Marketing: Partner Relationship Management

When it comes to creating customer value and building strong, customer relationships, today's marketers know that they can't go it alone. They must work closely with a variety of marketing partners. In addition to being good at customer relationship management, marketers must also be good at partner relationship management. Major changes are occurring in how marketers partner with others inside and outside the company to jointly bring more value to customers. 

Partners Inside the Company

Traditionally, marketers have been charged with understanding customers and representing customer needs to different company departments. The old thinking was that marketing is done only by marketing, sales, and customer support people. However, in today's more connected world, every functional area can interact with customers, especially electronically. The new thinking is that every employee must be customer-focused. David Packard, the late co-founder of Hewlett - Packard, wisely said, " Marketing is far too important to be left only to the marketing department.

Today, rather than letting each department go its own way, firms are linking all departments in the cause of creating customer value. Rather than assigning only sales and marketing people to customers, they are forming cross-functional customer teams. For example, Procter & Gamble assigns " customer development teams " to each of its major retailer accounts. These teams - consisting of sales and marketing people, operations specialists, market and financial analysts, and others -- coordinate the efforts of many P & G departments toward helping the retailer be more successful. 

Marketing Partners Outside the Firm 

Changes are also occurring in how marketers connect with their suppliers, channel partners, and even competitors. Most companies today are networked companies, relying heavily on partnerships with other firms. Marketing channels consist of distributors, retailers, and others who connect the company to its buyers. The supply chain describes a longer channel, stretching from raw materials to components to final products that are carried to final buyers. For example, the supply chain for personal computers consists of suppliers of computer chips and other