For Immediate Release – Addison, Texas, Sep. 30, 2009 - The National Business Research Institute, a world leader in survey research, today announced the promotion of Melissa Barba to Vice President of Research Consulting and Administration.

In general, NBRI has not seen a decline in employee engagement across our client studies.  Steady and/or increased engagement scores are what we would expect to see during a period when employee priorities are changing from 'increased compensation' to 'stable compensation and job security.'   Most employees recognize that their job stability is directly tied to the success of the company.  As such, we expect motivation and productivity to increase.

High tech firm Ktech selects National Business Research Institute to conduct survey at their facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Addison, TX (PRWEB) March 2, 2008 -- High technology firm Ktech has selected NBRI to conduct an employee satisfaction survey at their facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  With clients such as Sandia National Laboratories, and core business capabilities related to nuclear physics, Ktech seeks to improve their hard science based services by looking at human factors. 

Dr. Jan Stringer, Founder and CEO of the Dallas-based National Business Research Institute (NBRI), spoke to listeners of an audio conference held by Business and Legal Reports, Inc. The audio conference was titled "Employee Attitude Surveys in California: How to Learn What Workers Really Think And Drive Positive Change in Your Workplace".

The airline industry has flown straight into a storm of problems. Cost-cutting, security concerns and economic uncertainty have clipped the wings of a once proud and respected industry that struggles every day to deliver customer satisfaction to millions of consumers. When an industry is ranked lower in customer satisfaction than the Internal Revenue Service, it’s a sign that there’s trouble brewing. That’s where the airline industry finds itself, battling some bumpy turbulence following a May report from the University of Michigan.

Office politics can be difficult to define, but one thing is certain: there’s no getting around them. For some, mastering office politics is the key to their careers. Others would like to avoid them altogether. And the impact on employee morale, , depending on whom you ask, can range from favorable to fatal.

If the competition is doing more with less, then employee productivity may be the issue. Low-output workers indicate a serious problem within any organization, forcing companies to adapt innovative techniques to increase employee productivity.

When it comes to guest services, it takes a formidable strategy to be successful in the gaming industry. Satisfying guests who aren’t too happy about dropping $500 at the craps table in 20 minutes can be extremely challenging. The bottom line for the casino is to use every possible angle of guest services to achieve what every executive wants from their customers: lifetime loyalty.

Every boss wishes for an office filled with happy, motivated and downright fantastic employees. … Dream on. The fact is there’s usually one bad apple in the bunch, and maybe many more. Bad behavior isn’t just the domain of the stereotypical boss; it’s a place many employees venture as well.

The keys to thriving at work are not just based on ambition, smarts and playing office politics. According to recent research, how people succeed or fail can be based on the support and involvement they have with friends in the workplace.

Poor management doesn’t just drag down employee morale; it has consequences on the bottom line. Through the use of employee surveys, senior management can diagnose the problem, identify the poor supervisors, and make sure profits and productivity stay on course.

Customer loyalty means everything in the business world, and the formula for success doesn’t seem that difficult. While some companies have mastered the art, others lag behind. Predictability and performance may sound dull, but it keeps the customer coming back.

By Dr. Jan Stringer, Ph.D.

If the benefits of customer loyalty are ever fuzzy, skeptics only need to sit down and have a talk with the brass at Southwest Airlines and Harrah’s Entertainment.

These two are giants within their industries and are prime examples of companies that actively make customer loyalty the center of their business strategies. It’s a formula that has been proven in numerous studies: Implementing a customer loyalty program delivers stock market growth that outperforms the market average.

In the case of Southwest Airlines, the up-start airline has always realized what impacts customer loyalty and has been held up as a model of study for executives and business schools across the land. Its ability to turn an industry on its head – going from cut-rate carrier to the third largest airline in the world in passenger numbers – has inspired several books and media attention since its first flights in 1971 from a dusty Love Field in Dallas.

Meanwhile, further west, Harrah’s Entertainment languishes in the spotlight of the star-studded casinos of the Las Vegas strip. While U.S. gaming companies battled each other to build the biggest, most extravagant hotels, Harrah’s put its emphasis on something more than concrete and polished marble. Harrah’s focused on customer loyalty.

The results have been staggering. Its investment in the customer, including a strategy to go after the low-roller instead of the high ones, turned Harrah’s into the world’s largest gaming company with annual revenues of more than $7 billion.

Harrah’s has put a major emphasis on technology that benefits the customer, and that translates into customer loyalty. Its Total Rewards card is the industry standard and its recent patent that customizes hotel pricing is another step that plays into the hands of its customer loyalty campaign.

“This patent is an example of Harrah’s innovative use of technology to enhance the customer experience by leveraging our unique understanding of the customer’s value across our enterprise, not just the casino floor,” David Norton, senior vice president of relationship marketing, told Forbes Magazine in September. “This method is a valuable addition to our revenue management system, which helps us realize greater returns on our new and existing hotel assets.”

Assets, returns and customer loyalty. It’s the trifecta for a successful business. But just paying lip service to the factors affecting customer loyalty won’t do. Specifics need to be laid out according to a company’s customer base. And all companies are not created equal.

“The most important step a company can take to earn customer loyalty is to treat each customer as an individual, by providing customized service and designing its products to include various options so customers can select what’s right for them,” said Lisa Levey, Manager of Customer Relationship Services for an Arizona-based consulting agency. “The biggest mistake is to assume one size fits all. Organizations must design products and services, approach error resolution, and make business decisions with the expectation that customers have unique needs and expectations.”

Expectations from the customer will always be there. Fulfilling them takes definitive rules for maintaining loyalty, including five sure-fire ways of keeping the customer coming back.  I'll share those ways with you in my next entry.


Tags: customer loyalty, customer loyalty program, harrahs, southwest airlines