Client Management

1
Client Management

• Week 3

2
Benefits of Relationships

• Operational
• Symbiotic
• Economic
• Customisation
• Strategic
• Psychological
• Social
• (Sweeny Webb 2001)

3
Negatives to relationships

• Loss of control
• Indeterminism
• Resource Demanding
• Restrictions
• Unexpected demands

4
Cost / Benefit Analysis

• Situations call for different types of
  relationships
• Arms length transactional relationships to
  highly interactive strategic relationships (see
  Dwyer, Schurr Oh p. 13 Blois p. 56)
• When benefits outweigh costs interactive
  relational exchange
• When costs outweigh benefits arms length
  transactional exchange

5
Relational Types

• Use Bloiss categories but there are others
  this is how your client will perceive you
• No relationship at all
• Prospecting
• Competitive supplier
• Valued Niche supplier
• Valued diversified supplier
• Major supplier
• Strategic partner

6
How relationships develop?

• Interaction communication trust overcoming
  uncertainties identity
• Co-ordination activity links developed
  requirements highlighted
• Adaptations lead to better utilisation of
  resources switching costs extent of
  adaptations flow through to other network actors

7
Stages of a Relationship

• See handout 1 week 3
• Problems with such classifications
• Good descriptive tool for evaluation
• Not all relationships will become highly
  interactive
• Look for strategies in taking clients from one
  stage to the next
• See Dwyer et al p. 21

8
First stage

• Awareness or Pre-relationship stage
• No monetary exchange has occurred
• Evaluation of other partner
• Strategy
• display benefits of your organization
• Evaluate client to ensure is viable

9
Second stage

• Exploration or Early stage
• Monetary exchange has occurred or will occur
  during this stage according to tasks
• Exploration stage is also included in
  pre-relationship stage
• Exploration communication/ bargaining power/
  justice norm development expectations
  development
• Early stage discussion/ negotiation reduction
  in uncertainties investment increases a lot
  trust to start
• Strategies

10
Third Stage

• Expansion or Development stage
• Begin to have repeated transactions
• Same as previous but to a greater extent
• Trust developed during this stage
• Uncertainty reduced and adaptations occurring
• Outward behaviour being judged.

11
Long term/ final and Commitment

• Group together for this exercise mature stage
• Commitment Inputs durability consistency
• Final stage routinization low distance high
  commitment company boundaries beginning to blur
• Risk is now accepted within the relationship
• Strategies is high efficiency joint problem
  solving relationship maintenance

12
Dissolution Stage

• Covered in further detail in week 7
• Important aspect of relationship management as
  not all relationships will last long term
• Attenuating Events cause dissolution high
  conflict levels environmental changes
  political technological markets change
• Important to maintain reputation and not to loose
  position relative to all network players

13
Assessing a customer relationship

• See figure 4.1
• Assessed from different perspectives
• Cost
• Attitudinal
• Mutuality
• Exercise in assessing customer relationships