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European businesses play the long game in economic downturn

~ SPSS survey reveals customer retention is more important than customer acquisition ~

September 04, 2008

Companies are prioritising customer retention in the face of the economic downturn, with 34 per cent rating it as their key current concern against just 8 per cent which are focusing on customer acquisition. This has been revealed by a survey of approximately 100 European businesses, carried out by SPSS Inc., global provider of Predictive Analytics software and solutions.

The result is a dramatic turn-around from previous years, when 40 per cent of businesses rated customer acquisition as their main concern. Due to the current economic climate, customer attrition is high. As acquiring customers is often much more costly than retaining them, businesses have been forced to address the need to hold on to and grow existing customers, rather than constantly seek new sales. Hence, 68 per cent of respondents also believe that collecting and analysing customer feedback to build better relationships will be a crucial business tool in the next two years to retain customers and increase customer satisfaction.

“The shift in the market is not surprising,” said Haydn Lewis, SPSS vice president for EMEA. “In the past few years, companies have been stuck in a cycle of customer acquisition and loss. Previously, customers were much more loyal to one brand but this has recently been replaced by a constant search for the cheapest deal. Analysing customer feedback can determine what makes someone switch suppliers, and prevent it from happening in the future.”

SPSS’ Predictive Analytics software enables businesses to capture customer data, predict behaviour and preferences, and act on the acquired insights to solve problems such as churn, direct marketing waste, risk and fraud, in order to help protect companies in times of economic downturn.

Executive quote

“The shift in the market is not surprising,” said Haydn Lewis, SPSS vice president for EMEA. “In the past few years, companies have been stuck in a cycle of customer acquisition and loss. Previously, customers were much more loyal to one brand but this has recently been replaced by a constant search for the cheapest deal. Analysing customer feedback can determine what makes someone switch suppliers, and prevent it from happening in the future.”

About the company

NOTES TO EDITORS
About SPSS Statistics Software
SPSS Statistics is the leading software suite used by commercial, government and academic organizations worldwide to solve business and research problems. Businesses rely on SPSS Statistics for administrative research, human resources and resource planning; medical, scientific, clinical and social science research; planning and forecasting; quality improvement; reporting and ad hoc decision making; and enterprise-level analytic application development. It remains THE choice of academia. Ninety percent of the top U.S. universities feature SPSS in their classrooms to prepare students for the challenges they’ll later face throughout their professional careers.

About SPSS Inc.
SPSS Inc. (Nasdaq: SPSS) is a leading global provider of Predictive Analytics software and solutions. The company’s Predictive Analytics technology improves business processes by giving organizations forward visibility for decisions made every day. By incorporating Predictive Analytics into their daily operations, organizations become Predictive Enterprises – able to direct and automate decisions to meet business goals and achieve a measurable competitive advantage. More than 250,000 public sector, academic and commercial customers rely on SPSS technology to help increase revenue, reduce costs and detect and prevent fraud. Founded in 1968, SPSS is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. For more information, please visit www.spss.com.

Contact details

For further press information and photography please contact:
Victoria Collinson at LEWIS
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7802 2626
Email: spssuk@lewispr.com
Website: www.lewispr.com

For enquiries about SPSS please contact:
Emma Bennett at SPSS
Tel: +44 (0) 1483 719 200
Email: ebennett@spss.com
Website: www.spss.com

Technorati tags: Predictive analytics | data | consumer analysis | Predictive Enterprises |

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European businesses play the long game in economic downturn

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