Partner Article

Customers, not profit, are top priority

Customer relationships are being prioritised over profit by the UK’s small businesses during the downturn, new research has revealed.

A recent poll by Cisco found that the severity of the current recession is forcing businesses to focus more than ever on keeping their customers happy.

Nine out of ten small businesses believe the key to success is giving customers a ‘personal touch’, and more than 50% have introduced new measures during the last 12 months to build and retain customer relationships, the poll found.

Bernadette Wightman, head of SME at Cisco UK and Ireland said: “Now, more than ever, UK SMEs are devoting time, money and effort to improving their customer relationships, though it is also evident that specific attention is needed to ensure that this resource is not wasted.”

The survey also suggested that businesses owners are willing to take drastic steps to ensure customer service is a top priority.

Three quarters of those surveyed said good customer service was best created by the attitude of their staff. Half of those polled said miserable employees should be removed if customer service was to be safeguarded.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .