How does your research into Customer Relationship Marketing confirm or contradict this statement - Essay Example

Understanding the market categories: Business to business or b2b is a collaboration of service of organizations in the specialization aspect in which other organization caters to other businesses that has a set of standards and requirements (Rittgen, p15). But the business market is not limited only to that area. Others would find business in the service aspect of it or manpower service specialization. There is quite a number of large scale business and private organization that outsource some or a number of their departments. One good example is the customer service department. Outsourcing has a business level relationship that is bound with contract to reach or achieve specific goals, SLA and more (Click and Duening, p170). Another department that is most popularly outsourced is the sales department. This is also another way for a business or private organization to cut their overhead expenses in salary. Sales work that are outsourced are paid with commissions. To put it in a better and simpler example, when a third party makes a sale, the third party gets 10% of the price and the remaining 90% goes to the private or business organization. Outsourcing is one good solution for companies and organizations that are thriving or expanding. Having other companies or organization handle a specific task of another organization also gives way and opportunity for the organization that outsourced their task in concentrating on generating more revenue in terms of sales and production (Blokdijk, p86). Business or private organizations purchase or avail products and services to minimize cost and expenses in production or operations. The product or service must fit purchase specifications and requirements (Baker, 2003, p 152). On the other hand, household consumers and individual consumers are families or individuals that buy or get services depending on a lot of factors. Competition is out in the market, and this is one good factor for them because they have the power and capability to choose which product or brand suits their needs and wants. One marketing strategy that gets a relationship ongoing with these household consumers is advertising. This is why a lot of big manufacturing and private organizations target these kinds of consumers by means of advertising (Guinn, et al, p16). End user consumer buying behaviour is also based on factors of what delivers the need and contentment of personal or household use (Pride et al, p 433). Market and customer relationships: There are three aspects that need to be considered towards sales and marketing. These are: the nature of the market b2b or consumer end buyers to determine the target market and segment; the buying behaviour of the market like consumption, consistency, demand culture and more; and finally, the marketing practices ethical marketing practices, rules for strategies and standards (Hiebing and Cooper, p 206; Baker, 2001, p 108; Dacko, p192). These aspects have a great bearing in establishing customer relationships through marketing and sales. Considering these aspects and studying its components comprehensively will give an organization an edge on formulizing and strategizing an approach to the market it targets in general. One good example of an organization that has been very successful in their marketing campaigns and has created marketing and sales relationships in almost every country in the world is The Coca-cola Company U.S.A. As we all know Coke has been a brand that almost everyone is aware of. The organization’s marketing strategy for sales and promotion is a very good example of a strategic approach in marketing. The objective was to have Coke in every person’s refreshing activities, and that Coke should be on the top choice from their list. Obviously this is still the trend nowadays. In addition to that, they have also managed to establish years of relationship with its consumers by maintaining its taste. This is because the public has accepted and been used to its taste (that also made Coke one of the leading brands), and the people don’t want its taste to be modified (Buttle, p 27). But The Coca-cola Company wanted to have more involvement with any market category within all age brackets and buying levels. They have come up with products that cater to special needs of a number of potential consumers and buyers in the market. And so was the creation of Sprite and latter on the Diet-Coke. Diet-Coke was a refreshment that was released by The Coca-Cola Company to cater to end users who does not want to get fat, or people who are trying to lose a couple of pounds. They had to have over 10,000 people taste tested Diet-Coke before they could release it in the market (Cardwell, p12). This is one proof that in order to maintain a certain relationship with the market, an organization must also be flexible to cater to their needs. And because of all these marketing effort and relationship marketing management, it is not very surprising the Coca-cola is on top of the list between leading brands of soda known (Keegan, p 385). Offensive marketing is a strategy used to generate more revenue or acquiring new customers and sales (Pearce, p 261). On the other hand, relationship marketing focuses more on retention (Helgesen, p 51). Marketing strategies like this are commonly used for acquisition and retention of customers. It is important for the company to generate more revenue by getting new customers and in the process have a larger share in the market. Maintaining and keeping these customers loyal is another story. This is why we have to study the market we want to target. This is because business to business relationships and end users or consumer relationships, should have different experiences (Schmitt, p57). A divided number of percentage in the end user market has their own unique needs. This goes for organizational and business needs as well. Having this as a fact, relationship marketing and management should be diverse and flexible in order to meet standards and needs of every unique customer. There are a lot of factors that contribute to the buying behaviour of both consumer end users and organizational business end users. The similarity of these markets is the need. This is the general reason why consumers buy may it be business or consumer market. But in order to create or structure an effective marketing relationship management strategy we have to look in to the factors that influence their buying behaviour. 1. Organizational buying usually involves a number of people with different points of view in terms of criteria for purchase, on the other hand, household consumers would have one or two people who decides on what to buy. 2. Organizational purchasing has a standard purchasing procedure, which is obviously an individual or end user purchasing would just have to pay at the counter. 3. Buying instruments, such as PO or purchase order, and contracts that states the mode and terms of payments, proposals and others tools used are not typically found in the end user consumer market. These are just a few of the factors and differences which organizational and end user consumer buying has (Wilson and Gilligan, p 192). Satisfaction and value are also factors in which influences buying behaviour. These are factors that organizational buying and end user consumer buying has in common. Psychological factors in buying behaviour are also another aspect in determining buying behaviour. In this aspect, we can see a lot of similarities. One of the similarities they have is the influence of friends and family members for consumer end users and business counterparts and referrals for organizational buying (Pezzullo, p 113). Some of the sub-factors which influence psychological buying factors are motivation, reference group and selective exposure of the product or service (Pezzullo, p 113). Knowing the factors that influence buying behaviour of both consumer end users and organizational market and its sub-factors, will lead the study in different paradigms which will make us understand more and help us create an aggressive approach in acquiring new customers. Customer-centered organizations use its capabilities to find solutions and formulate strategies for consumer relationship purposes (Galbraith, p 15). Analysis and conclusion: Relationship marketing and its management starts from the acquisition of new customers, or one time purchase transactions (Kurtz, p 21). It is important for an organization to know the differences and similarities in the buying behaviour in order to accommodate this one time or first-time transactions. It is also essential to study the factors which influence the decision making of the buying behaviour. Having a wholly unified concept with strongly developed objectives and strategies is a good way in acquiring new customers, which falls under offensive marketing. But when relationship marketing and management steps in, it is still best to have a number of diverse and flexible strategies with relational variations to maintain and retain current customers (Anderson and Kerr, p 149). In addition to that, having a flexible relationship marketing management can accommodate the differences and uniqueness of each and every customer that will lead the organization in achieving customer loyalty in the process. References Anderson, K. and Kerr, C. Customer relationship management. NY: McGraw-Hill Professional, 2002. Baker, M. Marketing: Critical perspectives on business and management, vol.3. NY: Routledge, 2001. Baker, M. The marketing book, 5th ed. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2003. Blokdijk, G. Outsourcing 100 success secrets: 100 most asked questions: The missing IT, business process, call center, hr-outsourcing to India, China and more guide. WA: Lulu.com, 2008. Buttle, F. Relationship marketing: theory and practice. CA: Sage, 1996. Cardwell, G. Gold medal nutrition, 4th ed. South Australia: Human Kinetics, 2006. Click, R and Duening, T. Business process outsourcing: the competitive advantage. NJ: John Wiley and Sons, 2005. Dacko, S. 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