(NOTE: This story was originally posted to CRN.com Sept. 28.)

Managed service providers that want to strengthen their brands, cut costs and raise prices can do all that by improving the cusomer experience, an executive with Forrester Research says.

Customer experience has grown increasingly important in recent years thanks to the rise of social media, an increased rate of technology change and a lack of control over the flow of information, according to Harley Manning, vice president and research director at Cambridge, Mass.-based Forrester.

"Customer experience drives revenue when customer loyalty drives revenue," Manning said Tuesday during an Autotask Community Live 2016 keynote address. "Customer experience can also drive a willingness to pay a price premium."

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Manning told more than 900 people in Hollywood, Fla., that institutions decades ago had the bulk of the power thanks to greater control over pricing, the flow and information and where consumers can get products or services. Nowadays, though, Manning said technology has swung that pendulum firmly in the direction of customers.

Companies with superior customer experience grow their revenue faster, lower their service costs, achieve greater pricing power and reduce risks around regulatory compliance, Forrester research found. A superior customer experience also improves retention rates and increasingly the likelihood of having current clients recommend you to others, Manning said.

For instance, Lincolnshire, Ill.-based CDW, No. 5 on CRN's Solution Provider 500 list, increased incremental revenue by $230 million in a single year simply by following up on sales leads identified through customer loyalty surveys, Manning said. 

Customer experience is most relevant in situations where clients can easily shift their business among competitors and where there's a clear differentiation between companies with superior customer services and companies with inferior customer service, Manning said. As customer experience strengthens, Manning said the percentage of clients willing to pay a price premium increases.

In the event a customer has a negative experience, Manning said that best thing a company can do is apologize, fix the problem quickly and be pleasant to the person making the complaint.

In addition to boosting brand preference and trust, Manning said an improved customer experience can reduce the cost of service.

A couple of years ago, former Cisco CEO John Chambers realized the San Jose, Calif.-based company was making it difficult for customers to do business with them. After collecting extensive customer feedback, Manning said Cisco fixed access and navigation issues on its support website, made ordering rules and platforms consistent, and sped up invoicing by making difficult-to-find tools more visible.