needed because not oniy is the cost

needed because not oniy is the cost of retaining an existing
customer less than the cost of acquiring a new customer but
also existing customers cost less to maintain than newly
acquired customers (Reichheld 1996). However, establishing
a link between satisfaction ratings and repurchase
behavior has not been easy for most firms. Some have even
labeled satisfaction measurement a "trap" and argued for
curtailing satisfaction measurement efforts (Reichheld
1996). Doing so may be a mistake. Theoretically, satisfaction
ratings should be linked to repurchase behavior. Yet this
link may be difficult to observe in a commercial satisfaction
survey if satisfaction ratings vary because of differences in
customer characteristics. As such, managers may erroneously
conclude that the relationship between satisfaction
and repurchase behavior is nonexistent and direct resources
away from managing customer satisf^ition. This may leave
them competitively disadvantaged as (Hher finns attract and
retain customers, leaving an even smaller pool of customers
for them.