Harvard Business Review
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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.
Published in December 2009