Gojirra99

Luxury Institute Survey: High Net Worth Clients Name Luxury Best Practice Leaders

NEW YORK--June 26, 2006--American Express is the company wealthy consumers rate overwhelmingly the best in Customer Information and Customer Loyalty best practices, according to "Enhancing the Customer Experience of the Wealthy 2006" best business practices survey, from the New York-based Luxury Institute. American Express placed second to Nordstrom in Customer Relationship Management best practices.

In this latest survey from the independent Luxury Institute, 597 High Net Worth consumers were asked to name up to three luxury goods or services firms that they believe represent the best practitioners in Customer Information, Customer Relationship Management, and Customer Loyalty practices. These were unaided responses; consumers nominated their choices.

The top five best practitioners in order of ranking in Customer Information: American Express, Nordstrom, Tiffany, Neiman Marcus and Lexus.
The five best in Customer Relationship Management best practices: Nordstrom, American Express, Lexus, Ritz-Carlton and Tiffany. The top five best practitioners in Customer Loyalty programs: American Express, American Airlines, Hilton, Marriott and Starwood. Most of the loyalty programs that wealthy consumers think are best practitioners are, except for Amex, from non-luxury goods and services categories, which indicates that the luxury industry has some significant work to do, since loyalty is as critical in the luxury industry as in the mainstream.

"Many experts and insiders give awards for "best practices," said Milton Pedraza, CEO of the Luxury Institute. "While those are important, we wanted to give America's High Net Worth consumers, people who actually experience these practices and vote with their wallets, the final say as to which practices are really best, and which brands are best practitioners. Luxury marketers need to realize that today's luxury branding world is a great deal more like The People's Choice Awards than the Academy Awards. The wealthy in particular trust in peer brand reviews far above other "expert" sources. Luxury executives should follow the customers' lead."

"Enhancing the Customer Experience of the Wealthy 2006" best practices survey asked wealthy consumers to indicate which exact best practices they believe are most important in three areas: Customer Information, Customer Relationship Management, and Customer Loyalty programs. The survey includes preferred interaction channels for specific activities and Internet usage in the past 12 months. Responders were age 18 and above with minimum income of $150K and minimum net worth of $750K. Median income was $324K; median net worth was $2 million.

About The Luxury Institute

The Luxury Institute is the uniquely independent and objective research institution that is the trusted voice of the high net worth consumer. The Institute provides a portfolio of proprietary quantitative research that guides and educates high net-worth individuals, and the companies that cater to them, on leading edge trends, wealthy consumer ratings and rankings of luxury brands, and best practices. To reach the Luxury Institute, please call 646-792-2669 or go to www.luxuryinstitute.com.

source : theautochannel

PhilipMSPT

iTrader: (5)

Nice. I shop at all five...

But I don't stay at Ritz-Carltons.

jracerlmn

ths ritz is the ****....sorta...

go to the one on lake las vegas

LexFather

I use 2, Nordstrom and Lexus and I agree, they know how to treat people.

That is a fantastic list.

Amazing to think a CAR company is on there

CHIS350

Neiman Marcus sales associates are crap. Unless you're going to drop $10,000 per year they don't give you the time of day.

Faraaz23

I second that! I'll go to Nordstrom ovre Nemain any day.

XeroK00L

Looks like the Lexus employee training courses at Ritz-Carlton worked after all.

Trexus

Go Lexus! Good to know that high net worth clients see Lexus practices good business. I would definitely agree as well...

mmarshall

If Lexus treats their customers so well, why then, when I had my IS300, did the Lexus shop where I bought it not allow me to wash my own car there at service time at my own request? I don't like other people washing my car...I prefer to do it myself. The guys in service had no problem with it....it was the General Manager's prohibition. He lost a customer...I didn't buy another car there.
Incidentally, the Saturn shop, when I had my SC2 years ago, had no problem with that. I would wash my own car every time I went in. They LISTEN to their customers....and they sent me free auto show tickets every year. Lexus never did that....I had to go in and pick them up myself. And I also notice that the Lexus web site is very limited for non-Lexus owners and non-registered owners.....you cannot E-Mail them with a question. You have to use the 1-800 number. Other car makers do not have that limitation.

Now...I'm not going to bad-mouth Lexus as a company...especially on a Lexus forum. They make some of the best cars in the world, quality-wise. I have great respect for the vehicles they make. But I have never been impressed with how Lexus deals with both customers and potential customers.

Yoko

That is so cool.

Gojirra99

Is that only one dealer(yours) that you are talking about, or all Lexus dealers you have dealt with or talked to do not impress you ?
I am pretty happy with mine (both the one I bought my Lexus from & the new one that sevice it for the past 2 years near me), they're always helpful & courteous & they won't wash my car when I tell them not to.

Trexus

Interesting. I was able to wash my own car at Crown Lexus in Ontario California. Their service is OK but could improve, it used to be a lot better back then. Before Lexus used to wash the cars by hand and now most if not all Lexus dealers have a car wash machine. I believe it's to save time which saves money...

Gekko

because, silly, they don't want you doing something you're not supposed to do on their property. you get hurt and sue them. they don't need the liability headaches. this is why many times they don't even want customers to enter the actual service area. i wouldn't let you either. the last thing they want is to get sued. Good customer service doesn't mean allowing you to run amok around the dealership operating equipment and *****. what's next? you want to do your own friggin oil changes???