1. Building Partnering Relationships
Chapter 2

2. Important Questions Answered
 What different types of relationships exist between
buyers and sellers?
 When is each type of relationship appropriate?
 What are the characteristics of successful partnerships?
 What are the benefits and risks in partnering
relationships?
 How do relationships develop over time?
 What are the responsibilities of salespeople in
partnerships?
2

3. “Your challenge as a professional will be to
understand the different types of
relationships and how those relationships can
impact you and your company, whether
positive or negative.”
~Steve Reel

4. Evolution of Personal Selling
 Past
To sell what company produced even if it was not
what people needed at very high prices
 Present (Partnering-oriented)
To find solutions and develop a partnership
 Buyers have needs that are met by:
 The product
 The selling process
 Buyers buy to also make a profit
4

5. The Evolution of Personal
Selling

6. Relationships and Selling
Relationship
marketing Behavioral loyalty
refers to the purchase of
 Loyalty the same product from
the same vendor over
 Behavioral time.
 Attitudinal
 Lifetime
customer value Attitudinal loyalty is
an emotional
attachment to a brand,
company, or
salesperson.

7. Relationship Marketing
 Companies’ attempts to develop stronger relationships
with their customers
 Relationship marketing is the
creation of customer loyalty
 Targets a major customer
that it wants to sell to now
and in the future
 Establishes a long-term
collaborative relationship
7

8. Relationship Marketing and the Sales Force
 4 basic questions used to define the role of the sales force
 How much selling effort is necessary to gain and hold customers
 Is the sales force the best marketing tool?
 What type of sales activity will be necessary?
 Can the firm gain strength relative to its competition with sales
force?
 Personal selling builds relationships!
 Two main functions of personal selling are to
 Generate revenue
 Provide services to satisfy customers
 Flexible in operation
 Focused on prospective customers
 Results in actual sales
 Salespeople implement relationship marketing
8

9. Levels of Relationship Marketing
 Transaction selling: customers are sold to and not
contacted again
 Relationship selling: the seller contacts customers
after the purchase to determine if they are satisfied
and have future needs
 Partnering: the seller works continually to improve
its customers’ operations, sales, and profits
9

10. Dependence Increases as Relationships
become Important
p
hi
High
rse
rtn
Pa
p
hi
ns
Relationships
io
at
el
R
l
na
io
ct
sa
an
Low
Tr
Low Dependence High
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11. Partnering with Customers
 Encourages both the buyer and seller to share information
 Two companies work toward the same objective
 Components of partnering include:
 Individual excellence
 Importance
 Interdependence
 Investment
 Information
 Integration
 Institutionalization
 Integrity
11

12. Partnering with Customers
12

13. Building Customer Relationships
Through Service
 Service-oriented salespeople can do Two things to
add value to their product offerings and to enhance
buyer-seller relationships
13

14. Value-Added Activities
 Salespeople can do a number of things to add
value to their product offerings and to enhance
buyer-seller relationships such as
 seek to simplify order processing
 help customers become operationally efficient
 assist customers in producing, marketing, and
distributing their products to their customers
14

15. Service Differentiation
 Show how you differ by providing a higher level of
service that other salespeople by going over and
above the “call of duty” to help customers like
Rolls Royce and Mercedes-Benz do
15

16. How Do You Spell Service?
 S= Satisfaction...make sure that customer are satisfied.
 E= Expectations...fulfill customer expectations for
service.
 R= Responsiveness...solve customer problems promptly.
 V= Value...make sure customers perceive that the service
benefits they receive exceed the price they pay.
 I= Initiative...seek ways to provide extra services to
customers.
 C= Concern...show customers that you care about them.
 E= Enthusiasm...provide customer services eagerly and
with a smile.
16

17. Relationship Builders
 Treat customers like life-long partners
 Become a solutions provider
 Deliver more service than you promise
 Schedule regular service calls
 Develop open and honest communication
 Use the ‘we can’ approach
 Take responsibility for mistakes made
 Be an ally for the customers’ business
17

18. Relationship Breakers
 Simply wait for the problem to develop
 Focus only on making the sale
 Over-promise and under-deliver
 Wait for your customers to call you
 Lie or make exaggerated claims
 Use the “us versus them” approach
 Blame somebody else
 Knock a competitor
 Focus on your own personal gain
18

