Chapter 13 – Building Partnering Relationships
CHAPTER 13
BUILDING PARTNERING RELATIONSHIPS
Outline of Chapter
I. The Value of Customers
II. Relationships and Selling
A. Types of Relationships
1. Market Exchanges
III. Managing Relationships and Partnering
A. Choosing the Right Relationship
B. Using Technology to Increase Efficiency
IV. Phases of Relationship Development
V. Characteristics of Successful Relationships
A. Mutual Trust
1. Dependability
2. Competence
VI. Selling Yourself
Chapter 13 – Building Partnering Relationships
Teaching Suggestions
1. Throughout this course, you’ve been asking students questions such as why they thought building
partnerships was becoming more important in business. You may have already asked them “What
do buyers and sellers have to do to build an effective partnership?” And also, “How will building
relationship.
2. Discuss Building Partnerships 13.1, which is about selling commodities like shipping. Are those
ideas limited to commodities? Why might these ideas have greater potency in selling
commodities than in selling highly differentiated goods?
3. Develop the discussion further by talking about the characteristics of successful relationships.
Each succeeding level of relationship is marked by increasing levels of trust and commitment.
You should probably define trust (a belief that the other party will fulfill its obligations) and talk
about how its three aspects, dependability, capability or expertise, and concern for the other party
Next talk about communication and the role it plays in a successful relationship. Open and honest
communication is essential to developing trust, therefore, it is essential to a successful
relationship. Ask your students to compare the quality of communication, especially how much
they know about those with which they have close relationships, to the communication in those
relationships they have with people they don’t know so well. Also mention that shared goals and
Chapter 13 – Building Partnering Relationships
4. Next, you will want to discuss how these relationships develop. You probably want to return to
the student’s close relationships. Ask them how the relationships began and how they proceeded
from one phase to the next. Talk about how they probably began with an awareness phase-no
interaction takes place, but they may do some information search about their object of interest.
5. An important element for students to recognize is that strategic partnerships are not always the
objective. Use discussion question 5, “What factors should a salesperson consider when deciding
which customers he or she wants to develop a close relationship? How would these factors
change when considering functional relationships versus strategic partnerships?” See how we
Suggested Answers to Ethics Problems
1. If partnerships are win–win, does that mean that market exchanges are win–lose? Is there an
ethical difference between win–win and win–lose? Does the customer’s value equation (recall
from Chapter 1; value=benefits-[selling price+time and effort] have to equal in profit to the
seller’s profit equation for a transaction to be ethical?
In a win-win, both buyer and seller are looking to expand the pie. Both organizations want to do
2. A customer is very loyal to one of your competitors but the contract is expiring soon. An RFP
(request for proposals) has been written and issued; but as it is written, only that competitor can
win the contract renewal. You know that your product and service could satisfy the needs of the
company better. Is there an ethics problem here? If so, what is it and why? If not, why not?
Chapter 13 – Building Partnering Relationships
Probably there isn’t an ethical problem; the reality is probably that the buyer was assisted in
Suggested Answers to Questions and Problems
1. When might relational partnerships potentially dangerous for selling companies to encourage?
Or should companies encourage salespeople to develop relational partnerships with all
accounts? Why or why not?
In some instances, the relationship takes on a power of its own which can make customers
uncomfortable in raising concerns and other issues. Then, the customers simply leave because the
2. Which is more important to the seller: attitudinal or behavioral loyal? Why? What can a
salesperson do to increase loyalty in buyers? How does loyalty relate to lifetime customer value?
Both are important; behavioral because it reflects actual sales. Attitudinal is probably preferable
in that it should be exhibited in terms of both sales and advocacy for the product to others, as well
as greater tolerance when problems arise (as they always will). But attitudinal loyalty without
purchase is not worth much. Feelings won’t pay the bills! Loyalty should improve CLV through
the following ways:
• Willing to pay a price premium (note: Continental Airlines says that loyal fliers pay an
3. Read From the Buyer’s Seat. Do you think most business buyers have a similar motto? Contrast
Braig’s perspective with the JC Penney quote in the text that all great business relationships are
based on friendships. Who is right and why? Why is understanding this question of
friendship/relationship important to salespeople? What is the importance of pre-call planning to
building relationships?
