Relationship Manager Compared to Salesman

Salesmen are oriented to transaction selling. Transaction selling refers to focus on a single transaction. Salesman identifies a prospect, approaches him and motivates him to complete the buying process. The emphasis is in on the need or want for the product and the fulfillment of the want through the salesman and the product that he is offering.

Relationship selling or relationship marketing or relationship management focuses on the customer for establishing a long-term relationship. In acquiring the customer, the company would like to demonstrate to the account that it has the capabilities observe the account’s needs in a superior way, if the two parties can for a committed relationship. Kotler (1997) identified SPIN selling as technique to be used in relationship development.

As companies offer multiple products and services, the emphasis is moving from transaction marketing or selling to relationship marketing. Customers prefer suppliers who can sell and deliver a coordinated set of products and services to many locations if required. Relationship managers are given the responsibility to manage the sales of variety of products to customers on a long-term relationship basis. Relationship managers have to understand the needs of the customers on a long-term basis, make useful suggestions to them in respect of the product that their company is selling, and then monitor these accounts to make sure that their needs are being met with the products/services supplied to them and be ready to provide the after-sale-service as required. Losing a customer is very costly to the company. Relationship manager is entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining the long-term relationship.

Relationship manager is no doubt a salesman but with a different outlook and attitude. He needs a different training. He is responsible for the client, is the focal point of all the information about the client, is the provider of all the company information to the client, and he is the mobilizer of all the company services for satisfying the client.

In a properly implemented relationship management system, the organization will focus as much on managing its customers as on managing its products to fulfill the revenue targets.

References

Kotler, Philip (1997), Marketing Management, 9th Ed., Prentice Hall, New Jersey.