Although online Relationship Marketing is a new marketing channel, it’s not a new concept. The idea of creating a relationship with your customer is as old as the second oldest profession. Well, maybe not quite that old. But close. What is new is the way that companies can use technology and the Internet to simulate the give and take, inquire and respond, thrust and spar of the physical relationship. And like the personal relationship (but unlike most technology-based solutions where we expect instant gratification), online relationships take time and investment to bear fruit.
For the company executive wondering if his or her organization is ready to embark on a relationship marketing venture, I would suggest that the following three questions should help.
- What is the time frame of the initiative? Or better yet, when do you need to see results? If the answer is six months or less, then RM is not the right approach. I would say one year is even pushing it. Yes, there will be results, but that will be more due to the inherent promotional nature of the program and not from the give and take in the relationship.
- Is your database and website set up to recognize customers when they return? One of the most offensive social faux pas is when someone you previously met at the last industry event comes up to you and introduces themselves anew. What am I, chopped liver? Did I not make an impression on you the last time? Or were you so oblivious trying to find someone important that you didn’t register my name in your mental database? That is exactly the impression we make to a customer when they come back to our website and we treat them like a new prospect. Not a good basis for a relationship. Until your technical system is set up to identify customers through log in or cookies, then don’t launch an RM program.
- Are you willing to customize some aspect of your product or service in response to your customer’s specific needs? If I invite you over for dinner and I know you are a vegetarian, I’m going to work very hard to prepare a delicious meatless meal. If I simply prepared the same braised short-ribs recipe for every dinner guest regardless of their tastes or values, I would not be a very good host or friend. Similarly, if we embark on a RM program, ask good questions of our customers (see Information Strategy) so we learn their opinions and their likes and dislikes, but don’t do anything with that information, then we are not being very good hosts or friends. And at a certain point, our customers will wonder what we are doing with all that personal information we have collected from them over the years if we’re not using it to create a better customer experience.
These challenges are all surmountable, but it’s wise to consider whether your organization is ready and willing before setting off on a RM journey. The normal give and take of a relationship can become more thrust and spar if you’re not careful.