TRG iSKY

There is near unanimous support among marketers, operational executives and brand professionals that “Relationship” is the new coin of the realm. The notion of delivering high quality products or services to produce satisfied customers and yield repeat business is as outdated as it is intuitively appealing – a dangerous combination. The reality is that if functional exchange theory – rationale actors making cost/benefit based decisions – is no longer (if it ever was) a valid theory to explain, measure and therefore, manage customer behavior. The problem however, to quote Susan Fournier of Harvard Business School, is “In a sense, the field has lept ahead to application of relationship ideas and the assumption of benefits without proper development of the core constructs involved.” The Relationship Investment Model (RIM) fills this void by identifying the core constructs of a healthy customer relationship, the items to measure them and how the constructs work together to explain customer behavior. We introduce the model and how it can be applied to customer acquisition, retention and brand equity valuations as part of our first annual Relationship Investment Model (RIM) Report. The data in the full report (due soon) comes from 3 nationally representative online studies of consumers in clothing retail, grocery and cable/satellite. From this data we’ve assembled the first nationwide set of Relationship Investment Scores (RIS) for over 30 different companies and 3 industry averages to compare and benchmark. In subsequent administrations we will focus on other verticals while repeating these to build a more complete and longitudinal database. But for now, and as a precursor to the full report, here are the scores. A few noteworthy mentions - these scores are not equated with market share, which is heavily determined by factors outside the realm of brand, marketing and CRM where these scores and the model would be applied. Also note the almost paradoxical situation that can arise in "low or no choice" industries such as internet and cable - high scores. There are a number of factors here, not least of which cable/internet being far from non-discretionary needs to products/services meeting discretionary and emotionally laden wants. The value derived from the content and inter-connectivity of the web and TV is partially attributed to the provider. The bottom line however is that no industry or company is devoid of strong customer relationships and understanding how to measure their strength is the starting point for successfully managing and growing them.