| Developing relationships with customers is all
about ensuring there are clear mutual benefits between your organisation
and customers. They then have a desire to stay as a customer of
your organisations and so reduce the chances that they will switch
to a competitor. You want current customers to recognise the value
in them staying as a customer. The more customers you can retain
the less you may have to spend attracting new ones.
If you think of human relationships (i.e. between friends and
family) what appears to matter most are things like:
- Benefits gained
- Reciprocity (giving and getting back in return)
- Trust
- Commitment
- Shared Values
So organisations wishing to develop and maintain relationships
with customers must attempt to demonstrate all of these elements.
Some are easier to achieve than others, for example showing the
benefits of staying a customer might simply be reminding them
of the pleasure they got from their last visit to your theme park.
Demonstrating shared values is a lot more difficult and takes
a lot of time. Maybe places like Centre Parks have achieved this
with some of their customers by showing how they value children
and safety, for example see www.centreparcs.com
If an organisation claims it cares about its customers then they
probably have to go beyond simply delivering a product/service.
They have to show they care by for example doing that little bit
extra and not expecting extra payment in return. A taxi company
who will meet their elderly customers in the shop and carry the
shopping to the taxi, the bike hire company who notices the group
of new customers includes a small child and marks on the map a
suitable cycling route for them. We see it in large shopping centres
that now provide cr“che facilities and even relaxation rooms.
For more on customer relationship management (CRM) visit: www.infoquestcrm.co.uk
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| Jon
Weaver, Marketing Manager, Bournemouth
Borough Council |
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| Stuart
Perl, Regional Director of Marketing
(EMEA), Cunard Line Seaborne Cruise Line. |
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Internal marketing/customer care: a critique
Some might argue the material in the section on internal marketing
and customer care is just common sense and that it isn't marketing
its just sensible business practice.
Others would say most of this activity is not really for the
marketing function to determine but for each of the other departments
who deal directly with customers. They might claim that this is
just another example of marketing trying to dominate and stick
their nose into others business! These concerns touch on what
are commonly known as 'turf wars' where departments within an
organisation spend time battling with each other for power and
influence. Why for example should marketing be involved in recruitment
of employees in other departments?
The idea of internal marketing might be flawed. Too many of the
conditions relating to the relationships between individuals and
departments within an organisation are different to the relationships
between a company and its customers. Customers have daily choice
between company a and company b, customers pay, customers have
specific legal rights, customers expectations are not the same
as employee expectations.
Organisations talk about forming relationships with customers
but few actually ask the customers if they would like to enter
any form of relationship! Do many customers really feel any sense
of having a relationship with their supermarket, bank, travel
agent or hair salon? And anyway, some sceptics will say, isn't
the organisation developing a relationship simply so that it can
increase sales and profits (i.e., to then exploit that relationship),
not simply to be kind and caring? Worse still, if this is the
case won’t consumers soon suss this out for themselves!
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