What is Relationship Management?

This concept refers to the level of engagement maintained by an organization to their customers or audience. Relationship management seeks to create partnership and a more influential relationship between businesses and their audiences, rather than just financial transactions or product sales. This concept can occur between business and businesses (popularly known as B2B), or businesses and customers (B2C).

What is the Relationship Building Process?

Businesses that take relationship management into account are always actively looking for ways to engage their audiences and build brand loyalty, rather than creating just transactional relationships which will mostly last just once or twice. While most companies focus on customers, others see it essential to give face to other smaller businesses. In the B2B model, most of the audiences are startup firms or companies that need some particular tools which the first produces. Relationship management helps businesses a lot in securing brand loyalty, as customers are more likely to make purchases from firms that speak directly to their needs and define as well as offer solutions to their problems. This relationship can further breed new sales and help them grow their audience. Brands are quick to identify consumer problems and potential market issues when they keep close communications with them. 

Business to Consumer Relationship Management (CRM) 

CRM tools are the foundation for B2C communications as it helps them build a firm relationship with each consumer on their list. CRM focuses primarily on data and sales analytics to provide businesses with details about the current market trends. It also tries to understand consumer preferences, demographics and consumers purchase rates. B2C marketing is much easier as it helps to retain existing customers just like the popular marketing saying that it takes more work to get a new customer than to keep an existing one. This relationship strategy is mostly carried out by sales letters, newsletters, email marketing, and even video marketing in some cases. Most brands can decide to go the blogging route, but this is mainly focused on getting prospects. B2C marketing aids a business in gaining respect, brand loyalty, as well as identify market trends for potential products.

B2B Relationship Management (BRM)

B2B marketing mainly occurs with wholesalers, vendors, suppliers, as well as other sales associates. These communications can help booster a businesses relationship with their involved parties. This marketing technique is targeted at creating a positive relationship between a firm and its business associates. Just like the CRM, BRM aims to solidify trust, build operation boundaries, as well as establish certain rules to be followed by the involved parties. It goes further to aid conflict resolutions, agreement negotiations, and breed the opportunity for possible cross-sales (the ability for one firm to sell products to another).