21st Century Relationships
6 Critical Issues to consider for your 21st century Relationship Management Machine
- Your Brand is the product of a conversation - Your market is made up of ongoing conversations about experiences, opinions, and common interest. Your brand is the sum of these interactions. Monitor, measure and be a part of the interactions to influence the discussions that lead to sales and long-term profits.
- Pick niches in the market to compete - It is unlikely that your business offers the same value to every potential group of customers. Some are a better fit than others. By picking places in the market that you can compete and have the will to focus on – you are better prepared to align your entire business.
- Align strategies with relationship stages - Start with your target customers. Define your business processes and activities by the stages that you and your customers interact within the entire life of the relationship.
- Measure the lifetime value of your customers - Your profits are driven by the lifetime value of your relationships, not the margins on any single sales transaction. Some groups cost more to acquire, convert and service. Some purchase infrequently but many refer and influence countless others. A marketing relationship may be far more valuable than any single paying customer.
- Capture useful information at all stages - A CRM platform, such as salesforce.com will help you collect data and build targeted lists using all of your customer touch-points. Utilizing a 360 degree perspective of your relationships will enable you to serve your customers better.
- Measure only what creates value - There is a lot of noise in all of your business interactions. Create a culture that focuses on measuring the actions that are connected to your cashflow: extending the reach of your target market, gaining positive word-of-mouth, advancing sales and creating referrals.
