The term relationship marketing was coined by Leonard Berry, who defined relationship

marketing as the art of attracting, maintaining, and improving relationships with customers
Berry, (1983). Extending Berry’s work, Morgan and Hunt (1994) proposed that relationship
marketing denotes all marketing activities intended to form, advance and sustain successful
and long lasting relational exchanges, and Gummesson (2008) added on to the definition that
relationship marketing is based on interactions within the intricate systems of business and
customers’ relationships. The quality of the interactions becomes increasingly important and
eventually will dominate the outcome of the company’s operation Gummesson, (2008). In
order to measure the success of a company’s relationship marketing campaign, there are some
criteria the company’s executives can evaluate including customer satisfaction, customer’s
propensity to stay, consent, financial performance, and competitive advantages Hunt and
Arnett, (2003). Relationship marketing is dynamic because relationships evolve over time
according to the relationship cycle; therefore, relationship marketing activities and their
associated attributes alter across the cycle Palmatie, (2008). Christopher, Payne and
Ballantyne (1991) identify six markets that they claim to be central to relationship marketing:
internal markets, supplier markets, recruitment markets, referral markets, influence markets
and customer markets.

To start with, customer markets are at the centre of the six markets frame work. Customers
must remain the prime focus area of the marketing activity. This is obviously the most
important market for firms to monitor. According to Palmatie, (2008), relationship marketing
emphasizes the quality of the relationship, not just the number of relationships with a view to
maintaining valuable long-term relationships. Marketing needs to be less directed at
transaction marketing and an emphasis on the acquiring a new customer and more on
building long term customer relationship. This market contains buyer, intermediates, final
customers and retailers. Customers are the final consumers for a product, so they are the most
important entity for any business Kotler, (1999). Organisation need to retain customers as
long as they can and also need to attract new customers. The ultimate goal must be creating
brand loyal customers; this can be done by adding more value to the products.

Additionally, Hunt, (1994) asserts that, customers market directly influence the organisation,
if customers are not satisfied with the product any organisation provides, they cannot retain
them. Customer satisfaction is more crucial, looking at Dell organisation, Michael Dell
emphasises the significant status of customers to the company’s business by stating, finding
ways to get close to your customers is critical to your success Dell (1999). In an Interview he
called this strategy virtual integration with customers Magretta (1998). He affirms that DELL
Computer Corp detaches the partnership function from the marketing department, making
everybody in the company responsible for fostering the relationship to its customers. As a
result customer market frame work philosophy in relationship marketing becomes obvious as
DELL names its biggest customers relationship customers in opposing transaction customers.

Furthermore, influence market covers a range of markets and tends to vary according to the
type of industry or sector that an organisation is in Gummesson, (2008). These influence
market includes stakeholders as well as third parties. They term influencer looks at a range of
third parties who exercise influence over the organization and its potential customers. These
influencers may be governments and their agencies, press and other media, professional
bodies, investors and pressure groups. In fact influence markets will likely include all of the
constituencies that have traditionally fallen within the domain of public relations and
corporate affairs. While relationships with these parties may not directly add value to a
product or service, they can directly influence the likelihood of purchase or prevent an offer
from even reaching the market Hunt and Arnett, (2003). If carefully and proactively
managed, these relationships can not only open doors to markets, but they can enhance or
even replace some other marketing activities. The skilful management of media relationships
can, in some instances, be cheaper and more effective than formal advertising,

To add on to the above point, customers who have bought product from an organisation must
give feedback to their friends, relatives and neighbours. For any organization these customers
are their influencers and when third party like supply partners and retailers influence firms
customer to buy a certain product, they are called value added influencers Kotler, (1999).
They may be TV reporters, Shopkeeper, Article writers, Analysts and many more. For
example using a celebrity endorsement to market a certain product like the use of Madam
Boss in advertises borehole drilling. Sometimes competitors can also act as our influencer
through their ads, thereby helping an organization to add more customers and their
promotional activities can decline our sale Berry, (1983). Influence markets are important to
an organisation in terms of relationship marketing as members of this market include bodies
that directly impact on the organisation. It is therefore essential that organisations identify the
main influencers to its markets in order to protect and progress core business Cranfield
School of Management (2000). As a result it shows the relevance of influence in relationship
marketing.
Moreover another market to consider in the six market frame work is referrals. According
Palmatie, (2008) referral marketing, is the development and implementation of a marketing
plan in order to stimulate referrals. Although it may take months before the effect of referral
marketing is noticeable, it is often the most effective part of an overall marketing plan and the
most efficient use of resources. This can be a decisive element in the creation of relationships
between an organization and its customers. In other words it is when a customer buys
something after being referred by friends and relatives. In general it can be understood
as word of mouth. The professional services sector has always used informal networks and
reciprocal referrals to direct business towards established contacts. Word-of-mouth
recommendations are certainly known to be an important part of the information search
undertaken by consumers before buying high value or high risk services Bussell and Forbes,
(2006). To illustrate this point referral source for the bank include insurance companies, real
estate brokers, accountancy and law firm as well as internal customers.

Furthermore, recommendations may also be used by consumers as a convenient way of

reducing choice between many seemingly similar products or services. Similarly, in
situations where the product or service may be complex or difficult to evaluate, customers
will seek the advice of trusted third parties to reduce the perceived risk associated with the
purchase. Given that satisfied customers will happily endorse the products or services of the
supplier if prompted, relationships with existing customers are an unrecognized or
underutilized facility for many organizations. In case of service marketing, referral marketing
is very common, for example one can get hundreds of advises when looking for a doctor.
Also in manufacturing contexts too, companies sometimes create formal and informal referral
agreements between themselves and suppliers of complementary products. In these markets,
closer relationships with referral sources can provide early access to specifications and a
better understanding of non-product related buying criteria.

