Relationship Marketing and Customer Service Article

Relationship Marketing and Customer Service - Article Example Repeat orders will go to those sellers who have done the best job or nurturing these relationships." The changes in the global business environment necessitates relationship marketing in order for business organizations to compete more efficiently, attract potential, and retain current customers. According to the words of the marketing guru Philip Kotler (2005), the current business arena is turning "hypercompetitive" characterised by the presence of more intense competition among industry rivals and more bargaining power from customers. Thus, in order to survive and succeed in their markets, companies are required to rethink and revamp their current strategies and put their customers into center (Kotler 2005). These trends and developments in the market put strong pressure on companies and put into spotlight relationship marketing. Relationship marketing is an idea which dates back as far as 1960s evolving from direct response marketing during the period. Its reemergence in the 1980s is prompted by the initial research done by Leonard Berry and Jag Sheth at Emory which states that, "What is surprising is that researchers and businessmen have concentrated far more on how to attract customers to products and services than to retain them" (Pressey and Matthews 2000, pg. 272) Relationship marketing has been elaborated and broadened by the marketing theorists Theodeore Levitt in 1983. Relationship marketing is defined as "a philos... Relationship marketing thereby marks a transition from the traditional marketing approach of finding more customers for a product. In essence, relationship marketing is in recognition that a customer contributes to an organization his lifetime purchases of the company's product if it is able to design marketing strategies which can cultivate loyalty and develop good relationships (Kotler 2005). From its origin, relationship marketing has introduced a radical change on how business organizations think and conduct their operations. Traditionally companies have focused on attracting customers thereby facilitating only one-time transactions. However, the loyalty of a customer for a product and brand will facilitate repeat sales transactions thereby enhancing the firm's total profit and revenue. Thus, it becomes imperative for companies to long-term relationship with customers rather than on individual transactions by understanding the needs of the current customer as they go through their life cycles (Relationship Marketing 2007). Developing strong relationship with customer is strongly dependent on ensuring the delivery of satisfaction and delight. Levitt likens company's relationship with its customers into marriage: "The sale, then, merely consummates the courtship at which point the marriages begins The quality of marriage determines whether there will be continued or expan ded business, or trouble, or divorce" (Berger 2006). The expansion and facilitation of this new strategic approach to marketing can be directly credited to the advancement in technology specifically the establishment of customer relationship