An assessment of customer service in business‐to‐business relationships

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a deeper understanding of customer service/service quality in business‐to‐business contexts. Design/methodology/approach – An in‐depth case study was used to discover the perceptions of both key individuals in the supplying company and key customers. Findings – The paper shows that that customer service/service quality in a business‐to‐business context is a complex and multifaceted issue, the different parties in a relationship have differing perceptions of what constitutes service quality and that actors from the wider network can have an impact on perceptions of service quality. Research limitations/implications – This work is tentative in nature so it is not possible to generalise the findings to a wider context. However, it suggests that this area needs much more detailed and in‐depth investigation. Practical implications – Managers need to be aware of the complexity of customers' service quality perceptions in a business‐to‐business context. They must consider dynamics, actions of other actors and how best to demonstrate their expertise and experience. Originality/value – The findings of this research, although only exploratory, are significant because they are one of the few pieces of research into business‐to‐business service quality in which perceptions of quality from both sides of the dyad are collected and analysed.