– By Jennifer Waters, SVP, Retina. 

The pop-up chatbot. The automated phone tree. The “your call is very important to us” recording repeated endlessly, each repetition emphasizing just how unimportant your call really is.

Each of these “innovations” was intended to drive efficiencies in customer service. Yet customer satisfaction continues to decline.

Forrester’s 2025 Customer Experience Index found that “US and Canada consumer perceptions of CX quality have dropped for a fourth consecutive year and now sit at a new all-time low.​” Meanwhile, the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) continues a 13-year decline going into 2026.​

ACSI estimates over $100 billion is spent annually to improve customer satisfaction and experience “with no detectable returns.” Despite this, many organizations still treat customer care as a necessary cost to control, automate and streamline. But that approach disregards its true purpose.​

Customer care is not just a support function. It is a core driver for retention, loyalty, expansion and long-term revenue. When products and pricing are similar, customer care sets a company apart. Businesses that recognize this invest continuously in improving the customer experience, view customer relationships as long-term partnerships and build a company culture around this approach—positioning customer care as a strategic engine for loyalty, growth and competitive advantage.

Relationships are built in everyday moments.

In operations-driven industries, such as specialty pharmacy and industrial supply distribution, customers don’t form opinions based on a single interaction. They coalesce over time, through dozens of small experiences. These experiences demonstrate whether the partner delivers on its promises in ways that help the customer.  Ordering, resolving a billing question or following up on an issue may seem routine, but collectively, they define the relationship. Organizations that treat these interactions as relationship-building moments, and not transactions, can create lasting value.

Retention is won on details.

Customer retention is often framed as a cost advantage. In reality, it is a growth strategy.

Customers usually don’t leave after one big mistake. More often, it’s the accumulation of smaller frustrations—unresolved delays, unclear communication and unaddressed problems. Over time, they chip away at trust and cause customers to look elsewhere.

The inverse is also true. Consistency, clear communication and a high degree of ownership create confidence, and that confidence makes customers more likely to stay.

Proactive service creates a competitive advantage.

The best customer experiences feel seamless because someone thought ahead. Strong strategic partners work to prevent problems instead of reacting to them. Common issues such as onboarding hiccups, pricing concerns, inventory gaps or billing confusion can often be resolved before they impact the customer experience.

Proactive service reduces the likelihood of disruption. Over time, that consistency becomes a competitive advantage. Customers are more likely to trust partners who make operations easier and more predictable. And trust often leads to loyalty. 

Ease of doing business matters.

Customers may initially choose a company for its pricing, services or tools, but over time, those factors tend to matter less. What customers really remember is how easy the company is to work with.

That doesn’t happen by chance. It comes from strong operations, responsive communication, reliable execution and minimizing friction in day-to-day interactions. Consistency is key. Customers are far more likely to grow their relationship with partners who make their jobs easier and less time-consuming.

Treat customer care as a referral engine.

Referrals are often seen as the result of satisfaction. In reality, they are a byproduct of consistency and trust. Prospective customers place more weight on the experiences of their peers than on any marketing claim or sales message. In many industries, peer networks are tight, and reputations travel quickly.

People don’t typically refer a company because of one great interaction. It’s more often the result of consistently good experiences over time—quick responses, reliability and simply being easy to work with. When companies get that right, customers start recommending them to others. Those referrals can become one of the strongest drivers of growth, creating opportunities that are hard to win through sales outreach alone.

In that sense, customer care is not just a retention strategy; it is also the most effective and scalable driver of new business.

Measure what matters.

Most companies measure the wrong things because they treat customer care as a cost center to maximize efficiency, and that’s why they miss the growth opportunity. Traditional KPIs like ticket closure speed, call volumes and handle times are designed to reduce expenses. They do little to measure whether the customer’s issue was truly resolved, whether friction was reduced or whether the relationship was strengthened.

If customer care is a growth engine, it must measure indicators of real business impact:

• Customer retention
• Customer expansion
• Ease of doing business
• Customer advocacy

Hiring a firm to measure your Net Promoter Score (NPS) provides insights into these indicators of growth. Ultimately, how a business measures customer care is the difference between managing cost and driving growth.

Use tech to support human-led service.

As organizations adopt greater automation, many risk undermining customer care as a growth driver.

AI speeds things up and handles repetitive work, but it can’t replace real relationships. Customers still want to work with people who understand their business, follow through and are there to help if something goes wrong. Automation has its place, but when companies rely on it too heavily, customer interactions can start to feel transactional—and that’s where loyalty starts to fade. Organizations that rely entirely on automation improve efficiency but can sacrifice growth.

Don’t choose between technology and people. Use technology to support human-led service, ensuring every customer has a knowledgeable, accountable point of contact.

In many industries, customer experience may be one of the few remaining advantages competitors cannot easily replicate. Companies that treat customer care as a cost center often struggle with churn. Companies that treat it as a strategic growth driver can build long-lasting relationships, a durable competitive advantage and long-term revenue.​