Customer service strategy options: A multiple case study in a B2B setting [An article from: Industrial Marketing Management]

This digital document is a journal article from Industrial Marketing Management, published by Elsevier in 2004. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
This study addresses the question whether customer service actually has order winning potential in B2B situations, which customer service strategies are deployed, and what determines customer service relevance. A literature review was followed by a multiple case study, using 12 organizations from different industries and from different positions in supply chains. Based on having both problem solving and transfer characteristics, four customer service strategy options are identified: customer integration, customer adaptation, logistical precision, and standard customer service. Many organizations are positioned in the least attractive customer service strategy option: customer adaptation. Partially, this is caused by difficulties in assessing the customer service capability and the customer's sensitivity for customer service. The article concludes with the theoretical and managerial implications.