Very Small Enterprises as Professional Customers: a Qualitative Study

Thierry Delecolle

doi:10.5539/ibr.v4n2p20

Abstract

This paper discusses the findings of a qualitative study carried out in the French automotive, building-trade and hairdressing sectors about relationship expectations and behaviors of very small enterprises (VSE). While VSE represent more than 90% of European enterprises, little research has been done on these business customers. Defining VSE characteristics and the interest of relationship marketing to study this target, this research sheds lights on VSE buying behavior. The results of the qualitative study allow us to propose a relationship marketing model for the VSE of each sector and to identify relationships key components for this target (interpersonal, brand and offer). The paper concludes with a cross-sector model insisting on the necessity to develop our knowledge of individual characteristics of the VSE owner/manager as an area of future research.

Highlights

This paper discusses the findings of a qualitative study carried out in the French automotive, construction, and hairdressing sectors concerning the relationship expectations and behaviors of very small enterprises (VSEs)
While VSEs represent more than 90% of European enterprises, there has been little research on these business customers
Only 22 papers published in peer-reviewed journals dealing with the keywords “relationship marketing”, “business-to-business”, and “small business” were found on EBSCO in May 2008 – see Note 2 for details of the database consulted: 130 106 and 1 731 articles respectively were referenced under the “business-to-business” and “relationship marketing” keywords

Summary

Introduction

This paper discusses the findings of a qualitative study carried out in the French automotive, construction, and hairdressing sectors concerning the relationship expectations and behaviors of very small enterprises (VSEs). As competition rises in the medium and large enterprise market segments, very small enterprises (VSEs) [defined as having fewer than ten employees, and representing more than 90% of European companies – Note 1] are becoming strategic customers for major business-to-business companies, which implement relationship programs to retain these “new” customers. In this context, relatively little marketing research has addressed small businesses. No one has studied VSEs as customers or their purchase of goods, e.g., automotive spare parts, shampoo, or construction materials, rather than services such as banking

Methods

Results

Conclusion