Free «Customer Relationship Marketing » Essay

Customer relationship marketing is an essential component in business that assists marketers in creating and strengthening brand loyalty, thereby retaining and attracting more customers. According to Sanchez (2010, p.1), most of the marketers who engage customer relationship marketing programs do normally recognize sales as the beginning of a business opportunity that assists them in creating an enduring and profitable brand relationship with their corresponding customers. Sanchez (2010, p.1) points out that the mass marketing, which has fostered business growth through economies of scale, along with efficiencies of reaching customers have called for the need of enhancing good customer relationship services. This paper provides specific advices on how individual can improve non-verbal marketing communication skills concerning customers. It discusses how personal seeing differs from other elements of promotion mix. Moreover, it explains the advantages of personal selling and its contribution in helping to develop stronger customer relationship.

There are a number of ways through which individuals can improve their non-verbal communication skills. Firstly, there is a need to effectively manage emotional stress involved in marketing that undermines the ability to communicate. As pointed out by Russell (2011, p.1), stress undermines the ability of someone to communicate as it can result in putting off non-verbal signal that is likely to mislead the customers. Therefore, engaging staff in stress-free activities will enable them in actively non-verbal communication settings that are essential for promotion mix.

Secondly, promoting selling activities, which incorporate the exchange of valuable goods and services for customer’s money through insightful display, can improve non-verbal communication. Wells (2009, p.1) notes that selling allows sales managers to enhance a targeted market analysis approach that assists them in identifying customers who are potentially in need of their products. Thus, a well-targeted advertising process will effectively communicate to the customers on the benefits of being offered the products. Additionally, body gesture and language displayed by the customer when using non-verbal communication portrays his or her satisfaction or dissatisfaction on products or services being offered. 

Sanchez (2010, p.5) notes that the role of personal selling and the sale manager is to view their brands not as assets but rather as brand loyalty. He points out that in real business situation, brand loyalty is the business asset since without customer’s loyalty; the brand becomes merely a trademark that is owned and identified with symbol that has little value in enhancing profitability. He adds that the role of selling is to assist sale managers in identifying the problems associated with their products or services and the corresponding benefits they offer to customers.

In most cases, the nature at which companies engage in selling and the role played by sales managers have resulted into an enduring profitable growth in business. According to Sanchez (2010, p.1), personal selling has enabled sales managers in evolving from a transaction mentality marketing process to a relationship oriented mentality in promoting their products. This has allowed sales managers to move from only focusing on acquiring more customers and conquest to primarily agitating for customer retention and loyalty.

Additionally, Wells (2009, p.1) points out that personal selling assists sales managers in identifying the economic and social characteristics associated with their ideal customers. For instance, by monitoring club membership or home ownership, the sales manager would be able to understand the income of their prospective customers and their resistance to spending. This in turn would allow them in devising and producing products and services that correspond to customer’s income and preference.

Another way of business improvement includes non-verbal communication skills and identifying the elements that affect service operations and quality in business. High product quality promoting effective service reliability and management operations influences customer relationship marketing. Therefore, it is important to note that active engagement of customers is essential in business. Paryani (2012, p.1) points out that providing high quality marketing services that communicate reliable products and services is influential for company’s market shares, its productivity, and profitability in case it actively engages customers.

According to Paryani (2012, p.1), customers are normally being driven away from company’s products and services if the organization’s service creates a long queue of customers who wait to be served. It not only creates a manipulated customer relationship services, but also calls for the replacement of such ineffective communication strategies with effective non-verbal communication strategies. However, personal marketing that allows conversation between the marketers and customers is also essential as it assists marketers in understanding the likes and dislikes of the customers towards the marketed products and services. Therefore, engaging in service operations that undermine or deny marketer-customer conversation negatively influences the business operation. Thus, most of organizations tend to promote personal selling over other elements of promotion mix.

As pointed out by Wells (2009, p.1), personal selling differ from other promotion mix elements based on its oral conversation either through telephone or face-to-face between the sales representative and the prospective customer. He notes that it differs from merchandising, advertising, sales promoting, and public relation services that engage marketing programs which do not offer direct interaction between the company and the customers. Failure to engage direct and insightful conversation with the customer will undermine the ability of enhancing close sales which is essential in creating customer loyalty.

According to Sanchez (2009, p.11), personal selling presents the marketer with instant feedback through enhancing a two-way conversational process on prospect’s alternatives towards organization’s products and services. Thus, the organization gets an immediate action that is tailored in addressing the customer’s needs. Parvatiyar & Sheth (2006, p.1) point out that engaging the customer relationship marketing strategy that is null of manipulating customers can only be achieved through enhancing genuine direct customer communication and knowledge sharing processes. They note that encouraging personal selling develops a close organization-customer relationship that is significant in creating brand loyalty.

Additionally, Parvatiyar & Sheth (2006, p.1) point out that personal selling assists the organization in precisely targeting a given prospect whose loyalty is essential for business continuity. They note that offering direct conversation with customers promotes a mutual exchange and fulfillment of promises that are related to specified demographic population, thereby promoting business sustainability and existence.

Finally, Mangolda (2009, p.1) points out that social media has given ample opportunity for business interaction between organizations and their prospective customers. Therefore, the use of social media through customer relationship management program will ensure that organizations are in continuous interaction with their customers. Moreover, removing language barrier related issues that undermine customer interaction will ensure smooth services operations.

The customer relation managers must also enhance business relationship. According to Parvatiyar & Sheth (2006, p.18), key customer relation managers should ensure that there is personal and emotional linkages between their incorporated programs and the actual need of the customers. For example, CRM systems are not only devised in dealing with the current existing customers, but also offer useful opportunity of acquiring new customers. It can only be achieved if CRM managers create a suitable working environment with their subordinated staff, thereby making it easier in tracking both the existing and new customers by promoting business relationship. Additionally, Parvatiyar & Sheth (2006, p.20) point out that customer relation managers should create a centralized CRM system that ensure that customer related programs are easily available in any given time. It creates increased customer productivity services as it reduces the processing time that is involved in connecting with customers, thereby enhancing business relationship.

There are other key tasks involved in achieving sales and building relationship. Parvatiyar & Sheth (2006, p.33), note that incorporating a program that allows interdependence and connectedness with stakeholders provides an internal process which is essential for building business relationship. According to them, using intermediaries’ technologies such as social media can assist an organization in involving the steering or advisory committee in the organization’s marketing process thereby supporting relationship building.

Conclusion

In conclusion, non-verbal communication is an essential element in customer relationship marketing that enhances business sustainability and profitability. Thus, there is the need for key customer managers to incorporate and engage related customer relationship programs that promotes direct organization-customer conversation in building stable business relationship.