Ed Braig’s problem is not with friends but with phony friends. As a professional purchasing
Chapter 13 – Building Partnering Relationships
4. What company does the best job of building a relationship with you? Describe what they do to
strengthen that relationship and why you like them so much. Identify five concepts from the
5. Which factors should a salesperson consider when deciding whether to develop a close
relationship with a customer?
When choosing a partner to develop a close relationship, the salesperson should choose the firm
that, by working together, could increase benefits to both firms. In other words, the salesperson
should first consider the firm that is most critical to their firm’s survival. Close partnering
relationships make sense when the products bought are not well-defined or are highly specialized,
or when there is a need for specialized information or service, and when one firm’s performance
could have a critical impact on the other’s.
How would these factors change when considering functional relationships versus strategic
partnerships?
A strategic partnership implies a greater level of commitment by both parties. One factor – does
the buyer have access to technology or information that would benefit the seller? If so, a strategic
What factors should the customer consider?
Some of the factors would include a company’s ability to innovate, whether the culture is a good
fit, the financial stability of the organization, and the importance of the supplier’s product to the
core business of the customer. This last item is probably the most important, but if the others
aren’t there, then a good relationship may be hard to develop.
6. How do buyers calculate profit? What is the role of the relationship type in increasing buyer
profit?
7. Christina Harrod, in the opening profile, describes several factors in her business that seem to
make deeper relationships between customers and vendors more important. What are they?
8. Read Sales Technology: CRM Software, Boom or Bust? In both examples, you could argue that
the salespeople should be doing those activities without the software. So why is the software
needed, and what other things could be done to increase sales and strengthen relationships with
the information that these salespeople gather and put into the CRM software system?
Chapter 13 – Building Partnering Relationships
In both situations, they are using CRM technology to try to get business in situations where most
9. There are five foundational elements to strategic partnerships. How do these differ for relational
partnerships? Functional relationships? What if four of the five are strong—what type of
relationship is that?
Likeability, for example, is much more important in a relational partnership because competence
Suggested Answers to Case Problems
Case 13-1: How to Lose an Account
Questions
1. Things had gone well with this account overall. What, though were the critical issues in
determining customer satisfaction that led to the loss of the customer? Was the problem simply a
lack of satisfaction with the product? Using concepts from the chapter, describe how the
customer’s value equation was influenced by the experiences both before and during the call.
Trust me, the real Robert Lawrence (again, the name was changed at his request) has asked
himself how this situation could have been avoided other than firing that service manager earlier
2. Was there anything the sales rep or his boss, Robert Lawrence, could have done after the sales
call to save the business?
Here’s what they tried – to no avail. They first tried to solve Sharon’s problem, which they were
able to do and do quickly – within two days. They also tried to convince Sharon that they would
Chapter 13 – Building Partnering Relationships
3. Not only were there no other problems during the previous three-year contract, Mobile had
originally won the business away from a competitor and significantly improved HRT’s situation.
Why didn’t that enter into the picture?
Case 2-2: Southwest Tool
Questions
1. Which group would you focus on – finding another account for the top 5% or reviving mid-level
accounts that are dormant?
Many students will opt for calling dormant accounts to look for the ones that might be in the top
2. Assume Southwest’s CEO has said, “Do both.” What is marketing’s role in helping salespeople
find and grow very large accounts? In reviving dormant accounts? Specifically describe what
actions you’d take in each segment. How can salespeople support the dormant account revival
strategy without giving up on growing the very large accounts? What other options should be
explored?
Marketing could create a series of campaigns like emails and direct mail to dormant accounts to
Chapter 13 – Building Partnering Relationships
End Of Chapter Role Play Case
There is no buyer information needed for this role play. The purpose is to lead into a discussion of how to
understand the buyer’s preference for transactional, functional, relational, or strategic partnerships. After
EXERCISE 13-1 CATEGORIZING YOUR RELATIONSHIPS
Ask the students to list all of the on-going relationships with people they have and classify them as
functional, relational, or strategic. Ask them to explain why they categorized them as they did and ask
EXERCISE 13-2
Ask students to reflect for a moment on the issue of relationships and their university. With whom would
the university build relationships? How would university representatives do that? If you (the student)
were selling the university to a prospective donor for a big scholarship, what type of relationship would
you expect to form with that donor and how? If you (the student) were the donor, what would you expect
from the university?