Relationships & Profits

Copyright 2015, Knowledgence Associates

LISA DENNIS, PRESIDENT

Building Stronger Relationships,

Building Stronger Profits

Workbook


Today’s Presenter

Lisa Dennis, President of Knowledgence Associates, brings over twenty-five years of marketing and sales to client engagements. She has hands-on experience with both the marketing and selling of business-to-business and business-to-consumer products and services.

The focus of Knowledgence Associates is the transforming of marketing, sales, and customer service information into customer knowledge. That transformation enables clients to truly “see the world through the customers’ eyes.”

The firm’s consulting practice includes marketing strategy, marketing campaign design & execution, value proposition development, relationship and partner marketing, customer service assessment programs, sales effectiveness assessments, and sales & service training.


Knowledgence Clients


Agenda Relationship

Marketing, Selling

Anatomy of a business relationship

Relationship Stages

Engagement Options

Strategies to Build

Tactics to Execute

Benchmarking & Assessing


Relationship Marketing, Sales & Service

Definition: A set of strategies and processes that enables an organization to identify, acquire, retain, and nurture profitable customers by building and maintaining long-term relationships with them.

Activities aimed at:• Building customer loyalty (winning and keeping customers) • Providing value to all parties involved in the relationship• Demonstrating customer knowledge and understanding

Key Aspects:• Strategic approach• Tactics aimed at 1-to-1, 1-to-few • Process oriented and cross-functional• Value-creating for buyer and seller• Focus is building relationships over time• Relationships can be differentiator in highly competitive markets• Must have both qualitative & quantitative measures


Relationship Marketing, Sales & Service

What it is:

• Moving a target along the RM continuum

• Relationship has define-able stages

• Marketers and sellers meet targets “where they are”

• Blend-able with other marketing and sales approaches

• Relies on internal partnership of marketing and sales organization

What it isn’t:

• Transactional• Short-term• Stand-alone• Marketing-only• Sales-only• Single campaign• Not a replacement for

other marketing methods


Inventory of Relationship Development

Factor Meaning

Awareness Pre- exchange, recognition, no interaction

Exploration Testing period, search and trial activities, determine compatibility

Expansion Increase in derived benefits, interdependence, risk taking, testing & reaffirming perceptions

Commitment Achieved value, satisfaction, lower focus on alternatives

Dissolution Can occur at any stage in the relationship development process

Enhancers Communication, Cooperation, Conflict Resolution

Source: Inventory of Relationship Development, Dwyer, Shurr and Oh


PERSONALIZING AN EMAIL SELDOM A RELATIONSHIP MAKES.

Anatomy of a Business Relationship

Real Business Relationships:

Factor Meaning

Bi-directional 2 way response, mutual awareness

Require behavior changes

In tangible and intangible ways

Benefit both parties Value offsetting costs of participation

Interactive Exchange of information content

Changeable over time Iterative – leading to increased efficiency, convenience, comfort

Trust-based Both parties act in mutual interest

Ultimately Unique Real relationships are not 1-to-many or 1–to-few. So programs have to feel 1-to-1 even no matter “how” you deliver them



Relationships are on a Continuum

- Discrete- No history- No defined future- Limited

communication- Narrow content- Every interaction is

“new”

- Connected- Past transactions- Future transactions- Repeated, related

communication- Broad content- Interactions build

over time

TransactionalCollaborative


Effective Relationship Marketing/Selling

• Communicating with the account / individual “where they are”.

• Understanding how needs/desires change as the relationship stages change.

• Delivery of marketing/sales/service activities tailored to fit that path.

• Assessing/knowing what stage the account/individual is in

• Deciding the optimal mix of marketing / sales / service activities at stage (1 size does not fit all)

• Executing the appropriate activities based on stage and on strategy (acquisition, or expand the footprint, retention)

Requires:


FIRST BASE, SECOND BASE, AND THIRD BASE STILL COUNT!

Relationship Stages


Considerations for Selecting/Defining Stages

• Stages should reflect exterior reality, not internal desire

• Buying cycle ≠ the relationship cycle

• Actual progression of a relationship in your industry/sector

• Trusted advisor status ►►► what are the stages of the buyer’s experience to get there

• IMPACT - The language we use to name and define each stage impacts the application of appropriate marketing strategy and tactics for each stage

