Apple, Google and Symantec have today been revealed as the high-technology companies with the most loyal customers, in a series of Net Promoter Industry Reports released today by Satmetrix Systems, Inc. Satmetrix, the leading enterprise customer experience management (CEM) company and co-developer of the Net Promoter Score, conducted three separate studies looking at the Online Services, Computing and Consumer Services sectors of the high technology industry.

The results from these reports are indicative of each company’s commitment to maximizing customer experience and driving revenue growth through customer loyalty.

“The companies with the highest Net Promoter scores are well known for their market performance and brand leadership,” said Dr. Laura Brooks, vice president of research and business consulting at Satmetrix Systems, Inc., in the press release. “Apple, whose score far outranks its closest competitor, is well known for its passionate and dedicated customer base. Google’s high Net Promoter Score establishes it as a clear leader in the emerging market of online services, with corresponding strong performance in share price. Symantec, in the more highly competitive and established consumer software business, is beginning to differentiate itself, largely on the strong showing of its Norton suite of products.”

The Net Promoter Score, created by loyalty expert Fred Reichheld of Bain & Co. and Satmetrix, measures customer experience and profitable growth, using a simple and radical question: How likely is it that you would recommend us to a friend or colleague? It allows companies to track promoters (customers who have a favorable view of doing business with the company and who will actively promote it) and detractors (customers who have a negative view and will tell colleagues, encouraging potential customers to take their business elsewhere) and produces the single most reliable indicator of a company’s ability to grow by measuring its performance in its customers’ eyes.

The research in the Net Promoter Industry Reports 2006, was conducted and validated by Satmetrix and reveals the Net Promoter Scores of the top companies in the following high-technology industries:

Net Promoter Industry Report 2006:
• Online Services –Google received the highest Net Promoter Score
• Computers –Apple received the highest Net Promoter Score
• Consumer Software –Symantec received the highest Net Promoter Score

“Dedication to customer satisfaction is a cornerstone of every aspect of our business, from product development to customer support as each positive customer experience leads to strengthened brand loyalty,” said Enrique Salem, group president, Consumer Products and Solutions, for Symantec, in the press release. “Symantec is extremely proud of Satmetrix’s findings that more than 60 percent of customers surveyed not only have a favorable view of doing business with Symantec but will actively promote us to their friends and colleagues.”

Apple, Google and Symantec’s customers also indicated that there are certain aspects of a business which have a large impact on their likelihood to recommend and that these drivers are consistent across the high-technology industry. These were also consistent with those companies with the lowest Net Promoter rating who scored low in all four areas. The areas of a company which customers identified as having a large impact on their likelihood to recommend it to a friend or colleague were:

• Overall product or service;
• Overall value (including the company’s fees and charges);
• Company reputation; and
• Customer service and support.

The results of the Net Promoter Industry Report 2006 are based on responses from customers regarding their experiences with their actual provider. An email invitation explains the purpose of the survey, offers an incentive to participating, and provides a link that allows individuals to click through to the Satmetrix survey site. All respondents are familiar with the products and services that are the subject of the survey, having purchased them as a personal consumer. Company names are standardized to capture accurate ratings for each company. The study was fielded during the first half of 2005.

The full reports can be purchased online: http://www.netpromoter.com/reports/index.php
Apple? Duh. Google? Okay. But, Symantec?! That’s not only perplexing, it’s extremely sad, yet telling. That the likes of Symantec received the highest score in the “Consumer Software” category only highlights the awful state of personal computing as defined by Microsoft with their insecure, counterintuitive, ugly Windows OS. Windows is a worldwide blight on computing.

You only live once: Get a Mac and you won’t even need software from Symantec!

Then you’ll be able to give software that actually helps you be more productive and/or to actually have fun with your personal computer higher survey scores instead of rewarding outfits like Symantec for leechware that only exists to vainly attempt to protect your Windows PC from it’s own woeful inadequacy.

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