Chapter 11: Selling in a Branded World: Linking Your Brand Proposition to Your Sales Messages

Overview

Before the concept of relationship marketing was introduced in 1975, ^[1] most sales were conceived of as short-term transactions, a "just get the orders" type of selling. Today, there is general agreement that relationship marketing (RM), where long-term relationships are formed, is the best sales model for strong brands. ^[2]

Marketing is, of course, closely related but not identical to sales. Marketing provides direction to sales, in great part through branding. ^[3] Sales, on the other hand, is the purpose of marketing. ^[4] Because of the hands-on nature of sales, sales departments must assume responsibility for ensuring sales teams follow marketing's direction and sell on-brand. Salespeople must understand that the way they sell is part of brand delivery and is part of a long-term strategic investment in the brand.

RM has as many definitions as there are people writing about the subject. The definition we are partial to is marketing expert Adrian Payne's, in which he explains that RM happens when marketing, customer service, and quality management intersect and has as its primary concern "the dual focus of getting and keeping customers." ^[5] Many "quality management" and "marketing" decisions occur outside the direct view of customers. Customer-staff interaction, on the other hand, is up-front, noticeable, and, as with most human-to-human interactions, complex to manage.

It used to be thought that relationship selling was necessary only when a sale was complex, customized, or conducted over a series of transactions. Today, we expect some type of relationship building even when the contact is minimal, such as when we purchase groceries. Most customers expect at least the relationship components of a smile and a greeting. As a result, many grocery store chains ask their checkers to use customers' names when handing them their receipts and to thank customers for their business.

^[1]The beginning of relationship marketing was explained by H. Hakansson and C. Ostberg, "Industrial Marketing: An Organisational Problem," Industrial Marketing Management (1975): 113–123. The idea was explained in relationship to services by L. L. Berry, Relationship Marketing in Emerging Perspectives on Service Marketing (Chicago: American Marketing Association, 1983), 25–28, and then applied to consumer sales by R. Oliver Christy and J. Penn, "Relationship Marketing in Consumer Markets," Journal of Marketing Management 12 (1996): 175–187.

^[2]See J. N. Sheth and A. Parvatiyan, "The Evolution of Relationship Marketing," International Business Review 4 (1995): 397–418.

^[3]Peter Drucker, in his customary precise and direct style, expressed it this way: "Marketing ... is the whole business seen from the point of view of its final result, that is, from the customer's point of view. Concern and responsibility for marketing must, therefore, permeate all areas of the enterprise." Peter F. Drucker, People and Performance (New York: Harper & Row, 1977).

^[4]This idea has been expressed by numerous business leaders, including Andrew S. Grove (CEO, Intel Corporation), One-on-One with Andy Grove (New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1987).

^[5]Adrian Payne, Martin Christopher, and D. Ballantyre, Relationship Marketing for Competitive Advantage: Winning and Keeping Customers (Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, Ltd., 1991).