The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ASCI) recently released their findings across multiple industries. Unsurprisingly Apple continues to reign supreme when it comes to customer satisfaction. In fact according to the release Apple’s customer satisfaction is now at 87% 9 points higher than their closest competitor.
There was however another point in this release that caught my eye. A quote from the release states:
“In the eight years that Apple has led the PC industry in customer satisfaction, its stock price has increased by 2,300%,” remarks Claes Fornell, founder of the ACSI and author of The Satisfied Customer: Winners and Losers in the Battle for Buyer Preference. “Apple’s winning combination of innovation and product diversification—including spinning off technologies into entirely new directions—has kept the company consistently at the leading edge.”
Perhaps there is a correlation to customer satisfaction and stock price. One could make a strong argument looking at the above quote and statistic.
This I believe speaks to the difference in thinking quarter by quarter with your product roadmap and to Apple’s approach that innovates for the long-term and for the future.
Many intelligent financial analysts and consultants have remarked on how developing products that satisfy consumers is a more valuable and sustainable strategy then developing one that satisfies investors.
The Harvard Business Review calls this thinking Customer Capitalism and I believe it is spot on.
I would argue that this data validates that focusing relentlessly on the customer experience as a holistic part of the brand and product experience pays off with Wall Street in leaps and bounds.