Managing Customer Touchpoints and Customer Satisfaction in B2B Mass Customization: A Case Study

Abstract

Most businesses agree that high customer satisfaction is important. Many are aware that it is a prerequisite for success, but few measure and monitor it in a structured way, thus failing to improve it. The aim of this article is to develop a customer touchpoint management tool that allows small and medium-sized, B2B mass customization companies to measure, monitor, and improve customer satisfaction. This case study identifies 48 customer touchpoints – classified in human, product, service, communication, spatial, and electronic interaction – in a three-step approach: Employees and existing customers were involved in identifying customer touchpoints, weighting them in terms of theirgeneral importance, and assessing some specific customer touchpoint’s importance for customer satisfaction. The results presented in this article suggest that not all existing customer touchpoints are perceived to be important or relevant, and that employees and customers largely agree regarding which customer touchpoints are most important. Customer touchpoints classified as human interaction were found to be most important and have the highest importance for customer satisfaction.

Article history: Received (16.03.2017); Revised (20.06.2017); Accepted (02.08.2017)