Is customer satisfaction a market differentiating factor?

There have been instances wherein competitors have used customer satisfaction as an index to differentiate themselves from the other. But is customer satisfaction really a tool or should marketing experts use customer satisfaction index to project themselves a better brand? I really doubt this approach. Customer satisfaction is the bare minimum requirement which should be provided by any industry . Industries should be working on providing more value adds as customer satisfaction should come as stated intentions for industry. This then helps the company become more of a brand than anything else. Also the customer satisfaction surveys are many a times flawed and does not provide the real picture. According to Harvard Business Review, “…it is difficult to discern a strong correlation between high customer satisfaction scores and outstanding sales growth. Continuous improvement in satisfaction levels is something companies can definately aim at so that your loyal customer should stay with you simply because it takes less effort to retain loyal customer than bringing in new ones.