Diagnosing Service Quality Gaps to Improve Client Retention in a Marketing Agency using Integrated Decision Analysis

Yatsabita Nabila Andriyana; Pri Hermawan

doi:10.30640/jmcbus.v4i3.7061

Authors

Yatsabita Nabila Andriyana Institut Teknologi Bandung
Pri Hermawan Institut Teknologi Bandung

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30640/jmcbus.v4i3.7061

Keywords:

AHP, Client Retention, Digital Marketing Agency, Service Quality Gaps, Thematic Analysis

Abstract

Abstract. This study investigates how service quality gaps accumulate across the client relationship journey in a small digital marketing agency and identifies prioritized interventions to improve client retention. The agency under study experienced a sharp retention decline in late 2025, losing fourteen clients in two months. Using a qualitative-dominant design, nine semi-structured interviews were conducted with six internal stakeholders: the CEO, former General Manager, Head of Project Manager, Project Manager, Marketing team, and HR Consultant, and three client informants representing different stages of the agency-client relationship. Interview data were analyzed through a hybrid thematic analysis process (Naeem et al., 2023; Braun and Clarke, 2006), producing five themes and twenty-four codes. Themes were mapped onto the Gaps Model of Service Quality (Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry, 1985; Wirtz and Lovelock, 2022) to identify structurally linked service quality gaps. Value-Focused Thinking (Keeney, 1992) translated gap findings into five fundamental objectives and nine solution alternatives, which were then prioritized using Analytical Hierarchy Process (Saaty, 1980). Criteria weights were derived through the Rank Reciprocal Method (Stillwell et al., 1981) and scores aggregated using the geometric mean (Aczel and Saaty, 1983). Results were cross-validated using SuperDecisions. The PM Performance Evaluation System emerged as the top priority (Normals = 0.122), followed by PM Capability Development Program (0.120) and Value Communication Framework (0.118). The study also identifies four distinct client churn typologies, including an informed voluntary pause pattern where a client exits despite positive performance metrics because one specific strategic goal remained unmet, which is not explicitly documented in prior agency-client relationship literature

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