What is Relationship Marketing?

Relationship marketing is best described as a marketing strategies that focus on the creation and nurturing of relationship with customers and referral sources.  Relationship marketing is principled marketing, because the goal is not simply to make a sale, but to make a friend whose loyalty creates perpetual opportunities for business growth.

Relationship marketing when done properly really isn’t marketing at all.  It is better characterized as the creation of opportunities to serve through the creation of mutually beneficial relationships.

Many companies treat sales and marketing as almost a confrontation between their sales forces and the customer.  For these folks, the philosophies and principles upon which relationship marketing are based are totally foreign.  These folks see people as transactions and not as people, which is why even though they may make a sale, they rarely get referrals or repeat business.

Resources invested in learning and practicing relationship marketing principles are well placed, because business generated through relationship marketing have a long tail that does not exist in traditional advertising.

If you are looking for a marketing strategy that will pay dividends perpetually, relationship marketing must be on your radar screen as a primary focus.