Contrary to popular belief, “best of breed” can be – and is – quantified and quantifiable. It is not, nor should ever be allowed to fall into the category of, one of those lovely amorphous flavour of the month organisational change initiatives that have such high expectations and - too frequently - too disappointing outcomes.

Best of breed means just that. With your competition. In your innovation. The way you provide service. The profits you achieve and the markets you create.

And that means numbers. Which means you.

Customer satisfaction is generally thought to be one of the most important non-financial performance measures that managers in most industries should track.

In a recent CIMA-sponsored research project, my co-authors and I found negative returns to investments in customer satisfaction in the homebuilding industry in the U.S. (in good economic times). After homebuyers were reasonably well satisfied, it was not economically worthwhile to spend more money to make them even more satisfied. The costs exceeded the benefits.