The challenge of relationships in services ‐ a New Zealand study
International Journal of Service Industry Management
ISSN: 0956-4233
Article publication date: 1 December 1998
Abstract
This paper is concerned with the challenge posed by the management of customer relationships in services. The focus is on banks, although similar service businesses (with long‐term customers) may be expected to encounter like challenges. The relationship approach for businesses is discussed and is judged to be quite fundamental with wide‐ranging implications. The paper considers the appropriateness of the relationship approach for retail banking given the prerequisite conditions suggested by the literature. The personal banker strategy is considered as a means to implementing the relationship approach in retail banking. Empirical findings from a study examining the role of personal bankers in New Zealand are presented. It is concluded that a relationship strategy can be a double‐edged sword: implemented well it can have the desired effects; implemented badly it can have a negative impact that will leave the organization with more problems than if they had done nothing at all.
Keywords
Citation
Colgate, M. and Stewart, K. (1998), "The challenge of relationships in services ‐ a New Zealand study", International Journal of Service Industry Management, Vol. 9 No. 5, pp. 454-468. https://doi.org/10.1108/09564239810238857
Publisher
:MCB UP Ltd
Copyright © 1998, MCB UP Limited