Jameson manages a well-known cell phone company. This company has been voted as having the best cell-phone service. Consumers appreciate the fact that they can call from almost anywhere in the world and the service still gets through. Jameson knows that the company's product far surpasses that of the competition. One thing has been bothering him, though. In order to put so many resources into ensuring the best service, Jameson has cut back on employees at the firm's customer call center. Recently, consumers have begun complaining about long wait times when they call in with a problem or concern. Although its cell phone service is still considered one of the best, customer satisfaction with the firm's customer service has plummeted. Jameson does not understand why consumers are getting so upset. He believes the exceptional cell phone service more than makes up for long waiting periods and other issues with its customer service. "After all," he says, "They can't have it all. If I invest more in customer service, that means less investment on ensuring the quality of our product offering."

Refer to Scenario 1.1. Jameson has asked you, a marketing consultant, to give him advice. He cannot understand how a cell-phone company with the best product offering in the cell-phone service industry could get such low satisfaction ratings simply because the customer service is not up to par. You suggest that Jameson has a narrowly defined view of the company's product offering. You tell Jameson that successful marketers should define their products as what they ___________________.

The problem with customer satisfaction is that customers are never completely satisfied. Customers will always demand more and better services and goods for their money. There is also something very important that Jameson is not considering, in marketing nothing makes up for something. If you offer a great product, but a bad customer service, your customers will grade your product depending on the customer service, not on how great it is as a product.

For example, before a few car manufacturers offered one year warranties against defects, then other manufacturers started offering two year warranties, then three years, then five, now some even offer eight year warranties and lifetime warranties for the car's powertrain. And these changes in corporate warranty policies happened in about 20-25 years.

Competition is extremely fierce right now and customer loyalty is obsolete, so companies must perform almost perfectly and even then some customers will still complain because they want more.