19. Market Exchanges
 A transaction between a buyer and a seller in
which each party is concerned only about that
party’s benefit. The seller is concerned only with
making the sale; the buyer with getting the product
at the lowest possible price. Most business
transactions are market exchanges, and there are
two types:
 Solo Market Exchanges
 Functional Relationships
19

20. Solo Market Exchanges
 Parties in the transaction do not plan on doing
business together again, both the buyer and the
seller pursue their own self-interests.
20

21. Functional Relationships
 These are long-term market exchanges in which
the buyer purchases out of habit or routine; they
tend to have the same orientation as they do in solo
market exchanges, but the previous purchase does
influence the next purchase.
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22. Partnerships
Here both parties are concerned about each other’s
welfare and in developing win-win relationships.
There are two types of partnerships:
 Relational partnership
 Strategic partnership
22

23. Relational partnership
 Both seller and the buyer trust one another and
have a close personal relationship, thus they do not
go into minor details
23

24. Strategic partnership
 In this type of partnership both parties work and
develop a long-tem relationship and make
significant investment to improve profitability of
both
24

25. Types of Relationships Between Buyers
and Sellers

26. Main issue
 Most salespeople are involved in either market
exchanges or functional relationships. Strategic
partnerships are rare.
26

27. Foundations of Successful
Relationships

28. Characteristics of Successful
Relationships
 Mutual trust: A belief by both the parties that the
other one will fulfil its obligations in a relationship.
 Dependability: The buyer’s perception that the
salesperson, and the product and company he or she
represents, will live up to promises made, is not something
a salesperson can demonstrate immediately
 Competence: To know what they are talking about
 Customer orientation: the degree to which the salesperson
puts the customer’s needs first
 Honesty: truthfulness and sincerity
 Likeability: behaving in a friendly manner and finding a
common ground
28

29. Open communication
 Open and honest communication is a key
building block for developing successful
relationships
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30. Common goals
 Both parties should have common, preferably
shared, goals to be able to develop a successful
relationship
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31. Commitment to mutual gain
 Both parties to work to have a win-win relationship
 Credible commitments:
Both parties make credible commitments to, which
are tangible investments in the relationship
31

32. Organisational support
 Structure and culture
Organizational structure & management provide
necessary support for the salespeople & buyers in a
partnering relationship
 Training
Special training is required to sell effectively in a
relationship-building environment
 Rewards
Reward systems on both sides of the relationship
be coordinated to encourage supportive behaviours
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33. Phases of Relationship Development
 Although not all relationships should become
partnerships, strategic partnerships do tend to go
through several phases
 Awareness: salespeople locate & qualify prospects, while
buyers identify various sources of supply
 Exploration: both buyer & seller search and try out; they
may explore the potential benefits and costs.
 Expansion: supplier has passed enough tests to be
considered for additional business
 Commitment: investments are made in the relationship,
especially in the form of sharing proprietary information,
plans, goals, and the like
 Dissolution: it can occur any-time because of poor
performance, clash in culture, change in needs, and other
factors
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34. Managing Relationships and
Partnering
 Choosing the right relationship
 Size
to make a relationship with the right type of customer
(big/small depending upon the pros and cons)
 Access to technology
some companies often develop innovations, either in the
way they use a product or by altering a product, that the
supplier can copy. Astute salespeople can identify such
companies and develop strategic partnerships that lead to
joint development of new products or technologies,
important outcomes regardless of the size of the account
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35. Using Technology to Increase
Efficiency
 Partnering relationships are built on effective
communications. To improve communications with
customers, salespeople are using computers,
telecommunications, and videos. Companies are also
creating direct links with customers via technology.
Supplier relationship
management (SRM) is the
use of technology and
statistics to identify important
suppliers and opportunities
for cost reduction, greater
efficiency, and other benefits.
35

36. Summary
 Businesses are moving toward partnering
strategies.
 Functional relationships and strategic
partnerships are characterized by a mutual
concern of each party for the long-run welfare
of the other party.
 Mutual trust, open communication, common
goals, a commitment to mutual gain, and
organizational support are key ingredients in
successful relationships.
 Customers trust salespeople who are
dependable, capable, and concerned about
the customer’s welfare.

37. End of Chapter 2

38. Thank you