What is relationship marketing? It’s really like social selling. Relationship marketing is what happens after the sale.
So many businesses fail when it comes to the relationship marketing component of the business. Once you have generated the leads now what? What do you do with them? You sell them something and then what?
Recently, I read a blog post about what relationship marketing is, she pointed out it was all marketing, to some degree it is, however I disagreed with most of her points, simply marketing is what happens before the sales, relationship marketing is what happens after the sale. For example, when you buy a car do you only look for the best price? Or do you think beyond this, like what kind of service will you get after you buy the car. Some dealers or independent owners are so good at this.
Relationship Marketing goes beyond customer service..it’s how you will retain the customer over the long haul or the lifetime of your business. So many businesses fail when it comes to the relationship marketing component of the business. The after care. What value are you adding to your customer after they have generated revenue for you?
Whether you have a B2B or B2C business, now with social media we are all consumers. There is a wider marketplace to choose – “Who were are going to buy from?” Is it going to be you or someone else? It will depend upon the reputation of how so and so treats their customers and who they know, like and trust. For sure, you want to be it, right?
The sales system that you use needs to include a relationship marketing component, after all, it’s still about sales. If you sell something one time, do you think that customer is a next? If you think this, then you are wrong. Once that customer has bought from you, there is an opportunity for you to get referrals or gain another sale from that customer, maybe you can offer them another product or service to what you sell. Something value added.
By going deeper in your customers business you’ll discover something else you can offer them or help them with. This is where I come in, I offer you a value-added service – your Relationship Marketing System, that will give you:
✓ New sales
✓ Help you communicate better with your customers
✓ Increase your business with the ones you have already sold to i.e. referrals
✓ Introduce you to other marketing tools that you may not use
✓ Improve your current marketing tools
✓ Get more recommendations
Relationship Marketing is a function within the sales department and customer retention.
