Strategies for continuous transactions with customers for B2B software retailers: Case study

Abstract

Purpose - The purpose of this study was to propose a specific and empirical continuous transaction strategy through service quality of improvement to small and medium Korean companies whose main business is B2B distribution and sale of general-purpose SW. Research design, data, and methodology - The research procedure is largely divided into two phases. In the first phase, the service quality, the customer satisfaction, and the continuous transaction research hypothesis and the verification are carried out. Experimental data were collected from 450 companies, CEO companies of SMEs innovation institutes, and 510 companies from medium and large enterprises. From September 15 to October 5, 2015, 215 questionnaires were used. And research hypothesis and test were conducted by SPSS SW Ver. 20. Results - The results of the study confirm that service quality has a positive effect on customer satisfaction and continuous transaction: as the detailed items for improving the service quality, 'responsiveness', 'assurance' and 'empathy' have been adopted. Therefore, there are critical factors of a company's survival through continuous transaction. Conclusions - Through this study, we confirmed that the survival of small businesses require continuous improvement in service quality. Among the factors improving service quality, empathy means service satisfaction of customers; so, it is necessary to continuously improve it by evaluating customer satisfaction. Responsiveness means rapid response to customer needs and reliability; it is necessary to enhance customer responsiveness by continuous job training and service training. Finally, assurance is the same as sales product or after service. This means that it is necessary to not only issue the "supply contract," but also improve the reliability of the sales product by securing the competence of the consulting professional. However, because the service quality measurement factors selected in this study are the measurement factors that are mainly applied to large companies or those in the service industries, it is important to consider the type of sales of software distribution companies.