Profitability and customer satisfaction in services - An integrated perspective between marketing and cost management analysis

The work suggests a defining approach aimed at understanding the relations between client satisfaction and business profitability, with specific refer ence to services management The Paper makes use of the analysis of the reas ons for the separation of the client satisfaction and cost containment orie ntations - a separation which is a weak point in the case of service busine sses. It then develops a methodological approach for bringing together clie nt satisfaction research and cost optimisation, the application of which is presented by means of a business case concerning a firm which offers a dat abase service This approach makes it possible to put in relationship the ut ility perceived by the customer with reference to the different attributes of the offer and the price which the customer is prepared to pay to obtain the utility. At the same time it makes it possible to compare the price thu s determined and the effective cost of the activities which determine the s ervices delivered Research into compatibility between competitive and finan cial success is therefore allowed by reference to analysis of the service c haracteristics. These permit a joining together - the external and internal process of the company, or rather the value as perceived by customers (the relationship between utility and price sustained) and the cost sustained b y the company in the generation of this value.