Yesterday’s issue of the Lempert Report newsletter led me to rediscover the American Customer Satisfaction Index, published by the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. The ACSI is a monthly survey asking how pleased consumers are with various brands in the food, clothing, footwear, and pet food categories. You can click here to open the latest press release, which offers a convenient overview of the thinking behind the study. If details are your delight, click here to see the most recent report card.
Implications: This effort was fascinating to me not because of its relationship to food, clothing, footwear or pet food… but because of the information it extracts from consumers: How satisfied are you, and how has that changed since the last time we talked?
It got me wondering about “degrees of content.” Are you happy to simply be someone’s favorite restaurant (or bank or car dealership or store)? What if consumers rated your operation better than the competition; would that be good enough?
What if the consumer felt most of their usual restaurants were slipping, in terms of service, but yours has slipped less. Would that be good enough for you? Wouldn’t you rather compare the consumer’s opinion of your restaurant this month… to their opinion of you last month?
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The danger of competitive comparison is that when the competition is weak, it can make you weaker, too. When you compete with yourself, as well as the competition, you will see their weakness as your opportunity to strike.
Mike Anderson
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