Statistically Speaking

Eighty-three percent of consumers believe that service with a smile is still the best path to customer satisfaction, according to "Value Of a Smile in Customer Service." The survey, commissioned by shipping and logistics provider DHL and conducted by Roper Public Affairs and Media, also reports that 75 percent of Americans believe technology has hindered customer service instead of having enhanced it.

One in five organizations spends more than 45 percent of the entire marketing budget on target marketing, according to a report, underwritten by Harte-Hanks and prepared by CSO Insights, titled "2005 Executive Report: Target Marketing Priorities Analysis."

Unnecessary interruptions from emails, instant messages, the Web, and the telephone are decreasing U.S. business productivity by $588 billion annually, according to a study by Basex. "The Cost of Not Paying Attention: How Interruptions Impact Knowledge Worker Productivity" shows that interruptions to workflow can cost the average knowledge worker as much as 2.1 hours a day, or 28 percent of his time.

IT security spending by Japanese SMBs is expected to grow from a projected $824 million in 2005 to $1.5 billion by 2009, according to the AMI-Partners report "Japan SMB Total IT Security Investment and Security-Related Service Spending Forecast: 2004-2009."

New York County (Manhattan), NY, had the highest average payroll per employee among the nation's largest counties with $73,032, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2003 County Business Patterns. Los Angeles County, CA, had the highest number of business establishments at 235,085.

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