Source: Google Images
The prominence of relationship marketing is not just due to the rise of services, technology, and information-oriented firms, but also to the rise of strategic network competition. To be successful (both individually and as a network), the firms in a strategic network must become proficient at relationship marketing. Firms engage in relationship marketing because it increases their competitiveness. In other words, they do so when relationships contribute to the firm’s ability to efficiently/ effectively produce market offerings that have value for some market segment(s). That is, they do so when relationships become resources. Relational resources have the potential to improve a firm’s marketplace position and, in turn, its financial performance.
Conventional Marketing is based on transactional exchange which focuses basically on 4 P’s(Product, price, place and promotion)) But Relationship Marketing is based on relational exchange which focuses on 7 P’s(4 P’s + People, process and physical evidence).With cut throat competition; it is really a stalemate among the opposing leading forces of major players like LG, Samsung, Godrej, Whirlpool, Videocon in white Goods sector. Transaction Marketing is functionally based Marketing with an aim of customer acquisition. Relationship Marketing is cross functionally based marketing with emphasis on customer retention.
According to C.Gronroos,2002-“The nature of consumption is changing from pure outcome consumption to ongoing process consumption .There is big shift in focus of central marketing areas. The interaction, dialogue and value process is the triplet of Relationship Marketing. For avoiding conflict with customer: Interaction process(Core RM) should go hand in hand with Dialogue process (Two way or multifaceted communication support). The both should go ahead like concentric parallel circles. They should support but not counteract each other. Negatively perceived interaction process hampers RM. Also Just planning and managing marketing communication even as a dialogue process are not exactly the Relationship Marketing (RM) though seem relational. Only Integration of interaction process and dialogue process into one strategy that is systematically implemented creates RM. The Value process is the outcome of RM. This is triplet of RM must work in unison for attaining customer Retention.”
Source: Google Images
Research in the area of relationship marketing has identified a minimum of eight types of factors that influence RM-based strategy success.
1 Relational factors. 5 Information technology factors.
2 Resource factors. 6 Market offering factors
3 Competence factors. 7 Historical factors
4 Internal marketing factors 8 Public policy factors.
Summary
Relationships will contribute to the competitiveness of firms when they constitute relational resources. Under what circumstances will relationships be relational resources? Relationships become relational resources when they contribute to the firm’s ability to efficiently/effectively produce market offerings that have value for some market segment(s).
PC: Google Images
©2019, Dr. Amit Medhekar. All rights reserved.
