The process of building relationship equity consists of two main steps:
A firm needs to develop a strong foundation that supports relationship building and maintenance
With this foundation, the firm can begin to implement relationship marketing and loyalty programs targeted at specific customer groups, designed to generate specific relational outcomes across the firm’s customer portfolio
Step 1: Developing a Strong Relationship Foundation
Unfairness and unresolved conflict can undo years and fortunes spent on relationship building
Counterproductive to increase RM budgets without having a process that deals with customer problems, service failures, or trust violations
The individual, boundary-spanning personnel with whom customers interact usually are the most critical means to create and maintain strong customer relationships
Because so many drivers of customer relationships revolve around boundary spanners, sellers need to dedicate their RM investments to selecting, training, and motivating boundary-spanning employees
Increasing the amount, frequency, and quality of communication with customers also can be effective
Regardless of the extensiveness of such external communication though, a poor alignment of internal, organizational elements with RM can undermine any effort to build customer relationships
Relationship Marketing Best Practices
Step 2: Implementing Targeted RM and Loyalty Programs
Different RM programs build different forms of relational ties that generate varying returns from different types of customers
Social RM programs use social engagements like meals and sporting events to convey the customer’s special status
Structural RM programs provide investments that customers might not make themselves, such as in electronic order processing interfaces or customized packaging
Financial RM programs provide economic benefits, in the form of special discounts, giveaways, free shipping, or extended payment terms that ultimately tend to offer little relative advantage, because competitors can easily match them
