Relationship and Networks
Transaction marketing is part of a larger idea, called relationship marketing. Smart marketers try to build up long term, trusting, “win-win” relationships with valued customers, distributors, dealers and suppliers. That is accomplished by promising and delivering high quality, good service, and fair prices to the other parties over time. It is accomplished by building strong economic, technical, and social ties with the other parties. Relationship marketing cuts down on transaction costs and time: in the best case, transaction move from being negotiated each time to being routinized.
The ultimate outcome of relationship marketing is the building of a unique company asset called a marketing network. A marketing network consists of the company and its suppliers, distributors, and customers, with which it has built solid, dependable business relationships. Increasingly, competition is not between companies but rather between whole networks, with the prize going to the company that has built the better network. The operating principle is simple: Build a good network of relationships with key stakeholders, and profits will follow.
Relationship and Networks
