Study after study shows that a happy customer is a loyal one and, in turn, a loyal customer boosts sales and profits. It seems all companies would act on this.

"Because it's common sense doesn't mean it's common practice. It's worrying that for many companies the drive to improve has levelled out in the past three to four years, " says John Hughes, director of Awards Management.

The value of creating a positive customer experience can be turned into hard figures. "If you can manage to retain just 5% more of your customers it can grow the bottom line by 40%-80%." Claims Hughes.

Meet and exceed customers' expectations and they will become advocates for your company - making them one of the most powerful and cost-effective means of attracting new business.

Good customer experience can insulate businesses from the effects of competition on their margins, says Hughes. "If you choose to compete on price, somebody somewhere will eventually undercut you. Build a relationship with your customers and they will be prepared to pay a bit more."

Many firms fail to create a reputation for service excellence because they do not take a consistent approach, says David Evans, chairman of the Grass Roots Group, which helps firms measure and improve the service they give. "Providing good customer service is like being an actor. You are only as good as your last performance."

Those that do make it the focus of their business will flourish, says Evans. "If you get it right, you can build an entire brand based on it. Just look at Lexus: it's no coincidence that the car maker tops the UK's JD Power customer satisfaction index year after year. The customer experience will always tell in the end."

According to a 2005 study by the London School of Economics of the effects of positive and negative word of mouth, based on a measurement called the net promoter score, every seven point increase in this survey's word of mouth advocacy score correlated with a 1% sales increase.

The company showed that companies with high positive word of mouth and negative low word of mouth grew four times as fast as companies where the reverse was true.

There will be times, not often though, that you want to vent your frustration at your Umbrella company. You'll want to throttle someone. All companies realise this but there are still some Umbrella companies who make it difficult for you to complain. The better Umbrella companies will give you an official 'complaints procedure' when you join.

Ask yor Umbrella company about it before you sign up.
Can you say ‘Yes' to these questions?

• In the first place, I know how and to whom I should complain.
• If I'm still unhappy with the answer I know how to take it higher.
• The issue is fully investigated and the matter is resolved to my satisfaction.

If you're thinking about making a complaint to your Umbrella company make sure you have your version of events written down. Your Umbrella company will act quicker if they just have to check your story, rather than have to uncover all the detail themselves.

Instead of a large block of text, try putting the facts down in bullet points. Start at the beginning and simply detail, in date order, exactly what happened. In the first instance follow the complaints procedure of your Umbrella company.

You should first of all notify your personal account manager at your Umbrella company. If you're not happy with the response, escalate the complaint to a senior manager within the Umbrella company.

If you feel your concerns are still not being addressed by your Umbrella company send your bullet points, plus the reasons why you remain unhappy with the Umbrella company's response to date, directly to the Umbrella's Managing Director.

This is as high as you can go. In the majority of cases your complaint will be addressed, and if the Umbrella company care, you should feel you have got a just result.

• 3rd March: sent in timesheet. Receipt acknowledged by Umbrella company.

• 4th March: sent in expenses. Receipt acknowledged by Umbrella company.

• 12th March: no payslip received and net pay not in bank account. Called personal account manager at Umbrella company to find out what was happening. Was advised my paperwork had been mislaid. Tried unsuccessfully to get salary advance.

• 13th March: Operations manager at Umbrella company says it was my fault, and I should resubmit timesheet and expenses. I explained I couldn't and anyway, the company had already acknowledged receipt therefore the fault must be the Umbrella company's.

A simple log of dates and events will help your case no end. In this example it's perfectly obvious that the Umbrella company is at fault, and simply trying to avoid their responsibility.