Samsung Better Than Apple In Terms Of Customer Loyalty, Per SurveyMonkey

Success is measured in different ways. For instance, there's sales or revenues, profit margins, and course, there's customer loyalty. 

What makes customer loyalty different from sales figures and profitability metrics is that it can not be easily quantified. After all, it relies solely on how customers view or feel about a brand and how willing they are to stick to a particular brand, not on absolute measurable data like number of shipments sold. What is for certain is that customer loyalty often gives companies some idea of whether or not they are doing something right with their products or services.

In the case of the heated rivalry between Apple and Samsung, it appears that in terms of customer loyalty, the South Korean tech giant may have gotten the better of its American counterpart. At least, according to a poll conducted by SurveyMonkey.

SurveyMonkey sets its own metrics and industry standards in order to help companies and customers evaluate the standing of certain brands. Among the players in the mobile manufacturing industry, Samsung scored 35 in SurveyMonkey's poll for customer loyalty. As for Apple, it managed a score of 28. Samsung clearly performed better than Apple, but if it is any consolation to Apple, its score is still way above the industry benchmark, which is 19.

Interestingly, Apple managed to beat Samsung in another different but related area -- customer service satisfaction. In that regard,Apple scored a 41 percent positive rating. Samsung, on the other hand, managed only a 25 percent positive rating. But Apple better not celebrate just yet -- the industry benchmark for customer service satisfaction is 75 percent. Which means that both Apple and Samsung still have a lot to to improve in this particular area.

SurveyMonkey conducted its poll during the final quarter of 2014. It surveyed over 5,000 adults in its so-called Audience, which was polled to give its opinions on specific brands. While Apple and Samsung may be faring well (relatively) in the polls, Microsoft is not doing so good. As a matter of fact, in terms of customer loyalty, Microsoft scored a paltry -8. It did score a better rating for customer satisfaction (19 percent positive rating) but this only illustrates the massive gap between the leaders Apple and Samsung and just about everyone else in the mobile industry.

Still, Apple, Samsung, and even Microsoft would do well to remember that people have always been hard to please. Even if you give them a perfect product, they would probably still complain about how perfect it is. The good news is that there is always room to adjust, and more importantly, one can always learn from past mistakes.