Constructing customer knowledge in knowledge‐intensive customer relationships

Abstract

Knowing your customers and their needs is a topic that has attracted increasing interest in the business and academic worlds. In line with this, constructing customer knowledge has come under examination in this study. A firm's ability to construct customer knowledge creates solid ground for responding better to its customers' needs. In the business‐to‐business markets, customers are demanding increasingly knowledge‐intensive services. Therefore, examining the topic is particularly important in this specific context. In this study, the purpose is to find out how customer knowledge is constructed in knowledge‐intensive customer relationships. To accomplish this purpose, a qualitative multiple case study is organized around seven case relationships allowing within‐case and cross‐case comparisons. The findings of this study describe a variety of practices knowledge‐intensive firms can utilize in constructing customer knowledge in their daily activities. This study helps KIBS organizations in their efforts to create a source of competitive advantage as customer knowledge is a critical asset for firms, especially in a fast‐changing knowledge‐intensive environment.

Value propositions in KIBS: How to facilitate the communication of value?

“…This subsequently supports the firm's relationship with the customer and enables them to customise offerings and adjust value propositions accordingly. Furthermore, with customer knowledge, companies will find it easier to communicate the value they can offer clients (see e.g., Heikka, 2020), and the findings of this study highlight that a genuine willingness to collaborate and a customer‐oriented mindset are essential characteristics for developing meaningful KIBS customer relationships in which both parties adjust their processes and which is ultimately based on excellent customer knowledge.…”

“…At the beginning of a project, it is vital that the information necessary to carry it out successfully is communicated transparently, creating a basis for the co-creation of value between the firm and its clients. Relatedly, it is crucial to understand the customer and construct knowledge about them (see e.g., Heikka, 2020). The three case firms in this study built their respective knowledge bases using similar basic communication practices, such as collaboration at face-to-face meetings between the firm and the client, which supports the existing literature (see e.g., Bidian et al, 2022), but this study also found many other contributory factors, such as in-house meetings and careful documentation.…”

“…Value creation in KIBS revolves to a large extent around a company's ability to communicate propositions that are based on customer needs (Frow & Payne, 2011), and a distinctive proposition, therefore, considers what creates real value for the client. However, in a complex project environment such as KIBS, customers are sometimes unaware or unable to describe their own business needs (Heikka, 2020).…”

“…KIBS companies deliver customised services to satisfy their client's needs (Scarso & Bolisani, 2011; Zieba, 2021), and this emphasises that value propositions also need to be tailored to meet specific requirements (Cabigiosu & Campagnolo, 2019). Creating propositions that align with the client's problems demands extensive construction of customer knowledge (Heikka, 2020); value propositions should be based on a detailed understanding of what to emphasise and when it should be highlighted. Building this level of understanding requires comprehensive knowledge of the customer's business and purchasing practices and the different roles played by members of its purchasing team (Kowalkowski, 2011).…”

Supporting value co-creation through interaction during the pre-purchase customer journey: empirical evidence from B2B HR services

“…In addition, the value created by PSFs is mainly studied at a point when a relationship has already been formed between the firm and the customer (Pemer and Skjølsvik, 2019), leaving the pre-purchasing stages insufficiently examined. Moreover, the literature on B2B professional services is relatively fragmented across a range of discussions in multiple research areas, including capabilities (Janssen et al , 2018); customer relationships (Cabigiosu and Campagnolo, 2019; Casidy and Nyadzayo, 2019; Growe, 2019; Heirati et al , 2019); innovation and new service development (Santos-Vijande et al , 2013); knowledge construction (Heikka, 2020); modularity (Cabigiosu and Campagnolo, 2019; Nätti et al , 2017; Heikka et al , 2018); purchasing (Bonamigo et al , 2022; Heikka and Mustak, 2017; Nyadzayo et al , 2020); value co-creation (Kohtamäki and Partanen, 2016; Mustak, 2019); and value propositions (Baumann et al , 2017; Heikka and Nätti, 2018).…”