What Separates the Best Brands from the Rest Brands? David Scott, in his book, The New Rules of Marketing and PR writes that getting information out to the world and making your brand more known than your competitors is key to branding success.I i… Continue Reading →

Happy Relationship Day – 2/14 <3 

Happy Valentines day and welcome back everybody! Hope there is no heartbreak out there, because this blog we will be focusing on the importance of customer relationships.

Does engaging the customer really matter? Or will customers buy a product they need, whether or not they are being engaged?

Answer: IT MATTERS

Lets go back to the valentines day example. Even if a guy has an amazing car, beautiful smile, and handsome slicked back locks of love, if he isn’t putting in the time with his lady, she is moving on to somebody who will engage her and show her a good time.

Master Hans Willem, an expert on the subject, emphasizes in his article, Customer Drive Online Engagement, that many companies transitioning and are focusing whole departments on customer relationships.

A Tough Breakup – American Airlines

United Airlines and its customers had a tough breakup as customers felt a lack of focus on customer relationships after this video was produced:

If this was my relationship and my girlfriend broke my guitar and didn’t pay for it I would be pissed too! This video disconnected American from its’ customers resulting in a 10% drop in stock price (Statistic provided by the Economist).

It comes down to the platinum rule which I learned today in professional selling, “Do unto them what they would want done to them.” – Randy Moser. That just didn’t happen in this situation.

The Perfect Relationship

A perfect relationship benefits both the consumer and the seller in a way where both parties end up satisfied and happy. And just like in relationships, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, in a marketing sense, Shultz writes that this concept also exists and that instead of beauty it is value is in the eye of the beholder. That is what it is all about – ADDING VALUE.

So ladies and gentleman out there, if you take away one thing from this blog, I hope it is that good relationships add value!

– Kahane signing out

Works Cited:

Willems, Hans (2011). “White Paper: Customer Driven Online Engagement”. GX Software.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2009/07/did_dave_carroll_cost_united_1

Schultz, Don; Heidi Schultz (2004). “Creating Customer and Marketplace Value”. IMC: The Next Generation. New York: McGraw Hill, p. 115-123, 131.
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