by Annette Franz | Sep 9, 2026 | customer effort, customer experience, customer retention, customer service, customer-centric, price, Uncategorized
I originally wrote today’s post for MarTech. It appeared on their site on April 3, 2026. Leaders often treat fees as a pricing decision, but customers experience them as a trust decision. Every fee sends a signal about how a company thinks about the relationship:...
by Annette Franz | Aug 12, 2026 | customer experience, customer loyalty, customer retention, employee experience, employee loyalty, employee retention, Uncategorized
I originally wrote today’s post for MarTech. It appeared on their site on December 4, 2025. Most organizations talk a good game about loyalty but miss the moment of truth: what happens when someone walks away. Whether it’s a customer canceling a contract or a valued...
by Annette Franz | Feb 9, 2022 | culture, customer experience, customer retention, customer-centric, customer-centric culture, employee experience, employee retention, growth, leadership, metrics, Uncategorized
I originally wrote today’s post for Momentive.ai. It appeared on their site on January 25, 2022. Customer expectations were already changing before COVID-19, but the pandemic has amplified them and accelerated new expectations. These changes drove...
by Annette Franz | Jan 26, 2022 | acquisition, customer experience, customer retention, marketing, Uncategorized
In last week’s post, I wrote about the acquisition versus retention “dilemma” from the marketer’s perspective. Obviously, there are two sides to every story, and the customer’s version is the most important side of this story. How this...
by Annette Franz | Jan 19, 2022 | acquisition, customer experience, customer retention, marketing, Uncategorized
Should acquisition vs. retention really be a dilemma? Can’t there just be a balance between the two? Must one outweigh the other? Companies have long been pouring disproportionate resources – human, time, effort, capital – into the top of the funnel, on...
by Annette Franz | Sep 9, 2020 | customer experience, customer loyalty, customer retention, loyalty, marketing, Uncategorized
Just before the pandemic hit, I was invited to speak – and to moderate a fireside chat – at a major global event. Sadly, the event was canceled, but I had spent a bit of time with the event organizer and the panelists, wading through topics and questions...
