They are a focused intensity on the moments of truth in companies, the longevity and consistency of customer service strategies, quantifying the performance of customer service efforts, and the definition and execution of consistent B2B strategies. Foremost among these four trends however is the effort to quantify trust across many different industries, with financial services' being the focus of much of the research on this aspect of customer satisfaction strategies (Tyler & Stanley, 2007). The growth of SERVQUAL and other metrics of performance, in conjunction with the development of analytics applications across marketing and service functions in companies, has led to a revolution in the use of measurement in marketing.

This paper will briefly discuss each of these trends and provide insights into how services companies are using them to differentiate their services.

Background

Services marketing is in the midst of a revolution today as social media has become more powerful than ever, giving customers a stronger voice than they ever have. Bloggers are the new social media...

Dell Computer had sold a defective system to a blogger in San Francisco, and his discussion of the faceless, careless responses Dell made to him through auto-generated responses erupted into the most linked to site on the Internet during the summer of 2006 when the incident occurred.
Customers are demanding more transparency and trust than ever before. Services companies that don't pay attention to this requirement risk losing customers if they don't embrace a strong set of strategies for attaining a high level of trust, and the following topics discuss strategies for attaining higher levels of customer satisfaction in light of this requirement.

Creating Trustworthy Moments of Truth with Customers

The horror stories of customers who go to their banks and can't get access to their accounts, or the million miler travelers who have been loyal to an airline for years only to be bumped from a flight have become commonplace. The frustration of dealing with customer service agents that appear clueless about