Why Customer Satisfaction Is No Longer Enough, with Suzie Petrusic

The Gartner Supply Chain Podcast

In this podcast, host Caroline Chumakov is joined by Suzie Petrusic to examine how supply chain performance can drive customer loyalty in a disruptive environment.

Supply chain leaders have traditionally focused on providing customer satisfaction. They rightly presume that customers want high-quality products delivered on time in a convenient way. When problems do arise customers want the supply chain to correct them thoroughly. But there is another, more effective, way of ensuring customer loyalty: through supply chain-driven customer enablement. When customers reported that they took fewer steps to be able to use the products and services they purchased, and when they reported that the packaging, delivery and customization made their jobs much easier, they were more willing to repurchase from that same organization.

Customers who were satisfied said they were 30% to 40% more likely to repurchase from the same organization. But customers who felt enabled said they were 62% for B2B and 80% for B2C more likely to buy again from that organization.

Suzie Petrusic, Ph.D., is the Research Director serving chief supply chain officers in all the areas of supply chain related to strategy leadership and execution. She has authored and co-authored research and case studies on topics such as risk, supply chain maturity, the future of the supply chain, customer enablement, inflation and recession, and supply chain constraints. She also leads Gartner’s research agenda for chief supply chain officers. Upcoming research topics from her team include supply chain sustainability and digital technology.

Help shape Gartner’s research: Take part in the 2022 Gartner Future of Supply Chain Survey to get a first look at this year’s key trends and we’ll send you a high-level summary of the key findings as soon as it is available. The survey will be open until October 15th.