NYSE-listed CEOs say customer focus to drive growth
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Chief executive officers of companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange believe that meeting and exceeding customer expectations will help drive sustainable growth in the future, according to a new report.
More than half of the executives surveyed, from 240 leading companies across 24 countries and 20 industries, told the NYSE CEO Report 2008 they would budget more for customer relationship management in 2008.
"Satisfying customers required a solid understanding of their needs and fostering that understanding has to come from the top," ITT Corp. (ITT.N) CEO Steven Loranger said in the report.
Many executives also said retaining customers has become tougher than in the past. With companies increasingly selling similar products, CEOs said the quality of customer service was often the only differentiator.
The report, which is the third such annual survey of CEOs brought out by trans-Atlantic exchange operator NYSE Euronext (NYX.N), also found that executives of companies based outside the United States find it harder to attract and retain customers.
U.S. economic conditions will be the largest external factor driving growth, followed by merger and acquisition activity, global economic conditions, and the regulation environment, executives said.
About 84 percent of U.S. CEOs said the economy was in "good" or "excellent" condition, but only 50 percent of non-U.S. respondents were as bullish.
Nine out of 10 CEOs felt that changes to the U.S. legal system to lower litigation risk and regulatory changes would make the U.S. economy more competitive.
Six out of every 10 CEOs said they expected technology budgets to increase in 2008, but many felt their company's investment in technology has not yet met expectations fully.
Businesses that use technology to reduce recurring costs "will survive, be more competitive and ultimately be more profitable," said MetroPCS Communications Inc. (PCS.N) CEO Roger Linquist.
The U.S. market continues to be strategically crucial to the respondents, whose companies collectively have a market value of $1.6 trillion and reported 2006 revenue of about the same amount. Western Europe and China are close runners up.
A majority of CEOs said emerging markets represent an opportunity, although 2 percent called them a threat.
The real bottom line?
"The tough-guy approach is passe," Marriott International Inc. (MAR.N) CEO J.W. Marriott Jr., said in the report.
"Treating people right, listening to their ideas and being a compassionate CEO is what is required today, not the executive who sees only the bottom line."
