I love the fact that everyone in the retail and hospitality sectors wants to make improvements. At two recent trade events, the Retail Week Conference and Retail Forum, the one prevailing theme was 'how can we offer our customers a better experience?' For many years, we have come across old-school (but certainly not unsuccessful) retail leaders who have had the philosophy of 'I know retail like the back of my hand… why do I need to listen to my customers?' and it is a genuine joy to see so many businesses now believing that understanding the hard numbers that capture consumer experience is an essential component of business growth. 

 When I first entered the research sector 15 years ago, the view at the time was that 'measuring the customer experience' was a metaphor for 'let's keep tabs on all our staff.' And whilst maintaining high levels of brand and operating standards is no less important now than in the nineties, thankfully the vast majority of the industry now agrees that using customer research in a positive way brings insights into a business. Many businesses have found that analysis into their insights have led to innovations in customer satisfaction and are paying dividends. 

 The one area that I find continues to interest me is the concept that 'satisfied' customers are not loyal. For too many years the UK has been content as long as our customers were simply 'happy.' A large number of restaurant and hotel chains have measured their levels of customer loyalty by number of complaints and have bonused managers on making significant decreases to these numbers. From our research we have identified that highly satisfied customers are about 2 – 3 times more likely to say they are highly likely to return and recommend than simply satisfied guests. While there is virtue in reducing complaints, it doesn't contain the essential component of growing your business through improving customer loyalty. 

 Customers want to have a good time. They want to be raving fans for the products and services they connect with. They want to talk about their positive experiences online. It's in our best interest to help them get there. Enjoy the long weekends and the short weeks!