Ally Bank's customer-centric approach to banking is earning a trusted reputation among consumers and third parties. In addition to ranking among the top five 2011 "Most Trusted Companies for Retail Banking" in a study recently released by Ponemon Institute, Ally is featured in the new book, "Extreme Trust: Honesty as a Competitive Advantage" (2012, Portfolio/Penguin).

In its ninth year, the 2011 Privacy Trust Study for Retail Banking by the Ponemon Institute measures consumer perceptions of trustworthiness for retail banking institutes.

"Customer trust and loyalty in retail banks is dependent upon the perception that the institution is taking every measure to protect their personal information," says Dr. Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder, Ponemon Institute.

Similarly, customer trust and loyalty serve as the backbone for "Extreme Trust" by Don Peppers and Martha Rogers, Ph.D.

VOX Network Solutions, a leading provider of converged Voice and Data solutions recently received the prestigious "Partner in Customer Excellence" designation from Avaya based on an outstanding average customer satisfaction score.

VOX Network Solution's President and CEO, Scott Landis commented on the award: "We are thrilled to receive this designation from Avaya. VOX continues to differentiate by delivering business process optimization and superior customer service to our valued clients." Landis continued, "I thank all of our VOX Network Solutions team members and customers who are the keys to our success."

Avaya has been a strong proponent of Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty Programs as a key driver of repeat business and growth. The Avaya Connect Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) Program requires that partners have a minimum number of customer surveys completed demonstrating a target minimum average score over a rolling twelve month period.

Clarins, the luxury cosmetics company, has teamed with LoyaltyMatch Inc., the leading loyalty and engagement-computing company, to enhance, redesign and re-launch its Club Clarins loyalty program in the United States.

Club Clarins USA offers customers the opportunity to redeem special gifts and sample sets reserved for its VIP members. Customers can track their purchases, rewards and earned points and gain access to exclusive information all in one place online.

"We chose LoyaltyMatch OnDemand because it provides a streamlined platform with the existing features we require and the ability to customize the site as wanted," said Han Wen, director of internet marketing for Clarins USA.  "We wanted to manage the site administration ourselves, with support from LoyaltyMatch when needed. LoyaltyMatch OnDemand could do all that," Ms. Wen added.

IBM has updated its Customer Experience Suite – software designed for CMOs and CIOS that integrates content, business processes, and analytics across multiple channels, says IBM's Customer Experience Suite product manager Lisa Lucadamo Jarrett.

IBM launched the first version of Customer Experience Suite in 2010 to help marketers manage copious data from social media, the web, and mobile channels, says Jarrett. The re-designed suite includes new and enhanced capabilities to deliver “next-generation web experiences” to account for new enterprise demands due to consumer upticks in mobile and social media adoption.

AirportParkingReservations.com, a company whose comparative shopping experience has made it the leading online airport parking reservation system, has worked to improve its interaction with its audience of travelers by taking advantage of opportunities provided through social media. These recent developments include making use of Facebook’s Timeline, participating in Pinterest, implementing a "social login" option, and creating a "Connect" page on their website. With these improvements, AirportParkingReservations.com is very optimistic about furthering the relationship between their brand and their customers, and retaining involvement with their community outside of the reservation process.

Since 2001, the Market Metrix Hospitality Index has been the standard for hospitality customer satisfaction, but the results uncover striking differences in global hospitality performance.

The most in-depth and reliable data on hospitality performance available now includes guest feedback from around the world. The MMHI is now a global index that includes guest feedback for nearly 300 hotel and casino brands in 132 countries and more than 10,000 cities worldwide.

The MMHI Global is based on 40,000 guest surveys each quarter and includes over 100 performance measures. To ensure reliability, the respondents are drawn from premier panels around the globe.