3.Relationship Marketing and Strategic Alliances
As Chapter 1 explained,relationship marketing is a strategy that entails seeking and establishing ongoing partnerships with customers. Relationship marketing has become an important business marketing stategy as customers have become more demanding and competition has become more demanding and competition has become more intense. Loyal customers are also more profitable than those who are price-sensitive and perceive little or no difference among brands or suppliers. That is why firms such as online printing company Mimeo.com focus on continually improving processes for communicating with customers once they place their first order. To help retain clients, the company has developed an automated system that sends out emails or triggers a live contact each time a customer places an order or asks a question. Building long-term relationships with customers offers companies a way to build competitive advantage that is hard for competitors to copy.For example,the FedEx Powership