Gartner Says More Than 75 Percent of Businesses Will Fail to Meet Customer Service Excellence Standards Through 2007
Gartner Analysts to Discuss State of CRM Industry at Gartner CRM Summit
STAMFORD, CONN., August 27, 2002 - Through 2007, a time during which acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers will be imperative to business success, more than 75 percent of businesses will fail to fully meet customer expectations for customer service excellence, according to Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT and ITB).

Businesses that fail to meet customer service excellence will experience an average turnover of 100 percent of their customer base every five years, according to Gartner.

"Although customer service and support as a high-level concept is discussed endlessly, businesses are failing to deliver sustained innovative processes at the point of customer interaction," said Michael Maoz, vice president and research director for Gartner. "Businesses must learn to exploit customer-service-and-support interactions to drive higher levels of customer loyalty and profitability."

Gartner advises businesses to engage in candid self-assessments to determine whether they have the proper organizational structures established to improve customer service. By 2007, Gartner predicts that more than 60 percent of successful businesses will embed real-time analytics into key customer interactions.

"Businesses often excel at offline profiling and segmentation of the customer base for the purposes of messaging, branding and advertising," said Maoz. "However, such offline analyses are rarely made available to service agents or have the logic built into customer self-service applications during an interaction. That is a critical mistake."

To succeed in customer service and support, businesses must find a way to overcome the organizational and technological stumbling blocks that stand between customer expectations and customer service, according to Gartner.

Further analysis on customer service strategies and the entire scope of CRM initiatives will be discussed at Gartner CRM Summit. Gartner CRM Summit will be held September 18-20, 2002, at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers in Chicago. During Gartner CRM Summit, Gartner analysts will help attendees identify the business and IT imperatives necessary to facilitate more profitable customer relationships. For more information on the conference or to register for the event, go to www.gartner.com/us/crm or call 1-800-778-1997.

About Gartner
Gartner, Inc. is a research and advisory firm that helps more than 10,500 clients understand technology and drive business growth. Gartner's businesses consist of Gartner Research, Gartner Consulting, Gartner Measurement and Gartner Events. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, and has 4,000 associates, including 1,200 research analysts and consultants, in more than 90 locations worldwide. Fiscal 2001 revenue totaled $963 million. For more information, visit www.gartner.com.
Contact:
Allison Haines
Gartner
+1 203 316 6216
allison.haines@gartner.com