Just a link to Bruce Temkin's blog entry on the topic.
Great customer experience is not only free, it is an honest-to-everything profit maker. In these days of “who knows what is going to happen to our business tomorrow” there aren’t many ways left to make a profit improvement. If you concentrate on improving customer experience, you can very likely increase your profits.
According to Gartner research, the number one way CEOs expect to see revenue growth for their organizations over the next three years is by building closer relationships with customers. (This is followed by performance improvement initiatives, developing the markets in their home country and internationally, and mergers and acquisitions.)
Customer loyalty will not come by being the low cost provider of goods or services. Nothing short of on time, accurate & personalized delivery will ensure customer retention & loyalty.