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17/09/2016 02:33:19 PM

RELATIONSHIP MARKETING

1. THE HISTORY OF MARKETING RELATIONSHIP

With the rapid changes in economic and business environment, Berry (1982) recommended the American banking industry to adopt a relational approach in marketing. He suggested that bank marketing should shift the focus from product-marketing and order-taking to a relational approach in marketing. The approach, relationship banking, was termed as “attracting, maintaining, and enhancing client relationships” (Berry, 1982, p. 6). Berry (1983) further reinforced the relational approach in a conference proceeding in services marketing with the American Marketing Association where the term “Relationship Marketing” was first used to describe the relational approach in services marketing. Although Berry did not present the relational approach as a paradigm shift, the transactional approach in services marketing was severely challenged for its divergence from the rapidly changing operating environment in the services industry

2. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CONTRACTUAL MARKETING AND RELATIONSHIP MARKETING

Relationship marketing emerged as a contestant to traditional marketing theories since the early 1990s. Proponents of relationship marketing as a paradigm shift to traditional marketing theories criticized the transactional nature of traditional marketing concept. They argued that the positivist nature of theorizing marketing based on microeconomic models ignored the factor of relationship in a marketing process and its strategic implications in human interactions in an exchange process. This paper outlines their major contentions and provides a critique on the subject.

Relationship marketing stands in contrast to the more traditional approach, which focuses on increasing the number of individual sales. In the transactional model, the return on customer may be insufficient. A customer may be convinced to select that brand one time, but without a strong relationship marketing strategy, the customer may not come back to that brand in the future. While organizations combine elements of both relationship and transactional marketing, customer relationship marketing is starting to play a more important role for many companies.

Furthermore, Gronroos (1994) criticized the transactional nature of the marketing mix that was derived out of microeconomic theories. He asserted that transactional marketing theories focused on optimizing the economic gain in an exchange process between seller and buyer. In addition, such calculated exchange ignored humanism that positioned people at the center of the social interaction (Smith & Higgins, 2000)

3. THE BENEFITS OF MARKETING RELATIONSHIP

In an exchange process, they form the basis for a reliable and enduring relationship. With higher costs in creating new customers than retaining existing ones, economic benefit exists in building and maintaining relationship with customers (Gronroos, 1995; Storbacka, Strandvik & Gronroos, 1994). Transactional marketing has ignored the implicit financial value of relationship in an exchange process.

  • Consistent Customer Experience – Organizations that are aligned across all touchpoints seamlessly share information and work together to ensure customer’s needs are addressed with minimum effort.  This is particularly important when the consumer is experiencing challenges with the product or service.  Quickly resolving issues builds trust and it can improve customer satisfaction.
  • Customer Feedback –  When the organization’s culture facilitates open communication and cooperation, consumer concerns, complaints and compliments can quickly be addressed.  By paying careful attention to positive and negative trends, organizations can use this feedback to make appropriate adjustments to product or service offerings, ensuring customer satisfaction.
  • Customer Profitability – Relevant communications and offers motivate consumers to use the full complement of product and service offerings.  Because consumers understand the benefits of the offerings, they are typically more compliant and they remain customers for longer periods of time.
  • Customer Advocates – Consumers who are pleased and enjoy a consistent experience increasingly share this information with each other.  Increasingly consumers are turning to each other for suggestions and recommendations.  Make it easy for your customers to share their experience, but first make sure they have a consistently good experience.
  • Innovation – Organizations, like Starbucks through MyStarbucksIdea.com, invite their customers to provide ideas.  Consumers are allowed to share, vote and discuss each others’ ideas.  Most important, they are kept apprised of the status of ideas.  There are other ways organizations can invite consumers to share ideas and insights.

4. METHOD TO BUILD THE MARKETING RELATIONSHIP

Money can't buy one of the most important things you need to promote your business: relationships. How do customer relationships drive your business? It's all about finding people who believe in your products or services. And when it comes to tracking these people down, you have two choices:

You can do all the legwork yourself and spend big marketing dollars. But that's like rolling a boulder up a hill. You want to drive your business into new territory, but every step is hard and expensive. There's another less painful--and potentially more profitable-way...

You can create an army to help you push that boulder up the hill instead. How do you do that? You develop relationships with people who don't just understand your particular expertise, product or service, but who are excited and buzzing about what you do. You stay connected with them and give them value, and they'll touch other people who can benefit your business.

Powerful relationships don't just happen from one-time meetings at networking events--you don't need another pocketful of random business cards to clutter your desk. What you need is a plan to make those connections grow and work for you. And it's not as hard as you think. Here are five essential tactics:

  • Build your network--it's your sales lifeline. Your network includes business colleagues, professional acquaintances, prospective and existing customers, partners, suppliers, contractors and association members, as well as family, friends and people you meet at school, church and in your community. Contacts are potential customers waiting for you to connect with their needs. How do you turn networks of contacts into customers? Not by hoping they'll remember meeting you six months ago at that networking event. Networking is a long-term investment. Do it right by adding value to the relationship, and that contact you just made can really pay off. Communicate like your business's life depends on it. (Hint: And it does! Read on.)
  • Communication is a contact sport, so do it early and often.Relationships have a short shelf life. No matter how charming, enthusiastic or persuasive you are, no one will likely remember you from a business card or a one-time meeting. One of the biggest mistakes people make is that they come home from networking events and fail to follow up. Make the connection immediately. Send a "nice to meet you" e-mail or let these new contacts know you've added them to your newsletter list and then send them the latest copy. Immediately reinforce who you are, what you do and the connection you've made. You rarely meet people at the exact moment when they need what you offer. When they're ready, will they think of you? Only if you stay on their minds. It's easier to keep a connection warm than to warm it up again once the trail goes cold. So take the time to turn your network of connections into educated customers.
  • E-mail marketing keeps relationships strong on a shoestring budget. Build your reputation as an expert by giving away some free insight. You have interesting things to say! An easy way to communicate is with a brief e-mail newsletter that shows prospects why they should buy from you. For just pennies per customer, you can distribute an e-mail newsletter that includes tips, advice and short items that entice consumers and leave them wanting more. E-mail marketing is a cost-effective and easy way to stay on customers' minds, build their confidence in your expertise, and retain them. And it's viral: Contacts and customers who find what you do interesting or valuable will forward your e-mail message or newsletter to other people, just like word of mouth marketing.
  • Reward loyal customers, and they'll reward you. According to global management consulting firm Bain and Co., a 5 percent increase in retention yields profit increases of 25 to 100 percent. And on average, repeat customers spend 67 percent more than new customers. So your most profitable customers are repeat customers. Are you doing enough to encourage them to work with you again? Stay in touch, and give them something of value in exchange for their time, attention and business. It doesn't need to be too much; a coupon, notice of a special event, helpful insights and advice, or news they can use are all effective. Just remember: If you don't keep in touch with your customers, your competitors will.
  • Loyal customers are your best salespeople. So spend the time to build your network and do the follow-up. Today there are cost effective tools, like e-mail marketing, that make this easy. You can e-mail a simple newsletter, an offer or an update message of interest to your network (make sure it's of interest to them, not just to you). Then they'll remember you and what you do and deliver value back to you with referrals. They'll hear about opportunities you'll never hear about. The only way they can say, "Wow, I met somebody who's really good at XYZ. You should give her a call," is if they remember you. Then your customers become your sales force.
  • If real estate is all about location, location, location, then small business is all about relationships, relationships, relationships. Find them, nurture them, and watch your sales soar.

Người đăng: Huỳnh Linh Lan

 

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