Together until death do us part
Relationship marketing differs from other forms of marketing in that it recognises the long-term value of customer relationships and extends communication beyond advertising and sale promotional messages that may be regarded as intrusive.
If a brand merely presents sales or promotional messages, the chances are that the target market will just tune out and start ignoring the brand’s messages.
There are different kinds of relationships one can have with a customer. You can have the quickie: the type of sale that does not involve too much effort and gets immediate results and revenue in company coffers without too much complication. However, each time you make a sale, you need to once again shout to make your voice heard in today's market that is overflowing with a proliferation of products and services in each and every category. This is a costly exercise as it may require advertising or offers and discounts that eat into the company's profits.
The other end of the spectrum of sales and marketing is the type of relationship where the customer and supplier have a long-term, two way, mutually beneficial relationship. This type of relationship focuses on customer retention rather than the quick one-time sale, and this is the overriding principle governing relationship marketing. This type of marketing differs from other forms of marketing in that it recognises the long-term value of customer relationships and extends communication beyond intrusive advertising and sales promotional messages.
Relationship marketing refers to a short-term arrangement where both the buyer and seller have an interest in providing a more satisfying exchange. This approach tries to transcend the simple purchase process with a customer to make richer contact by providing a more holistic, personalised purchase, and uses the experience to create stronger ties. The overall goals are to find, attract and win new clients, nurture and retain those the company already has, entice former clients back into the fold, and reduce the costs of marketing and client service.
As a general rule, this type of relationship is usually thought to best suit products or services that are more complex and require a high level of involvement from the customer. For example, if you are buying an IT system for your company, you want to have the security of mind that the product you are buying will give the required results and you also want to trust the company that is providing the product or service, as down-time within your company may prove detrimental and extremely costly to your business. You want to be assured that your supplier will be dependable to provide after sales service when required and will also give good advice on the best system that would suit your business. You therefore want a relationship with your supplier and ideally, if the supplier earns your trust, he will be your "go-to" supplier whenever a related need arises.
I recently moved into a new house and had to go through the gamut of workmen, all with their varied excuses, delays, and problems. Of all the workmen, one person stood out: our carpenter. Unlike other suppliers, the carpenter delivered on time and gave us a product that was of an extremely high standard. Additionally, and this is most important, we could depend on him to give us good advice and nothing was too much trouble to him to ensure that we got a product we were happy with: for example, we asked for adjustments, an extra shelf etc, and unusually, this was not met with the exclamations of dismay we were getting from our other workmen. The result is that we have already commissioned him for a number of other jobs within our house. We have also recommended him to friends and family and he has also won some jobs from these personal recommendations. Our carpenter, although not aware of the official term, practices relationship marketing and is very proficient at it. On the contrary, other workmen, although also competent, made it so difficult for us whenever we asked for additional services or adjustments, even though we were ready to pay for such adjustments, that all we wanted was to get them out of the house and preferably never see them again!
But is the arena of relationship marketing reserved only for complex products or services?
Even when marketing a simple product, the building of a brand requires relationship marketing. Take for example, a simple chocolate bar. There are numerous products out there with varying price ranges. But I for one would be ready to pay a small premium for a brand that I am familiar with and that appeals to me, and this creates the opportunity for relationship marketing. Certain brands have been with us for many years, they have a "character" and positioning that we are familiar with: we have a relationship with these brands. And brand owners would do well to develop and cultivate this relationship to maintain customers' loyalty and repeat purchase throughout their lifetime.
Let's take a chocolate brand such as Kit Kat. This brand has been around for many many years - since 1935! It was popular when we were children and is now still popular with the younger generation. This means that when we come to make a purchase decision, this brand will always feature in our possible choices since we are familiar with this brand, know it and trust it. Any product extensions are also more readily accepted since they fall under this trusted brand, increasing the probability of trial of such new products.
So how should we build our brands? In the past, this involved costly mass market campaigns including media such as TV, radio, outdoor, and print. While these media remain important today, the growth of internet and mobile platforms has completely transformed the arena of relationship marketing as technology creates new opportunities for us to interact directly with our existing and potential customers. The fact is people trust editorial more than adverts (69% – 18%). This statistic has inspired a rethink in marketing techniques away from ‘creative excellence’ towards ‘content excellence’. The TV advert is no longer the ultimate way to take your brand to the people and encourage them to connect with it. Rather, content is currency when it comes to brand engagement.
One primary opportunity for relationship marketing is social media where a product / brand can create a forum to position itself and speak to its customers on their own level. For example, Facebook allows a brand to establish a one-to-one communication. There is one important requirement for this relationship-building to be successful: the tone must be appropriate to the medium being used and also the content. If a brand merely presents sales or promotional messages, the chances are that the target market will just tune out and start ignoring the brand's messages.
The brand must provide value to provoke interest and create engagement with its target market. For example, a culinary product can create regular relevant content such as culinary advice and recipes. A spa can present itself as the wellness expert, with regular health, wellness and beauty advice.
In this way, the brand can start on its way to create a lifelong relationship with its customers - the ideal relationship - until death do us part...