Are the rich really any different from you and me?

Focus on the customer by focusing on what matters to the customer. (Photo by hotdogladies'.)

A just-released study by The Luxury Institute reveals what the wealthy expect from the best companies in the area of customer interaction. The survey, "Enhancing the Customer Experience of the Wealthy: Best Practices in Customer Interactions," polled more than 200 households with a minimum of $200,000 in gross annual income and net worth of at least $750,000 (including home equity). The report examines how companies can best serve the affluent by enhancing different aspects of the customer experience. Some of the results include:

- More than 77 percent of the wealthy share the belief that companies that use best practices have quick and easy return policies.
- 70 percent of wealthy consumers want front-line employees empowered to make decisions on the spot.
- 51 percent of wealthy consumers require that companies that use best practices customize communications to their customers. Consumers are tired of receiving frequent random, irrelevant offers and invitations from luxury firms.
- 51 percent of the wealthy want to be consulted on service policy changes. Individuals with net worth of $30-million plus were most adamant about this.
- 44 percent want to be consulted about product changes. The numbers rise to 62 percent for households with annual incomes of $2 million or more.
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These sound like basic requirements for all service-oriented businesses, not just with regard to customers--these sound like basic requirements that ought to be shaping how the proprietor and managers interact with staff as well.

(From Gourmet Retailer e-newsletter.)