RSS Feed customer focus magazine

Dr Katy Mason, senior lecturer in marketing, University of Lancaster, discusses how using a business model framework as a diagnostic tool to understand what products and services can be created and delivered for which customers, helps managers work out what they need to do next and where they should concentrate their resources.

At the heart of Autoglass®' exceptional customer service proposition is the idea that customer convenience is fundamental to success. With customers already interacting with brands - and with their peers - over a number of social networking channels, there is a growing demand for integrated commerce and booking platforms which have convenience as a top-line requirement. Operations director Nick Henwood explains more.

The Manchester Airports Group (MAG) is the largest UK-owned airport operator. Its four airports, Manchester, East Midlands, Bournemouth and Humberside, currently serve about 24 million passengers every year, support over 130,000 jobs and contribute £3.2 billion annually to the UK economy. The group is championing the customer experience as a key differentiator to seal the group’s reputation as a top ranking global air hub.

The banking sector is one of the most highly regulated and risk averse industries in existence today, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that the pace of innovation – whether technological or otherwise – can seem quite slow. Graham Jarvis asks leading bank executives how they feel banks need to change in order to better serve customers.

Logica chief executive Andy Green discusses quality interfaces, multiple contact channels and using customer data. And how companies need to sometimes keep it personal.

CBI director general John Cridland suggests UK businesses should take a forensic approach to analysing customer requirements in order to cut costs and provide better value. He also discusses the threat from India and China and how British business needs to re-establish trust with its customers.

Dr Nicola Millard, customer experience futurologist for BT Global Services, talks to us about the increasing power of skilfully networked customers, and how organisations need to respond to the 'monster customer'.

The recession–hit home building market has undergone radical change since the Barker Review of 2004 led to a major drive to improve customer service. With a new consumer code of practice now firmly in place, the sector is continuing to focus on its customer service offering. Steve Hurst talks to Sarah Eales, group customer service director at Bovis Homes, about how they are helping to transform the way customers view home builders.

A joint study by us and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) provides clear evidence that in the most competitive sectors pressure to maintain quality of service remains high. We look at some of the findings and examine how Ofwat, the water industry economic regulator, wants to protect those consumers who can't shop around.