Response to Sean Cowles Post

Sean's Question: Although customer satisfaction and customer value are interdependent, which one is more important?

For me personally, I think customer satisfaction is more important than customer value. I focus a lot on how I'm treated as a customer, so when I'm looking to purchase a product my overall satisfaction will go up or down depending on how the employee of the business treats me. If I'm satisfied with the overall experience of purchasing the product, then I will most likely do business with them in the future, and if not I wouldn't. 

Customer Value and Customer Satisfaction

Customer value and customer satisfaction are very often interdependent. When a customer walks into a business, they expect a certain level of customer service, as well as a certain price for the item they are planning on purchasing. If you walk into a wireless carrier, such as Verizon, there are a few different things you consider: the pricing of the phone you're going to buy, the quality of said phone, the helpfulness of the employees, and the way these employees treat you while you're in their establishment. If you're treated poorly by the employees and you still walk out with a phone, your satisfaction with the purchased phone will be less than it would be had they been friendly and polite, because you'll look back and remember their behavior. If you are in need of a phone and have to choice but to pay a higher price than you would normally be willing, your satisfaction would go down because you might not think the phone is worth what you paid.

While it is very possible for satisfaction to occur with low customer value, more times than now a customer will base his opinion on the value he sees fit.

Do you base your value of a product more on the physical product itself, or do you find yourself grading it based on service more? Are there any situations where you would find the service insignificant in the purchase of your product?