Striving towards customer delight

Among the topics discussed at the Institute of Service Excellence at SMU (ISES) Breakfast Roundtable in April was customer delight. SMU Assistant Professor of Marketing (Practice) and Academic Director of ISES Marcus Lee said: “Customers have two levels of expectations each time they consume a service. The lower benchmark indicates where customers find service acceptable, while the upper benchmark indicates the highest service level they hope to receive.” Assistant Prof Lee added: “The smart and efficient thing for companies to do is to concentrate resources to meet the needs of all customers. Thereafter, any leftover resources can be used to delight their most loyal customers.”