MINGLI JIANG (ID# 12088048) Management Principles and Dynamics

April 26, 2021 Prof. Alexander C. Trajano

Applications Paper of “Why Satisfied Customers Defect” by Thomas O.Jones and

W. Earl Sasser, Jr.
Applications

There is no doubt that customer satisfaction is a great factor in any businesses. After
all, any business’ goal is to sell – whether it be products or services. It is common knowledge
that there’s a good effect when customers are satisfied with a business. But why is it not enough
to have just satisfied customers? And what is the gulf between satisfied and completely
satisfied customers? This is what Thomas O. Jones and W. Earl Sasser, Jr. discussed in this
article.

Having a satisfied customer could mean having a loyal customer; but there are such
thing as false loyal customers. These customers can easily and quickly lose their loyalty to
another business when an opportunity arise; but not the completely satisfied customers. If a
customer is completely satisfied, whether the business fails to provide the basic quality of a
product or service, or the busines wreaks havoc, they will remain loyal. These are the kinds of
customers that you want to have in your business. However, it is also important to keep in mind
that there are also customers that will never be satisfied not just because they are impossible to
please but also because the product or service being offered is simply not fit with the customers’
needs.

It is important to be able to get to know the customers well in order to identify what
will make them completely satisfied with the business. Customer satisfaction surveys are
helpful but not enough. Aside from the surveys, customers’ wants and needs can also be
identified through after-sales services, collating customer feedback, market research, or
feedback from the frontline staff. This point is incisively and vividly played by Internet
companies. For example, Taobao, the shopping platform of Alibaba Company, will analyze
and judge the goods that users are interested in according to their search, browsing and usage
habits records. So when you open Taobao locally, you will be surprised to find that many things
you want to buy will automatically appear in the interface.

I strongly agree with Jones and Sasser. Looking back to my past experiences, when I
make my purchase in a certain store, I’d go there just because they provide me with what I need
but I find myself going out of my way buying from stores where I feel like the business went
an extra mile with their product. Say, Starbucks for an example, I can get my coffee from any
Starbucks store – which is literally everywhere – but I keep going back to one specific branch
just because I feel like they provided me with much more than the product I intended to
purchase.

Overall, it is eye-opening to learn that there is still a huge difference between a satisfied
customer and a completely satisfied customer. In my thoughts, it’s all the same and when a
customer is satisfied, it is already an accomplishment. But there is still a lot that can be done
to secure their loyalty to a business, for them to be loyal enough to stay regardless of the
situation or experience. At the end of the day, it’s all about learning from your customers and
applying the knowledge to further improve the business.
References

Jones, T. O. (1996). Why Satisfied Customers Defect. Journal of Management in

Engineering, 12(6), 11. https://doi.org/10.1061/(asce)0742-597x(1996)12:6(11.2)