ABSTRACT
Beginning in the 1980s, many organizations saw a growing number of its customers complaining loudly and litigiously in courtrooms, boardrooms, and waiting rooms. Some have referred to this as the era of “customer rebellion.” There was a remarkable increase in the number of complaints from customers. Some businesses reacted by tuning out the voice of the customers, while others scrambled to establish formal mechanisms for tracking customer satisfaction. Today, customer satisfaction is not just a socially provocative concept; it has become the gold standard by which every organization is judged. It matters not whether a company is small, medium-sized, or large. It doesn’t matter whether it makes widgets or provides a service; whether it is a for-profit or not-for-profit. Trying to compete solely on the basis of price is insufficient. Most banks, airlines, hospitals, hotels, and car rentals offer the same core services, with slight variations in price. What distinguishes them is customer service. Customer service has become a weapon of choice in the battle for market share.
