfied consumers were more likely to view the entire brand as a customer-first business than unsatisfied customers. (More than half of satisfied customers also described the company as one that was easy to do business with.) Satisfied customers also rated their interactions as better, such as feeling that the company’s marketing messages were more about providing overall value and less about selling and were being used to help the customer make the best decision. 

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At the same time, customers are less swayed by personalized marketing. Among satisfied customers, 31% cited that a company’s marketing was “meant for someone like me” (behind others such as “easy” (55%) or “enjoyable” (46%) purchase experiences, and helping make the best decision (37%)). Only 14% of satisfied customers felt that “meant for someone like me” was a core truth about a company’s marketing. 

The report also enumerates the importance of satisfied customers to a company’s overall business. Satisfied customers were much more likely to recommend a company to others (91% vs. 19%) and to continue to purchase products and services (92% vs. 29%). They are also more likely to be forgiving in the event a company makes a mistake and fails to meet expectations. 

"With our marketing, we build a relationship with a customer. And much like a marriage, there is a constant evaluation of if there is a fair and equal value exchange between the two parties," Daniel Burstein, editorial director of MarketingSherpa, said in a statement. "People in happy marriages and unhappy marriages can see the same situation in a different way. For example, let's say a husband doesn't take out the garbage. In a happy marriage, this is usually a momentary, fleeting thought or annoyance. However, in an unhappy marriage, it can become much more. It ends up not being about the act itself, but rather the motivations behind the act.”

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