Analysis of Salesman Satisfaction in Recommending Automotive Financing Services: A Case Study of PT X

Background: The automotive industry is vital to Indonesia’s economy, with financing services driving the majority of vehicle sales. At PT X, 92% of the financing comes from salesman referrals, highlighting their key role. This study focuses on PT X to examine how service quality affects salesman satisfaction and willingness to recommend financing services.Purpose: This study analyzes salesman satisfaction with recommending PT X’s automotive financing services using the Importance Performance Analysis (IPA) method.Design/methodology/approach: A quantitative approach was employed, surveying 176 car salesmen experienced in PT X’s financing of products. The SERVQUAL model (tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy) measures service quality, and IPA identifies performance gaps.Findings/Results: The analysis showed a service suitability score of 95.64%. Six key attributes fell into the “Concentrate Here” quadrant, including product variety (RL4), staff knowledge (AS1), company credibility (AS4), reward system (EM2), service accessibility (EM3), and response speed (RS1), indicating critical gaps between importance and performance.Conclusion: While PTX meets basic expectations, targeted enhancements in critical areas can strengthen salesman satisfaction, loyalty, and customer engagement.Originality/value (state of the art): This study highlights salesmen as key internal stakeholders and applies the IPA-SERVQUAL approach to reveal service gaps, an area overlooked in previous research that focused mainly on external customers. Keywords: automotive financing, importance performance analysis, salesman satisfaction, service quality, SERVQUAL