Most companies devote a lot of energy to listening to the "voice of the customer," but few of them are very happy with the outcome of the effort.  A growing number of companies have developed effective customer feedback programs that begin their customer feedback loop at the front line. The objective is to understand in detail what the customers value and what the front line can do to deliver it better. Over time, companies compile the data into a baseline of the customer experience, which they draw upon to make process and policy refinements. The strongest feedback loops do more than just connect customers and the front line-they keep the customer front and center across the entire organization.

The Idea in Brief

• It's never been more important to keep the customers you already have-it's much cheaper than acquiring new ones. But elaborate customer research may be beyond this year's budget.
• Many companies have succeeded at retaining customers by asking them for simple feedback-and then empowering frontline employees to act swiftly on that feedback.
• European manufacturer Grohe, for example, turned around a decline in market share and used its sales force more effectively after implementing a simple feedback loop from the distributors who sold the company's products.