Supplier Market, suppliers are like partners to an organization. They do supply the crucial
raw materials and parts. According to Gummesson, (2008), organisational relationships with
their suppliers are undergoing some fundamental changes, the old adversarial relationship
where a company tried to squeeze suppliers to its own advantage is giving away to one based
much more on partnership and collaboration. There is need to develop a strategic alliance
with them and need to maintain a good relation with them as well. Managing the relationships
with other firms is critical to the success of a brand: where these relationships break down
completely, the firm loses its ability to deliver value to customers until the function of the
former supplier once fulfilled is replaced Berry, (1983). Even when they function
inefficiently, there is a sacrifice in cost, quality, or timeliness that can harm the brands'
reputation with its customers. Secondly, there is the matter of scope. The original Six
Markets model subsumed alliances and partnerships within the ‘supplier’ market domain and
did not make explicit enough some of the more sophisticated horizontal forms of inter
organizational collaborations and strategic alliances, including joint development projects
between competitors or equity sharing joint ventures.

To add on, employee or recruitment market represents those potential employees who possess
the attributes needed to sustain and enhance these core competencies. According to Busell
and Forbes, (2006), it also refers to third parties colleges, universities, recruitment agencies
or other employers who have early access to pools of these potential employees. The logic is
that if a would-be employer wants to attract the best people, it must present itself to
influential third parties and to the individuals themselves as the employer of first choice. But
if it also wants to keep these valuable employees, it must be the employer of first choice
Hunt, and Arnett, (2006). This market helps an organization to keep the best people who can
add values to the organization. They should be talented, experienced, skilled and royal, for
example in information and technology industry the firm needs innovative and skilled
persons but in case of service markets firms need skilled as well as experienced people. So
we can say that people inside the firm also affect the profitability. An organization always
looks for individuals with particular skills; who are highly productive, innovative, and
effective; and who share a given organization’s values. As a result the model framework
clearly shows the relevance of recruitment marketing in relationship marketing.

Moreover, internal market is the kind of market that applies to the customers and employees
within the organization. Actually there should be proper harmony among the employee and
suppliers and customers so that organization can work together and achieve its mission
Palmatie,(2008). The internal market consists basically of the employees. They are important
for marketing, as a firm’s employees are the ones who create and foster trust and relationship
with the customers. Parasuraman et al. (1991). Hence, there needs should be regarded,
Shershic (1990) argues, meeting the needs of the employees is the basis to meet the
customers’ needs. For example, at DELL, employee satisfaction is achieved by partnering
with employees through shared objectives and a common strategy. For this, goal congruence
between employer and employees is needed. In order to act in concert, employees are treated
like co-owners. To put it in Michael Dells words he said we give them the authority to drive
the business in a particular direction, and provide them with the tools and resources they need
to accomplish their goals Dell (1999).

Furthermore, specifically in terms of relationship marketing, those within the organizations

must understand how the impact relationships between the firm and other parties. Doing so in
a way that reflects and supports the organization’s long-term goals, and resolve conflicts of
interest accordingly Gummesson, (2008). Additionally, internal marketing is recognised as an
important activity in developing a customer focused organisation. Palmatie, (2008) says in
practice internal marketing is concerned with communication with developing
responsiveness, responsibility and unity of purpose. Fundamental aim of internal marketing is
to develop internal and external customer awareness and remove functional barriers to
organisational effectiveness. Therefore, the alignment of internal and external ensures
coherent relationship marketing thereby showing the relevance of the model.

In conclusion, the six markets model provides the basis for a simple framework to convey the
complex reality of relationship marketing. While it does not attempt a detailed identification
of individual relationship forms or partners these are time and situation specific, it has the
potential to provide a strategic overview of relationship marketing; its scope, nature and
purpose. However, the business landscape has changed a great deal since Christopher, Payne
and Ballantyne first attempted to produce a conceptual framework for relationship marketing,
and early indications from on-going empirical research suggest that certain aspects of the
model would benefit from further considerations.
 References:
1. Berry, Leonard (1983). Relationship Marketing. American Marketing Association,
Chicago.
2. Bussell, H and Forbes, D. (2006). Developing relationship marketing in the voluntary
sector. Journal of Nonprofit & Public Sector Marketing,
3. Gummesson, E. (2008). Total Relationship Marketing (3rd ed.). Butterworth-
Heinemann.
4. Hunt, S., and Arnett, D. (2003). Resource-advantage theory and embeddedness:
explaining R-A theory’s explanatory success. Journal of Marketing Theory and
practice.
5. Hunt, S., and Arnett, D. (2006). The explanatory foundations of relationship
marketing theory. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing.
6. Kotler, Philip, Armstrong, Gary, Saunders, John and Wong, Veronica. (1999).
Principles of Marketing 2nd ed. Prentice Hall Europe.
7. Lindgreen, Adam Marketing Intelligence and Planning (2004)
8. Martin Christopher, Adrian Payne and David Ballantyne Taylor and Francis: (2002)
Relationship Marketing: Creating Stakeholder Value.
9. Payne, Adrian, David Ballantyne, and Martin Christopher. European Journal of
Marketing
10. Parasuraman, A., Berry, L.L. and Zeithaml, V.A. (1991), ‘Understanding Customer
Expectations of Service’, Sloan Management Review, Spring.