RELATIONSHIP MARKETING
At the lowest or most rudimentary level, bonding begins as a result of the fulfillment of a basic business need on the part of both parties involved, and then grows as a social relationship develops between the vendor and the customer. One has a product/service to sell and the other has need of purchasing a product/service. Whether or not a bond will develop between the two parties, depends on such factors as the fit between the vendor’s product/service and the seller’s needs, the price of the vendor’s product/service (Berry, 1995), the expertise of the vendor at providing a quality product/service and quality follow-up service (Sheth, 1994), and the ability of the seller organization to make and keep realistic promises to the customer (Bitner, 1995).
The influence of some of these factors mentioned above was reflected in the study done in the mainframe computer market referred to previously. When asked what factors were important to their satisfaction with their mainframe vendor, a majority of the participants offered the following: a high level of technical knowledge of the account representative, post purchase follow-up by the vendor (other than to sell an ancillary product), and a vendor who maintains good communication with the customer (Cann, 1995). It is believed that these intangible factors brought forth by the focus group participants are a reflection of what they expect from a basic business relationship with a vendor. At this level of the relationship, the bonds that hold the two parties together are rather weak and can be broken without a great deal of disruption or cost to either party. After the basic business relationship is established, and, if the two parties like each other, a social bond begins to develop as time progresses and the two parties experience more and more satisfying interaction (Dwyer et al., 1987).
Social bonding
The social bond is an outgrowth of personal relationships that develop between the parties involved from both the buyer and the seller organization. The better the “personal fit” between the parties, the stronger the social bonds. Wilson (1995) explains that studies that have been done on social bonding reveal that if a strong personal relationship develops between the buyer and the seller, both parties will be more interested in continuing the relationship.
One example of social bonding also comes out of the focus group interviews that were done for the mainframe computer industry. An overwhelming number of participants answered that less turnover of account representatives made them more satisfied with their vendor (Cann, 1995). The reason for this was that when the customer became familiar and comfortable with the account representative, they did not want to have to go through another period of adjustment with someone new. The participants added that often they liked their current representative and were never sure if a new one would fit in as well.
Czepiel (1990) emphasizes how important closing social distances are for a long-term relationship in service situations. He states that, “The three-Martini lunch does have a real purpose. Gaining a buyer’s trust is a critical task in many marketplace settings . . . , and establishing a social relationship parallel to the professional is a more `natural’ approach than a legal contract” (p. 304).
Proposition 3: The stronger the social bond between the buyer and the seller, the greater the possibility that the relationship and the bonding process will continue.
Step eight: add value to the relationship
As the two partners experience repeated business exchanges that have resulted in satisfying outcomes, the relationship begins to move toward a new level (Ganesan, 1994; Webster, 1992). Anderson (1995) suggests that these repeated exchanges or business strands add value to the relationship. It is this author’s contention that it takes more than just successful repeated exchanges between the buyer and the seller to add value to the relationship. The author believes that to attain an even stronger bond, the seller must do more than provide a quality product and service. The seller must make an extraordinary effort. Social bonding in the relationship creates added value to some degree by creating a comfortable, trusting atmosphere to do business in. However, to add real value to the relationship requires the seller to provide exceptional service.
The author proposes that the ultimate service support is provided when the vendor aids the customer with implementation of a new product. This process of implementation consists of all of the necessary changes the organization needs to make to prepare for acceptance of a new product (Cann and Burger, 1996). The implementation process also involves learning to use the product to its full potential (Cann and Burger, 1996). In the case of a high technology product such as a mainframe computer, vendor involvement with implementation can provide much needed help to the customer organization. Tornatzky and Fleischer (1990) indicate that implementation is one of the most critical aspects of new product introduction and acceptance into an organization, but yet it is often the most overlooked. The changes that implementation can bring with it can involve everything from resistance to change by users to the redesigning of departments or divisions to changes in human resource policies and procedures to changes in the physical plant. The author contends that it should be part of the service relational marketing effort of the seller to help the buyer to overcome these substantial and risky changes so that the implementation process will be less invasive, meet with less resistance, and cause fewer disruptions to the buyer organization. It is suggested that this type of extraordinary marketing effort on behalf of the seller adds value to the relationship by satisfying the customer’s need for a vendor who provides solutions, helps to solve problems and offers a true partnership.
Proposition 4: The greater the participation by the seller in the implementation process of the new product into the customer’s organization, the greater the added value to the relationship.
This is also the stage of the relationship where trust begins to mature between the two parties, as they become involved in a tighter more sophisticated relationship (Wilson, 1995). As Ganesan (1994) explains, trust in the relationship occurs over time and is a consequence of repeated satisfying interactions between the buyer and the seller.
Outcomes
Satisfying the customer should be a primary goal of the marketing strategy. Studies have demonstrated that customer satisfaction leads to customer loyalty and positive repeat purchase intentions (Anderson and Sullivan, 1993; Fornell et al., 1996; Patterson et al., 1997). However, since satisfaction is cumulative, as explained above, it takes an effort both inside and outside of the selling firm to ensure customer satisfaction.
Satisfaction
The promises made to the customer from signaling can be equated with expectations. Disconfirmation, or the difference between these expectations and the actual performance of the product or service, strongly influences the customer’s satisfaction (Patterson et al., 1997). The results of research into business-to-business, high involvement, professional services by Patterson et al. (1997) indicates that “…consumer satisfaction/dissatisfaction is the crucial link in establishing longer-term client relationships and thus the strategic wellbeing of the organization” (p. 14).
It is satisfaction that allows a basic business relationship to progress to the point where a high level of commitment exists between the parties involved, and where the dissolution of the relationship becomes increasingly difficult because of the strong bond that has developed. Under these circumstances, satisfaction is cumulative in nature (Boulding et al., 1993). Anderson et al. (1994a, p. 54) describe cumulative customer satisfaction as ” . . . an overall evaluation based on the total purchase and consumption experience with a good or service over time.” As an example, the quality of the service that the buyer receives from the seller during the ongoing relationship may be considered a factor in influencing the customers’ overall satisfaction with the relationship (Anderson and Sullivan, 1993; Cronin and Taylor, 1992; Fornell, 1992).
Proposition 5: The greater the satisfaction of the buyer and the seller with past interactions, the more likely it is that the parties involved will become more committed to the relationship.
As indicated above, satisfaction with previous outcomes can lead to a continuance of the relationship between the two parties. Ganesan (1994) indicates that studies have found that commitment in a relationship is significantly related to satisfaction with past outcomes.
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