'When Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos was asked why Amazon.com scaled back spending on marketing and public relations, the Web executive said a better customer experience leads to word-of-mouth recognition that cannot be duplicated via marketing or PR.

'That’s wisdom worth noting.'

This is a quote from a CMS industry site that I follow and I whole heartedly agree. However, one of the main difficulties in achieving this is managing customer expectations. I worked in retail management many lifetimes ago and I remember my staff would often moan about 'bad customers'. One member of staff one day suggested that all customers should have to work in a shop for at least one day so that they could understand the stresses of that environment and the importance of treating shop staff with respect.  In an IT project this would not be necessary as long as expectations are managed well. With budgets tight and competition intense clients often get a great deal from IT suppliers, especially in services, but must understand that they are getting a great deal. This is the job of the account manager or the project manager.

It is also the job of the business manager to ensure that all staff understand the importance of Jeff Bezos's statement too.