ATLANTA, Feb. 25 (UPI) -- The customer may be king, and customer feedback may be the best way to prosper, but many U.S. companies forget about the customer, a researcher says.
"Although most companies start out with a strong focus on customers, as the organization grows beyond a dozen members, people may stop looking outward and become preoccupied with internal processes," says Craig Cochran, the author of "Becoming a Customer-Focused Organization."
"The irony is that this inward orientation doesn't ensure survival," says Cochran. "In fact, it guarantees the opposite -- irrelevance, obsolescence and death."
Cochran, manager at Georgia Tech's Office of Economic Development and Technology Venture, says smart companies incorporate customer feedback into daily processes and make it easier to take action.
"Customers who complain are not nitpickers or looking for discounts, they're committed to your organization," Cochran says, noting that complaining requires time, effort and emotion. "Someone who isn't committed to your company wouldn't bother complaining."
