Building loyalty through order fulfillment, service assurance, and service recovery in the telecommunications business segment

Abstract

In business marketing or B2B (business-to-business), the strategy of retaining valuable customers has proven to be more advantageous than efforts to acquire new customers. In the context of the business segment in the Indonesian telecommunications industry, the ability to retain customers is of utmost importance due to the highly competitive nature of the telecommunications industry in Indonesia. This research adopts the SERVQUAL model to measure Customer Satisfaction, with a focus on specific aspects relevant to the telecommunications industry, such as Order Fulfillment, Service Assurance, and Service Recovery. The specific aspects are then analyzed using Second Order SEM PLS to better understand the influence of its dimensions. Furthermore, Relationship Marketing is used to emphasize the importance of building long-term relationships through Customer Satisfaction to create Customer Loyalty. The research employs a quantitative approach, collecting data through questionnaires distributed to 363 end-user customers in the wholesale segment of PT. Telkom Indonesia Regional IV in Central Java and Yogyakarta. The results of the study indicate that all specific service quality aspects (Order Fulfillment, Service Assurance, and Service Recovery) have a direct relationship with Customer Satisfaction. Subsequently, in the mediation analysis, Customer Satisfaction serves as a full mediator for both Order Fulfillment and Service Recovery in relation to Customer Loyalty. However, in the relationship between Service Assurance and Customer Loyalty, Customer Satisfaction functions as a partial mediator, as Service Assurance also has a direct impact on Customer Loyalty. Theoretically, there is synergy between SERVQUAL and Relationship Marketing, where Service Recovery has the strongest influence on Customer Loyalty through Customer Satisfaction.