Relationship

Definitions

Stages


Relationship Stages

Co-Creator

Champion

Collaborator

Customer

Explorer

Not every RelationshipReachesEvery Stage


Relationship Stages - Definitions

Explorer Customer Collaborator Champion Co-Creator

Mutual awareness

Attraction

Pre-sale

Highly exploratory

Initial discovery

Potential needs

Expectations

Applicable expertise

Significant interaction

Validation of the client's decision

Industry knowledge

Client knowledge

Customer satisfaction

Build Trust

Mutual goals realized

Intimate dealings

Mutual credibility

Increased Stability

Revenue Growth

Internal and external introductions

References & Testimonials

Relationship extends

Overt supporter

Willingness to represent to

Other internal buyers,

External professional network

Deeper loyalty

Collaboration

Significant trust

Aspirational in nature

Bigger than the sum of individual relationships

Embedded within respective businesses

Cooperate at a highly strategic level,

Driving mutual innovation


Relationship Stages - Definitions

Explorer Customer Collaborator Champion Co-Creator

Mutual awareness

Attraction

Pre-sale

Highly exploratory

Initial discovery

Potential needs

Expectations

Applicable expertise

Significant interaction

Validation of the customer’s decision

Deeper industry knowledge

Deeper customer knowledge

Customer satisfaction

Build Trust

Mutual goals realized

Intimate dealings

Mutual credibility

Increased Stability

Revenue Growth

Internal and external introductions

References & Testimonials

Relationship extends

Overt supporter

Willingness to represent to

Other internal buyers,

External professional network

Deeper loyalty

Collaboration

Significant trust

Aspirational in nature

Bigger than the sum of individual relationships

Embedded within respective businesses

Cooperate at a highly strategic level,

Driving mutual innovation


YOU CAN’T MANAGE WHAT YOU DON’T MEASURE

Benchmarking & Assessing


Picking Your Targets

Which relationships in the account are worth the investment of resources in tailored relationship marketing, selling and service?

Not all accounts need(or deserve) RM

Remember, it’s a overlayto existing sales, marketing and service efforts

Consider role, recency, access tobudget, tenure in organization


Understanding Targets and Stages

- Who are the targets?

- Identified Accounts- Existing individual customers- Targeted new prospects

- What imperatives do they have?

- What do they typically respond to?

- What stage are they at?

Move them from a homogenous group to like groupings of relationships:

1. Select programs for the right targets AT THE STAGE THEY ARE IN.

2. Deliver a stream of marketing, sales and service activities that are stage appropriate and drive the relationship forward to the next stage.


Assess What’s Relevant


Tracking the Relationship

RELATIONSHIP MARKETING & SALES ACTIVITY RESULTS OCCUR OVER TIME.

After benchmark, need to reassess on a periodic basis – quarterly or bi-annually.

Way to gauge how your RM activities are moving the needle on the state of the relationship.

PATIENCE IS KEY!!


DON’T ASSUME THAT I WANT TO DO WHAT YOU WANT TO DO.

Engagement Options


Key ‘Relationship’ Questions to Ask

Team/Peer

Who else in the organization does the targeted relationship plug into?

Rep/ Individual

New sales rep? Or new player in the account, or both? What can be leveraged or captured from previous connections/relationships?

Interaction

How is the function interacting with other functions in the organization? Where do departments have to play together?

Level What does the level of conversation need to be at each stage for this target?

Value What relevant role value statements need to be communicated by stage with this target?

Decision Role

What role do they play in the decision making process that may impact messaging and approach?


Engagement Types

Relationship Marketing , Sales & Service

One-to-One

One- to-Few

Peer-to-Peer

External Influencer

Brand, Field, Corporate Marketing:

One-to-Many

Consider how your target typically engages – and make informed choices on the approach and the messages they want to hear.


WITHOUT A PLAN, ANY ROADMIGHT GET YOU THERE…

OR IT MIGHT NOT.

Strategies to Build


Building Relationships isn’t Easy

Barriers are inherent in the furthering of any business relationship

Understand what the barriers are in your market or segment

Take a look at any specific barriers by title or role

Factor this into the selection of strategies you will apply to this target

How will I overcome or leverage the barrier?


Consider Potential Barriers

BARRIER Description

C-Level Hard to engage. Work gets done below the C-Level. Key challenge to get regular access to these people.

Finance Bi-directional relationship: Process (signature authority over others); and Commercial (possible opportunity in Finance).Also – have strong external consulting relationships that they go to for IT input

Operations

Bi-directional relationship: Process (signature authority or input over others); Commercial – (possible opportunity in Operations).

Account vs. Individual

Need to look at the relationship stages of both the overall account and the individuals. May not be at the same stage.

Leverage changes

New role within the same organization or moving to different department or division – difficult to leverage relationship in context of this type of change.


Factoring a Barrier into Strategy


WHEN YOU KNOW THE “ WHAT” , YOU CAN PLAN THE “HOW”

Tactics to Execute


Review/Consider Key Messages

Make sure they are stage appropriate!


Create a “Flow” of Tactics


RELATIONSHIPS TAKE WORK.BUILDING TAKES TIME.

STRONG RELATIONSHIPS = PROFITS

Getting Started


Building a Relationship Plan


STAY TUNED FOR AN OFFER!

Questions?


Knowledgence Offer

360 Degrees of the CustomerStrategies & Tactics for Marketing, Sales and Service

By Lisa Dennis, Charles Dennis and Lori Richardson

Marketing, Sales and Customer Service are three disciplines that all overlap at the same point: the customer. All customer touch points should be integrated with each other, a theory that makes perfect sense in the abstract, but is hard to do in the reality. Presents strategies & tactics to keep the customer promise.

Price: $20.00 plus shipping

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Relationships & Profits

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Transcript of Relationships & Profits