Building Customer Relationship
There has been a shift from a transactions to a relationship focus in marketing. Customers become partners and the firm must make long-term commitments to maintaining those relationships with quality, service and innovation. Relationship marketing essentially represents a paradigm shift within marketing-
Away from an acquisitions / transactions focus toward a retention / relationship focus.
Relationship marketing (or relationship management) is a philosophy of doing business, a strategic orientation, that focuses on keeping and improving current customers, rather than acquiring new customers. Historically, marketers have been more concerned with acquisition of customers, so a shift to a relationship strategy often represents :
- Change in mind set
- Organizational culture
- Employee reward systems
Goals of Relationship Marketing
The primary goal of relationship marketing is to build and maintain a base of committed customers who are profitable for the organization. To achieve this goal, the firm will focus on the attraction, retention and enhancement of customer relationships. The four major goals of Relationship Marketing can be highlighted as under:
- Attract
- Satisfy
- Retain
- Enhance
Loyal customers not only provide a solid base for the organization, they may represent growth potentials. With competition on the rise in every industry and segment today, it has become imminent for organisations to look for innovative methods that will help them not only attract, but also retain customers. Failure in retaining customers results in loss of sales, apart from garnering a negative brand image for the company.
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