Predicting professional services retention

The search for the sources and correlates of customer satisfaction has become critical for all professional service providers seeking competitive advantage. At one time or another, managing against client expectations, their sense of perceived risk and their need for control have each been suggested as determinants of satisfaction and retention in the services marketing literature. A study of 169 affluent international investors was conducted to provide an empirical case study of the role of expectancy, risk and control theories in predicting satisfaction and retention by financial advisory firms. A model of consumer professional services repurchased behavior is also proposed. According to the model, service providers should seek to reduce high levels of perceived risk by: 1. increasing participation, 2. enhancing customers' knowledgeability, 3. improving perceptions of personal competencies, and 4. increasing consumers' perceived control.