OTHER PAGE

The 10 C's of Relationship Marketing

Put your "customer hat" on for a moment and think about the last five to ten interactions you had with someone you buy from. How many of these encounters left you feeling like the company had made an effort to build a long-term relationship with you? Did you get the feeling that the company really cared about you and your business success?

Relationship Marketing. There is certainly a lot of talk about it these days; it’s the thing that most business- to-business marketers believe they are doing. And it's a giant part of what is termed CRM. But put your "customer hat" on for a moment and think about the last five to ten interactions you had with someone you buy from. How many of them felt (notice that "touchy-feely" word) good? How many of these encounters left you feeling like the company had made an effort to build a long-term relationship with you? Did you get the feeling that the company really cared about you and your business success?

My guess is that relatively few of those interactions came close to providing you with the warm feelings that are created when you genuinely care about building and sustaining a relationship. Maybe I'm wrong - and I hope I am.

I will admit, some companies are trying but so many fall so far short. Why is that? My guess is that there are many reasons. For one, many sales and marketing budgets are still loaded at the "acquisition" end and are too lean at the "retention" end. Even with all the talk about the importance of retaining customers, few companies seem to be able to get the funds appropriated to do the nitty-gritty, people and relationship related activities that provide the basis for long term customer loyalty. Or maybe they just can’t figure out how.

What’s becoming evident is that while many companies are stuck back in the old industrial age beliefs about relationships, others are finding innovative ways to get wired into their customers with their technology. Those who discover the potent mix of high tech and high touch will reap the benefits and the gap between those who have customer loyalty and those who don’t will widen even further. Those companies that have the foresight to work on their "relationship issues" now and develop a "lifetime value" mindset and back that up with the right tools and technologies will be light years ahead of their competitors in a short period of time.

Let’s get real about relationships. Customers are people, they are human, and they crave relationships where things like trust and respect and caring matter (yes, even in a business relationship and yes even over the internet.) They want to feel good about doing business with you. They want to trust that what you promise is what you will deliver (or more.) They are not "targets" to shoot for or "segments" to be penetrated.

Perhaps it’s time we stop sending our marketers to "boot camps" where they learn about warfare and start sending them to retreats where they learn about nurturing relationships with the high tech and high touch care they need to grow.

I was impressed a few years ago when I read an article by Marketer Jim Rosenfeld who suggested that we move out of the old marketing paradigm of the "4P’s" product, place, price and promotion (did you ever notice there was one "p" missing anyway – people.) And that we move on with the 9 C’s of marketing.

Communication – Need we say more?
Convenience – Make it easy for people to do business with you.
Comprehension – We need to understand our customer and make ourselves immediately understandable in articulating the solutions we offer.
Clarity – Keep it simple and clear. The world’s tough enough.
Compression – How do you feel when you are at the end of a ringing telephone? Like you’ve been waiting forever? How is time compression affecting your customer?
Customization – One size fits one. We all want it our way.
Consistency – Deliver consistent levels of customer care so customers can feel they can count on you. This helps you build your brand.
Collaboration – Work with your customers to create what they need. They are great consultants.
Contingency – Complaints are up, patience down. Jim calls it the "Law of the 901st transaction" meaning you can get it right 900 times but the 901st time, if it’s wrong, your future is still contingent on how you deal with that one incidence. Which means your employees need to be highly versed in "recovery skills."

And of course I will add a 10th "C" to that. CARING. When the real benefits of caring about the customer become imbedded in the operating belief system of our companies, things will change.

When caring about the people whose job it is to care about the customers becomes of critical importance, we will see real change in the workplace and the marketplace. When caring about the customer EXPERIENCE becomes utmost, we will feel a change. Creating value means a lot more then adding a free booklet, or sending a birthday card, or putting a little something extra in the box. Creating value is about creating relationships where people are respected, trusted and cared about and for. I can only repeat what I’ve said so often before "Dare to Caresm," that makes the difference.

JoAnna Brandi is the author of books such as "Winning at Customer Retention - 101 Ways to Keep 'em Happy, Keep 'em Loyal, and Keep 'em Coming Back" and "Building Customer Loyalty - 21 Essential Elements in ACTION."

A Speaker and consultant, she is publisher of the bi-weekly Customer Care Tips Bulletin. To receive her free bi-weekly tips bulletin, sign up at www.returnonhappiness.com. You can also reach JoAnna at 561-279-0027 or e-mail joanna@customercarecoach.com.