Customers’ perception and company-customer relationship

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study is to identify customers’ approach to attempts to build lasting ties with them undertaken by various companies in different markets.DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: The research method was a diagnostic survey with the use of a research tool – a questionnaire. The research questionnaire was distributed by a research agency. The application of the target-amount selection procedure was assumed. The structure of the sample, in terms of significant features, was the same as the structure of the surveyed population in Poland. The characteristics adopted in the study are gender, age, education, place of residence and income. It was planned to conduct the study on a group of 1,000 people.FINDINGS: The conclusions from the study indicate that customers are mostly open to building ties with a company, to a varying degree, depending on their gender and the specific nature of the relationship. It was also found that customers pay a lot of attention to the economic aspect of the relationship with a company, and that some aspects of building relationships are more important to them than others. The knowledge obtained can be used both for practical purposes and for further theoretical considerations.PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: Global competition and the peculiarity of contemporary customer-company relationships have for years compelled companies to take actions to attract and retain customers for as long as possible. Thanks to the acquired knowledge obtained, various companies that want to build lasting and profitable relationships with customers will be able to design appropriate solutions for their situation.ORIGINALITY/VALUE: This article presents an analysis of customers’ approach to Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Customer Experience (CX) and Customer Care (CC) solutions. Knowledge on this subject so far has been rudimentary and has been based mainly on observations within organizations. Customers have not been asked directly how they perceive companies’ efforts to build long-term relationships with them.peer-reviewe